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Geni4u Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
The definite article
0 Hi Teachers, 02 br
00 I got a question about the definite article "the." Let's suppose that I bought a pen yesterday and I just met a friend who does not know I did. 02 br
02 br
00 Me: Hi Paco! How're you doing? 02 br
00 Paco: Good! 02 br
00 Me: The pen that I bought yesterday is not working! 02 br
02 br
00 In the above conversation, is "that I bought yesterday" enough to define "the pen"? Or does Paco have to know what pen I refer to (e.g., he was with me when I bought the pen) for the above conversation to work? Could Paco respond by saying "What pen?" in the above conversation? Do I have to say like the following? 02 br
02 br
00 Me: Hi Paco! How're you doing? 02 br
00 Paco: Good! 02 br
00 Me: I bought a pen yesterday and the pen is not working! 02 br
02 br
00 Please clarify this for me. And should part of my second sentence (Let's suppose ...) be "met a friend who did not know I had done" to match the two tenses? 02 br
00 Thank you. 0-
00 I got a question about the definite article "the." Let's suppose that I bought a pen yesterday and I just met a friend who does not know I did. 02 br
02 br
00 Me: Hi Paco! How're you doing? 02 br
00 Paco: Good! 02 br
00 Me: The pen that I bought yesterday is not working! 02 br
02 br
00 In the above conversation, is "that I bought yesterday" enough to define "the pen"? Or does Paco have to know what pen I refer to (e.g., he was with me when I bought the pen) for the above conversation to work? Could Paco respond by saying "What pen?" in the above conversation? Do I have to say like the following? 02 br
02 br
00 Me: Hi Paco! How're you doing? 02 br
00 Paco: Good! 02 br
00 Me: I bought a pen yesterday and the pen is not working! 02 br
02 br
00 Please clarify this for me. And should part of my second sentence (Let's suppose ...) be "met a friend who did not know I had done" to match the two tenses? 02 br
00 Thank you. 0-
Top answer
12 blockquote 10 No. 02 br 00 CJ 0-
- 12 blockquote 10 No.
- 02 br 00 CJ 0-
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4 Answers
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0 01 blockquote
01 cite 10 geni4u 12 cite 10 In the above conversation, is "that I bought yesterday" enough to define "the pen"? 12 blockquote10 Yes. 01 blockquote
01 cite 10 geni4u 12 cite 10 And should part of my second sentence (Let's suppose ...) be "met a friend who did not know I had done" to match t
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0 Let's suppose that I bought a pen yesterday and I just met a friend who does not know I did. 02 br
02 br
00 And should part of my second sentence (Let's suppose ...) be "met a friend who did not know I had done" to match the two tenses? 02 br
02 br
00 I would say the original sentence is fine as is but to me, it implies you didn't tell him about the pen. Otherwi
02 br
00 And should part of my second sentence (Let's suppose ...) be "met a friend who did not know I had done" to match the two tenses? 02 br
02 br
00 I would say the original sentence is fine as is but to me, it implies you didn't tell him about the pen. Otherwi
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0 Thanks, CJ and Neeraj! 02 br
00 New2grammar: That was my point. He had not known about the pen until I told him, and he knows about it NOW. And I'm talking about the past situation. However, if we think that sentence in a different perspective, we are seeing the above conversation occurring. That is, the conversation did not occur when I said that sentence, so Paco did not know ab
00 New2grammar: That was my point. He had not known about the pen until I told him, and he knows about it NOW. And I'm talking about the past situation. However, if we think that sentence in a different perspective, we are seeing the above conversation occurring. That is, the conversation did not occur when I said that sentence, so Paco did not know ab
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