From "a" or from "the"

Question

Having a difficulty to determine the difference betwwen "From a..." and "From the..."...

Clive · Accepted Answer

First, do you know the difference between 'a' and 'the'?
eg I have a pencil.
eg I have the pencil..

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

The different usages are numerous and have to be learned by experience. For example:

He's from a good part of town.

He's from a bad part of town.

He's from the slums.

He's from the best part of town.

He's from the worst part of town.

He's from a good family.

He's from a rich family.

He's from a poor family.

He's from the wrong side of the tracks.

He's from the best family in town.

He comes from a big family.

Anonymous · Answer

Clive: that did not help much.

Anonymous: I figured it would be something like that... Thank you

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Although the use of articles is very idiomatic, there are some broad principles.

The first time you mention something, it's an indefinite reference, so say 'a'.
Later mentions are definite references, so say 'the'.

eg I have a pencil. You don't expect the listener to already know about this pencil.
eg I have the pencil.. You expect the listener to already know about it, probably because you already mentioned it.

Now let's look at from a/the.

eg Tom received a letter from a friend. The speaker uses 'a'' because he does not expect the listener to already know about this friend.
eg Mary has a friend in Canada. Mary received a letter from the friend. 'The' is used because the friend has already been mentioned.

Clive

From "a" or from "the"

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