the order or an order?

Question

"They gave the soldiers an order to blow up the towers.""They gave the soldiers the order to blow up the towers."

Teechr · Accepted Answer

Both are possible.

Anonymous · Answer

Which one is more correct?

Anonymous · Answer

And also is there any difference in the meaning?

Teechr · Answer

AnonymousAnd also is there any difference in the meaning?

There could be. More context is needed to tell you which one is more suitable.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousgave the soldiers an order

This suggests that the order was not anticipated, at least not from the soldiers' point of view. The soldiers just got an order from somewhere one day.

Anonymousgave the soldiers the order

The order was anticipated. "They" had planned to give the order eventually. Now they did.
___________

It's almost as if the first one is told from the soldiers' point of view, and the second one from "their" (the subject's) point of view.

CJ

the order or an order?

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