Lyon'ka
Which article should I choose? Hello. I recently had a task in which I should've put an article. We covered the rule that says we put an article "the" when something we talk about appears in a task for the second time. So here an extract: I went to Berlin for the first time last year. It was _______ interesting city with so many place yo visit. The answers say it should be "an", but why? So we learned that narrator went to Berlin. Berlin is a city. (The city??? 0_o) And then we see "city" for the second time (interesting city), so what should we fill the gap with and why? Thanks.
Nov 10, 2017 11:02 AM
Answers · 5
1
Hello Lyon'ka, 'a/an' means one of many so Berlin is 'an' interesting city because it is not the only interesting city - there are many others. Having introduced Berlin as an interesting city you could now use 'the' as we know that you are talking about 'the' interesting city called Berlin. Hope this helps Bob
November 10, 2017
1
We use 'a' or 'an' to refer to one of something, but not a specific one. Use 'the' to refer to a specific object, like "the Eifell tower", or "the Great pyramid". If I said "I live in a house", it just means I don't live in a flat or bungalow, but if I said "I live in the house on the corner with the red door", that is specific. There are many interesting cities, so each of them is "an interesting city". If I looked out of the window and saw a man walking a dog, that's quite vague, but if there were two men walking dogs, and I wanted to differentiate between them, I might say "The man walking the black labrador..." When referring to something unique, we always use "the" - e.g. "the leaning tower of Pisa". It is always specific. I hope this helps.
November 10, 2017
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