0
Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Key

Hi,

I am writing a paragraph (my own, for a short story for class).

"In Manhattan we entered a posh hotel. We had no money, but we worked up the courage and walked up to the concierge to ask about the cheapest room for 1 night. They found one that was not cheap at all, asked for our credit card, and gave us:
- a key to our room.
- the key to our room.

I feel stuck. Which one's right? I prefer "the key", although most posh hotels have at least 3-4 keys to the same room, from what I know. So maybe "a" in that situation? But "the" is intuitively sounding a bit better. 
  

Top answer

I can agree with you, that nowadays, the most of hotels have at least 3-4 keys to the same room. It depends on what you want to indicate. Both of examples are correct.

— Bartdebsky

  • I can agree with you, that nowadays, the most of hotels have at least 3-4 keys to the same room.
  • It depends on what you want to indicate.
  • Both of examples are correct.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

8 Answers
0
I can agree with you, that nowadays, the most of hotels have at least 3-4 keys to the same room. It depends on what you want to indicate. Both of examples are correct.
0
0
Anonymousand gave us
the key to our room.

But

gave each of us a key to our room.

It depends how many keys were given.

CJ
0
0
CalifJimthe key to our room.Butgave each of us a key to our room.It depends how many keys were given.CJ
Thank you! The second part I understand. But in the first: if the concierge has a key, the cleaning staff have another, the security have a third, the general manager has another, and we have one more. Isn't the one key given to us one of several in existenc
0
0
Anonymousif the concierge has a key, the cleaning staff have another, the security have a third, the general manager has another, and we have one more. Isn't the one key given to us one of several in existence, which could also justify "a key"?
Hotel guests don't engage in a lot of cogitation about the systems used by the hospitality industry in order to choos
0
0
CalifJimHotel guests don't engage in a lot of cogitation about the systems used by the hospitality industry in order to choose an article. It's much more "seat of the pants" than solving some kind of logic problem. Narrow it down to the situation at hand and you end up with "the".
I see. So "the" is more natural then. If I put "a key" and you were my teacher o
0
0
Anonymouswould you mark that as wrong or edit that?
If I were editing it, I would change "a" to "the".
AnonymousI know it's supposed to be funny, but I didn't understand it!
Most of your ifs were implicit.

if the concierge has a key, and if the cleaning staff have another, and if the secu
0
0
Okay, that's very good. Thank you! Emotion: smile
0
0
bartdebskyI can agree with you, that nowadays, the most of hotels have at least 3-4 keys to the same room. It depends on what you want to indicate. Both of examples are correct.
Note my corrections above,
0

Related Questions