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Reegis Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
What article: a little bird sat on a/the branch
In what context would you say the statements below?
a) A little bird sat on a branch and sang beautifully.
b) A little bird sat on the branch and sang beautifully.
For example, let's imagine I see some bird sat on some branch, none of them is known to either me or a person beside me, and I just want to communicate this simple fact to this person so I say a) or b)?
Normally I wouldn't hesitate and say a branch but I encountered the version with the branch (in my program that I use to learn English - unfortunately all the sentences there are out of context).
a) A little bird sat on a branch and sang beautifully.
b) A little bird sat on the branch and sang beautifully.
For example, let's imagine I see some bird sat on some branch, none of them is known to either me or a person beside me, and I just want to communicate this simple fact to this person so I say a) or b)?
Normally I wouldn't hesitate and say a branch but I encountered the version with the branch (in my program that I use to learn English - unfortunately all the sentences there are out of context).
Top answer
Use B only if the branch is known to your listener or if only one branch exists.
- Use B only if the branch is known to your listener or if only one branch exists.
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12 Answers
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Use B only if the branch is known to your listener or if only one branch exists.
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I see, so standard article principles apply here.
Recently I have heard of something called role nouns - nouns that have some special role and because of that take the. It concerned the aforementioned branch and customer in this sentence:
A good salesman displays all his best goods when the customer comes to his shop.
In the above sente
Recently I have heard of something called role nouns - nouns that have some special role and because of that take the. It concerned the aforementioned branch and customer in this sentence:
A good salesman displays all his best goods when the customer comes to his shop.
In the above sente
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ReegisDoes it mean that I was misled? Could you please comment on this?If you think the customer is the same as the branch, yes, you were.
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Hmm, I am not sure what do you mean by the same, but the reasoning behind putting the in both cases was the same.
So let me sum up:
1) A little bird sat on the branch and sang beautifully.
Here we can use the branch only when the branch is known to the listener or when only one branch exists.
2) A good salesman displays all his best g
So let me sum up:
1) A little bird sat on the branch and sang beautifully.
Here we can use the branch only when the branch is known to the listener or when only one branch exists.
2) A good salesman displays all his best g
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ReegisDid I get you right that here we can use the customer (even when talking in general) because of its role?Yes.
ReegisOr you meant some other reason?I was just cautioning you about the idea that I thought you had: that the branch should have 'the' because of its role.
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Thanks for your confirmation.
Could you please elaborate upon this topic? Or give me a link that explains it? I tried to find it on the Internet but without success, so I would highly appreciate reliable information regarding this aspect of articles.
Could you please elaborate upon this topic? Or give me a link that explains it? I tried to find it on the Internet but without success, so I would highly appreciate reliable information regarding this aspect of articles.
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ReegisCould you please elaborate upon this topic?I never heard about it until you mentioned it. You're the head researcher.
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Huh, that's interesting! So let me ask (I know, another question...): How would you have explained the usage of the before customer in that sentence to a non-native speaker if I hadn't mentioned it? I see that articles can be really confusing - I asked about this a few people in my country and no one could be able to give me a thorough explanation of it.
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ReegisHow would you have explained the usage of the before customer in that sentenceIt is a generic customer.
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At first, I didn't understand your answer, but after some searching I found this:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/000001.html
Can I apply this reasoning to our sentence?
To make this question more specific, please let's have a look at these sentences:
Indefinite Generic:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/000001.html
Can I apply this reasoning to our sentence?
To make this question more specific, please let's have a look at these sentences:
Indefinite Generic:
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