0
Michelle Cha Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
They see a boy playing a panpipe.
"They see a boy playing a panpipe"
What I've known is that we always place the article 'the' before a musical instrument. But I found this sentence in an English text book for middle schoolers in Korea. Is this sentence grammatical? If so, why is 'a' used instead of 'the'?
Thanks in advance.
What I've known is that we always place the article 'the' before a musical instrument. But I found this sentence in an English text book for middle schoolers in Korea. Is this sentence grammatical? If so, why is 'a' used instead of 'the'?
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
"Playing the panpipe" means having the general skill to play any panpipe. But what they saw here was a particular boy playing one panpipe not distinguished from any other. "
- "Playing the panpipe" means having the general skill to play any panpipe.
- But what they saw here was a particular boy playing one panpipe not distinguished from any other.
- "
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
1 Answers
0
"Playing the panpipe" means having the general skill to play any panpipe. But what they saw here was a particular boy playing one panpipe not distinguished from any other. (Which is not too surprising, since I don't think you can play more than one panpipe at a time.) So the indefinite article is used, mean "one."
0
Related Questions