Took the/a wrong bus

Question

Native speakers of English say, "I took the wrong bus." (Not "a wrong bus.")

In the following context, is it possible to say, "I took a wrong bus."?

"I took a wrong bus. The cushion was bad, and it was not punctual at all."

Philip · Accepted Answer

I think your analysis is correct. We took the wrong bus: # 10 instead of #12.

Also:
I made a wrong turn, so we got lost. (not sure where it was) ~ There were two directions, and we made the wrong one.

Snappy · Answer

PhilipI think your analysis is correct. We took the wrong bus: # 10 instead of #12.

Also:
I made a wrong turn, so we got lost. (not sure where it was) ~ There were two directions, and we made the wrong one.

Thank you for your quick reply. Your explanation is very clear.

Snappy · Answer

SnappyThere were two directions, and we made the wrong one.

One thing.

Are the following sentences okay?

Situation: There are several choices of correct and wrong answers/decisions.

You selected a wrong answer.
You made a wrong decision.

Situation: There are several buses leaving a bus terminal for different destinations.

Oh, that's a wrong bus. (There is only one right bus and the others are all wrong.)

BarbaraPA · Answer

Idiomatically, we say "the" wrong bus.

We also say "I dialed the wrong number" for the phone, even though there are millions of wrong numbers and only one right one.

Snappy · Answer

Thank you for your information.

Snappy · Answer

I must say thank you to those who gave me useful information, but I am still confused.

Isn't it possible to use "a wrong ..." in the following cases, where "wrong" means "bad" rather than "unsuitable"?

I had a wrong impression of her. (bad impression)
I made a wrong decision. (bad decision)
That is a wrong idea. (bad idea)

Anonymous · Answer

No. You would use "the" for all those examples.

Snappy · Answer

American Heritage Dictionary shows the following two examples:

take a wrong turn

make a wrong move

Then what is the difference between "take a wrong turn" and "take the wrong turn"?
Is the following interpretation okay?

1. You made a wrong turn. (= I don't think your turn is right though I don't have a right turn in mind.)
2. You made the wrong turn. (= I don't think your turn is right. I have the right turn in mind.)

BarbaraPA · Answer

SnappyI must say thank you to those who gave me useful information, but I am still confused.

Isn't it possible to use "a wrong ..." in the following cases, where "wrong" means "bad" rather than "unsuitable"?

I had a wrong impression of her. (bad impression)
I made a wrong decision. (bad decision)
That is a wrong idea. (bad idea)

Hi Snappy,
If you say "I had the wrong impression about her" it means you were mistaken. You may have thought she was kind and generous, but she was really mean and selfish. It doesn't mean you had a bad impression - just a mistaken one.
It's not idiomatic to say "I made a wrong decision." "I made the wrong decision" or "I made a bad decision."
If you have a bad idea, you have a bad idea, not a wrong one. "You have the wrong idea" isn't very natural unless you follow it with "about." "You have the wrong idea about..." is like "You have the wrong impression."
As for "the wrong turn" vs. "a wrong turn" -- it doesn't make much sense that we'd say "the wrong bus" or "the wrong idea" or "the wrong number" but "a wrong turn" but we do. "We made a wrong turn somewhere along the way and got hopelessly lost."

Snappy · Answer

Hi Grammar Geek,

Thank you for your information.

What about #695791?
Is my understanding correct?

Took the/a wrong bus

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