Crazy man

Question

Someone rushes in out of breath and says he's just seen a crazy man.
Is it natural to say
"Where did you see a crazy man?"
"Where did you see the crazy man?"

Neither looks incorrect in this context to me. To me "a" expresses mild disbelief, while "the" puts the accent on the crazy man just mentioned. But either looks natural. To me. Yes, no?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Ned: I just saw a crazy man.
Kyle: Really? Where did you see him; that is the crazy man?

For the second mention of an object, it is natural to use "the."

Clive · Answer

Thee naturall response is to ask simply 'Where?'

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousIs it natural to say"Where did you see a crazy man?"

Yes. You don't yet accept that there is really any referent for "crazy man". You can shorten it to "(Really?) A crazy man?" You could not use "the" in such a shortened question because it throws doubt on the existence of this man.

Anonymous"Where did you see the crazy man?"

Yes. Here you're accepting the other person's point of view, admitting the existence of the crazy man. Or, you are humoring the other person, pretending that you believe in the existence of this man. Later, supposing you discover that it was a man wearing twinkling Christmas lights wrapped around his body, and that he was doing this as a stunt in a movie which was being filmed nearby, you can refer to him as the/a so-called crazy man.

CJ

Crazy man

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