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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
Usage
Use of the article
A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class.
"___ doughnut has a hole." He asked me whether I would put 'A' or 'The' in the blank. I actually wasn't sure. They both sounded OK.
Apparently, many people in his class put 'A', but his teacher said the correct answer was 'The'. She said that 'the' was correct because not all doughnuts have holes.
That doesn't make sense to me. First of all, if the answer is 'the', then, it seems to me, you have to assume that either said doughnut (or its picture) is in front of you, OR you've already been talking about it, OR you're talking about 'the doughnut' as a sort of species.
Is it, houwever, possible to say 'A doughnut has a hole.'? For some reason that doesn't make my ear cringe like "Yesterday he come to my house ..." would. But, another friend said that the sentence has to begin with 'the' because 'doughnut' is a concrete object. I hope someone can shed some light on this for me. Thanks.
"___ doughnut has a hole." He asked me whether I would put 'A' or 'The' in the blank. I actually wasn't sure. They both sounded OK.
Apparently, many people in his class put 'A', but his teacher said the correct answer was 'The'. She said that 'the' was correct because not all doughnuts have holes.
That doesn't make sense to me. First of all, if the answer is 'the', then, it seems to me, you have to assume that either said doughnut (or its picture) is in front of you, OR you've already been talking about it, OR you're talking about 'the doughnut' as a sort of species.
Is it, houwever, possible to say 'A doughnut has a hole.'? For some reason that doesn't make my ear cringe like "Yesterday he come to my house ..." would. But, another friend said that the sentence has to begin with 'the' because 'doughnut' is a concrete object. I hope someone can shed some light on this for me. Thanks.
Top answer
[nq:1]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class. " He ... his teacher said the correct answer was 'The'.
- [nq:1]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class.
- " He ...
- his teacher said the correct answer was 'The'.
- [/nq] This teacher should be taken out back and shot.
- The subject is ESL, not hair-splitting.
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33 Answers
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[nq:1]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class. "___ doughnut has a hole." He ... his teacher said the correct answer was 'The'. She said that 'the' was correct because not all doughnuts have holes.[/nq]
This teacher should be taken out back and shot. The subject is ESL, not hair-splitting. Unless there was a good foundation in class about this dif
This teacher should be taken out back and shot. The subject is ESL, not hair-splitting. Unless there was a good foundation in class about this dif
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[nq:1]Is it, houwever, possible to say 'A doughnut has a hole.'?[/nq]
Let's first agree on what a doughnut is. If we agree that a doughnut has a doughnut shape (a toroidal shape), then a doughnut has a hole. It's a general statement about doughnuts. If we're talking about a specific doughnut, it would be correct to say that the doughnut has a hole.
-- Mike Bandy
Let's first agree on what a doughnut is. If we agree that a doughnut has a doughnut shape (a toroidal shape), then a doughnut has a hole. It's a general statement about doughnuts. If we're talking about a specific doughnut, it would be correct to say that the doughnut has a hole.
-- Mike Bandy
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[nq:2]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence ... that 'the' was correct because not all doughnuts have holes.[/nq]
[nq:1]This teacher should be taken out back and shot.[/nq]
Damned straight.
[nq:1]The subject is ESL, not hair-splitting. Unless there was a good foundation in class about this difference, the answer that ... is to further muddy the waters. Tel
[nq:1]This teacher should be taken out back and shot.[/nq]
Damned straight.
[nq:1]The subject is ESL, not hair-splitting. Unless there was a good foundation in class about this difference, the answer that ... is to further muddy the waters. Tel
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Hi,
As not all doughnuts have holes, A cannot be correct. Therefore THE is more correct.
It is like asking:
-- dog has brown fur.
Clearly THE is better than A, even though we are not given a reference to a specific dog.
Regards,
Kevin Stone
As not all doughnuts have holes, A cannot be correct. Therefore THE is more correct.
It is like asking:
-- dog has brown fur.
Clearly THE is better than A, even though we are not given a reference to a specific dog.
Regards,
Kevin Stone
UK English Speaker (expert(ish))
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[nq:1]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class. "___ doughnut has a hole." He ... with 'the' because 'doughnut' is a concrete object. I hope someone can shed some light on this for me. Thanks.[/nq]
The teacher is correct in saying that not all doughnuts have holes - ring doughnuts have holes, jam doughnuts don't (except a very small one where the j
The teacher is correct in saying that not all doughnuts have holes - ring doughnuts have holes, jam doughnuts don't (except a very small one where the j
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[nq:2]Is it, houwever, possible to say 'A doughnut has a hole.'?[/nq]
[nq:1]Let's first agree on what a doughnut is. If we agree that a doughnut has a doughnut shape (a toroidal shape), then a doughnut has a hole.[/nq]
But in this* thread, in *this* news group, a doughnut is more of a Möbius strip.
*includes "donuts"
[nq:1]Let's first agree on what a doughnut is. If we agree that a doughnut has a doughnut shape (a toroidal shape), then a doughnut has a hole.[/nq]
But in this* thread, in *this* news group, a doughnut is more of a Möbius strip.
*includes "donuts"
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[nq:1]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class. "___ doughnut has a hole." He ... his teacher said the correct answer was 'The'. She said that 'the' was correct because not all doughnuts have holes.[/nq]
Short words make for long answers, and the distinctions in use between "a" and "the" are, in full, long. But in this case, the teacher is correct.
Short words make for long answers, and the distinctions in use between "a" and "the" are, in full, long. But in this case, the teacher is correct.
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on 10/26/03 7:19 PM:
[nq:1]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class. "___ doughnut has a hole." He asked me whether I would put 'A' or 'The' in the blank. I actually wasn't sure. They both sounded OK.[/nq]
They are both OK, but have slightly different meanings.
[nq:1]Apparently, many people in his class put 'A', but his teacher said the cor
[nq:1]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class. "___ doughnut has a hole." He asked me whether I would put 'A' or 'The' in the blank. I actually wasn't sure. They both sounded OK.[/nq]
They are both OK, but have slightly different meanings.
[nq:1]Apparently, many people in his class put 'A', but his teacher said the cor
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[nq:2]"Doughnuts have holes" is an even more usual way of stating it.[/nq]
When being tested, surely if only one of two sentences is to be chosen and both are grammatically correct, then the only differentiation is the truthfulness of the statement. Since not all doughnut have holes, THE is the only correct answer.
Regards,
Kevin Stone
When being tested, surely if only one of two sentences is to be chosen and both are grammatically correct, then the only differentiation is the truthfulness of the statement. Since not all doughnut have holes, THE is the only correct answer.
Regards,
Kevin Stone
UK English Speaker (expert(ish
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[nq:1]A Russian friend of mine gave me this "fill-in-the-blank" sentence from his ESL class. "___ doughnut has a hole." He ... his teacher said the correct answer was 'The'. She said that 'the' was correct because not all doughnuts have holes.[/nq]
As you have guessed and Carmen has so succinctly pointed out, this is not, I would argue, a question of grammar. Since both alternatives can obvio
As you have guessed and Carmen has so succinctly pointed out, this is not, I would argue, a question of grammar. Since both alternatives can obvio
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