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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Grammar

I'm an Indian who really has problems understanding articles. I've a couple of questions. First, which of these sentences are correct, and why?
Mark, the son of Mr and Mrs Adams, will turn 25 this Monday.
Mark, a son of Mr and Mrs Adams, will turn 25 this Monday.
  

Top answer

Ah. My personal bane.

  • Ah.
  • My personal bane.
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5 Answers
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"the son of Mr. and Mrs. Adams" means that there's only one son. "The" is a definite article. It's used for a specific thing that the people in a conversation already know about.
"a son of Mr. and Mrs. Adams" means that they have more than one son. "A" is an indefinite article. It's used when people in a conversation don't already know what thing (in this case, what son) you mean.
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So that means if we use 'the son' here, we are assuming that the listener also knows his parents. In the latter case, we are just telling that he is a son of some Mr and Mrs Adams
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No. The listener may or may not know the parents in these sentences. There is no connection between this and the article in front of 'son'.

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