0
Ant_222 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Part of "a meter"/"the astronomical day"

Hello all,

I believe the following two phrases are OK:

1. A centimeter is one-hundredth of _a_ meter.
2. An hour is 1/24th of the astronomical day.

Am I right? Are there any logincal explanations concering the choice of articles? Will "the meter" and "an astronomical day" be incorrect in this context?

Thanks in advance,
Anton
  

Top answer

Hi Anton I agree with your choice of articles in your two stand-alone sentences. I'd say "the" is good in sentence 2 primarily because of the word "astronomical" -- because of the specificity that word adds to the word "day". However, I'd say you could use either "the" or "an" there.

— Yankee

  • Hi Anton I agree with your choice of articles in your two stand-alone sentences.
  • I'd say "the" is good in sentence 2 primarily because of the word "astronomical" -- because of the specificity that word adds to the word "day".
  • However, I'd say you could use either "the" or "an" there.
  • If you removed the word "astronomical", then "a" would be the natural choice.
  • If you wanted to use "the meter" in sentence 1, then I'd say you'd also have to use "the centimeter".
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.

2 Answers
0
Hi Anton

I agree with your choice of articles in your two stand-alone sentences.

I'd say "the" is good in sentence 2 primarily because of the word "astronomical" -- because of the specificity that word adds to the word "day". However, I'd say you could use either "the" or "an" there. If you removed the word "astronomical", then "a" would be the natural choice.

If you wa
0
0
Thank you very much, Amy ))
0

Related Questions