The coffee

Question

Hi;I think I'll skip the coffee and tea cakes.Why did the speaker use the article 'the' before 'coffee'?

Enoon · Accepted Answer

He was thinking of a particular session of coffee and tea cakes.

Anonymous · Answer

enoonHe was thinking of a particular session of coffee and tea cakes.

Thank you, enoon. Why did you use 'he'? You didn't know if the speaker was a male or a female. Thanks.

Enoon · Answer

AnonymousWhy did you use 'he'? You didn't know if the speaker was a male or a female.

English traditionally defaults to masculine in such cases. We don't have a pronoun that is neutral for ***. Anyway, I'm male, and I was hungry.

Anonymous · Answer

Can I omit an article at the beginning of a sentence while texting with friends? As in:

A: Is that a girl or a boy?
B: Girl.

Enoon · Answer

Interesting. A texting style convention is developing. If you ask me, you can text any way you like. (just don't do it here, for khoff's sake, if for no other reason)

BarbaraPA · Answer

"Girl" is not a sentence. Omitting the article is natural in such a terse response.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks. Why didn't you use "A texting style convention has been developing"?

Enoon · Answer

AnonymousWhy didn't you use "A texting style convention has been developing"?

That would not have said what I meant.

Anonymous · Answer

One more question that isn't really related to the topic. A couple of volunteers on this forum tried to explain it to me but they weren't successful.

Let's say I'm talking about some writer who wrote a book a long time ago. And I ask:

Could the writer have used(something) or Could the writer use(something)

What's the difference between them? Shouldn't I use the first one since the book was written a long time ago and the writer may have died?

Another question which is related to the question above.

Let's say I'm writing a post on this forum. And at the end of it I write: Could I have said(something) or Can I use(something)

What's the difference between them in this case?

Also, as you may have notice:One more question that isn't really related to the topic.
Another question which is related to the question above.

Is it OK to change such things that are optional in writing? As those above and these:
"as you may have noticed" and "as you might have noticed"

Can I change them while writing?

Enoon · Answer

Let's say I'm talking about some writer who wrote a book a long time ago. And I ask:
Could the writer have used(something) or Could the writer use(something)
What's the difference between them? Shouldn't I use the first one since the book was written a long time ago and the writer may have died?

In my opinion, the simple past is wrong there, for the reason you give.

Let's say I'm writing a post on this forum. And at the end of it I write: Could I have said(something) or Can I use(something)
What's the difference between them in this case?

The difference is just that difference provided by the tense of the verb. There is nothing remarkable here. I'm not very good at explaining verb tenses, which is why you should start a new thread for questions like this one. "Could have" asks about what you wrote that one time, and "can" asks about what you write anytime.

Also, as you may have notice:One more question that isn't really related to the topic. Another question which is related to the question above.

The coffee

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