Which article to use before WRONG?

Question

Hi,I am having great difficulty with this dilemma.Here is an excerpt from a Collins Cobuild reference book:The definite article is often used with 'WRONG' even when it does not make sense to talk about only one wrong possibility.EX: If he gives the wrong answer, the machine stops.... However there are some cases where the indefinite article is usedEx:  We have taken a wrong turn. BTW, can I say If he gives a wrong answer, the machine stopsLooks like the only reliable way to resolve this dilemma in each specific case is just go consult a dictionary?I mean there are no 'cut and dry' rules explaining the use of the articles before WRONG?

Ayadi Ghait · Accepted Answer

when you say the wrong answer it means that you already know that wrong answer, or there is only one wrong answer

however, when you say a wrong answer, it means that you could have many wrong answers!

Mister Micawber · Answer

I don't think a dictionary will help you with this.  It is really a matter (in cases where there is not actually only one wrong choice) of whether the speaker is thinking (subconsciously, of course) of the simple opposites of 'wrong' vs 'right' (= 'the wrong') or of the several wrong ways something might be done (= 'a wrong').

Terryxpress · Answer

That's the trouble with textbooks!

But YOU have your own reasoning power... if you understand the difference:
The answer to a question is either right, or wrong.
What is the capital of France?
The right answer is Paris.
The name of every other city and town in the world would be wrong; but in answering the question, I give the name of ONE city, and if the city I name is the wrong city, then it is the wrong answer to that question!
So - 'Madrid' is the wrong answer - it should be Paris.

compare:
"I will be asking each of the contestants the same 20 questions. If a contestant gives a wrong answer to any of the questions, he loses a point."
Here, we are not talking about a specific question, but about many questions: a right answer to a question gains him a point, whilst with a wrong answer he loses a point."

You are driving and come to a fork in the road, and take the left fork. After a few minutes, a passenger says, we must have taken the wrong turn: we seem to be getting more into the countryside instead of the outskirts of the town. Go back and take the right-hand fork."
BUT
If you have been driving for a while, making a number of left and right turns along the way, and instead of being at your destination after all this driving, you seem to be lost, you say, '(somewhere along the way), we must have taken a wrong turn.'

MUSCOVITE · Answer

Gentlemen,Your comments are real food for thought.... thank you all!

Anonymous · Answer

You can use only a wrong answer - becouse its limitting attribute.

Which article to use before WRONG?

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