A total of or the total of?
Hi! I wonder which one should be used in this case in which "a total of" is already used once as follows:

Example:

A total of 5 cats are in her house. And [a total of / the total of] 10 dogs are in his house.

Because "a total of" is used first, should it be "the total of" or still "a total of"?

Thank you so much!

Question

A total of or the total of?
Hi! I wonder which one should be used in this case in which "a total of" is already used once as follows:

Example:

A total of 5 cats are in her house. And [a total of / the total of] 10 dogs are in his house.

Because "a total of" is used first, should it be "the total of" or still "a total of"?

Thank you so much!

Answer

You would say "a total of 10 dogs".

It is a different total (the first is cats, the second is dogs), so you wouldn't be referring to the same total if you used "the total".

Answer

I would phrase it like this:

A total of 5 cats are in her house, and 10 in his house.