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Tijay Posted 21 years ago
Linguistics Studies
Please help me with articles
Hello there! My name is Ilija; I like English very much. Could you help me to understand how to use articles in some cases?
Let’s consider some examples of using of articles.
Somebody moved in the room above.
But can we say also that somebody moved in a room above? I think we can say in such a way in case there are a lot of rooms above our premises and we don’t know in which room exactly somebody moved in.
Another example:
The man standing by the window is my uncle.
But I think that the sentence – a man standing by the window is my uncle – is also correct if there are many men at the window and you, for instance, ask your friend to guess which of the men is your uncle.
This is the man I am looking for.
But I suppose that the sentence – this is a man I am looking for – is also correct in a definite context if you want to underline the idea that you are looking for many men and this is one of the men you are looking for.
Thanks in advance.
Let’s consider some examples of using of articles.
Somebody moved in the room above.
But can we say also that somebody moved in a room above? I think we can say in such a way in case there are a lot of rooms above our premises and we don’t know in which room exactly somebody moved in.
Another example:
The man standing by the window is my uncle.
But I think that the sentence – a man standing by the window is my uncle – is also correct if there are many men at the window and you, for instance, ask your friend to guess which of the men is your uncle.
This is the man I am looking for.
But I suppose that the sentence – this is a man I am looking for – is also correct in a definite context if you want to underline the idea that you are looking for many men and this is one of the men you are looking for.
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
"a" is an indefinite article. Use it when the thing referred to is not known about. " Your examples are correct but atypical.
- "a" is an indefinite article.
- Use it when the thing referred to is not known about.
- " Your examples are correct but atypical.
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1 Answers
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"a" is an indefinite article. Use it when the thing referred to is not known about. Typically, when something is first mentioned, it is "a something"; after that, it is "the [definite article] something." Your examples are correct but atypical.
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