Question
Aggiornato il
21 gen 2022
- Coreano
-
Inglese (Stati Uniti)
-
Giapponese
Domande Inglese (Stati Uniti)
Why "the sofa" and "a chair" in this sentence?
But as soon as Dad pulled up out front, she started scurrying around straightening up pictures on the wall, shoving these ratty old cushions of Grandma's under the sofa, hiding the pile of Soap Opera Digests under a chair.
Why "the sofa" and "a chair" in this sentence?
But as soon as Dad pulled up out front, she started scurrying around straightening up pictures on the wall, shoving these ratty old cushions of Grandma's under the sofa, hiding the pile of Soap Opera Digests under a chair.
But as soon as Dad pulled up out front, she started scurrying around straightening up pictures on the wall, shoving these ratty old cushions of Grandma's under the sofa, hiding the pile of Soap Opera Digests under a chair.
- I mean, why "the sofa" and "a chair", not "a sofa" and "a chair"?
- If it was "a sofa", how would that affect the meaning and/or naturalness of the sentence?
- Can there be also any situation where one might say "........ shoving these ratty old cushions of Grandma's under the sofa, hiding the pile of Soap Opera Digests under <the> chair"? For instance, if there was only one chair in her house, would she have said like that?
- If it was "a sofa", how would that affect the meaning and/or naturalness of the sentence?
- Can there be also any situation where one might say "........ shoving these ratty old cushions of Grandma's under the sofa, hiding the pile of Soap Opera Digests under <the> chair"? For instance, if there was only one chair in her house, would she have said like that?
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22 gen 2022
Domanda in primo piano
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
So this person is writing a diary that the teacher checks. If there’s only one chair in the diary keeper’s house, it makes complete sense to write ‘the chair’!
If the teacher assumes that all homes have more than one chair, he/she might mark it out as a grammar mistake.
If that happens, the diary keeper can go to the teacher and say “well, we actually only have one chair in our home, so of course it is ‘the chair’ to me!”
And the diary keeper would be right :)
Am I taking this hypothetical situation too far…hahaha
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- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
probably because there is only ONE sofa: "under THE sofa" implies there is ONLY one.
"under A chair" implies there is more than 1 chair.
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- Coreano
@emtrivoli
Thank you :) I'm afraid that I'm trying to grasp more than just the basic concept here. Would you mind looking at the other questions in the gray box?
Thank you :) I'm afraid that I'm trying to grasp more than just the basic concept here. Would you mind looking at the other questions in the gray box?
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
1: THE sofa means.. there is only ONE sofa. if there were MORE THAN 1 sofa, it might say... "A SOFA" (meaning... anyone of several)
2: see above. it would mean there were MANY sofas and MANY chairs
3: YES, exactly. under THE sofa implies there is ONE sofa. Under A CHAIR implies there are MANY chairs. under THE CHAIR means there is only 1.
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- Coreano
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
Most homes have a sofa set but many chairs, that’s why ‘the sofa’ and ‘a chair’ make sense to most readers in the excerpt you shared!
But you’re absolutely right that if the home is so bare that it only has one chair, and the reader/listener knows this, then ‘the chair’ would make sense.
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- Coreano
@nautilii
Thank you so much!! The more confirmations, the better!
I know "if the reader/listener knows this (and the reader/listener can work out what it is)" is the best way to explain it, but to non-native speakers that seems to be exactly where all the hell of confusion starts.
So, this excerpt is from her diary. She turns in this diary once a week. Obviously, the teacher has no idea about what the inside of her house is like because she is just one of her students.
In this setting, if there's only one chair in the diary keeper's house, she still writes "the chair" in her diary. Is that right?
Thank you so much!! The more confirmations, the better!
I know "if the reader/listener knows this (and the reader/listener can work out what it is)" is the best way to explain it, but to non-native speakers that seems to be exactly where all the hell of confusion starts.
So, this excerpt is from her diary. She turns in this diary once a week. Obviously, the teacher has no idea about what the inside of her house is like because she is just one of her students.
In this setting, if there's only one chair in the diary keeper's house, she still writes "the chair" in her diary. Is that right?
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
@MoreToThePoint oops, yes I absolutely mean ‘the chair’ (have edited the comment)!
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- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
So this person is writing a diary that the teacher checks. If there’s only one chair in the diary keeper’s house, it makes complete sense to write ‘the chair’!
If the teacher assumes that all homes have more than one chair, he/she might mark it out as a grammar mistake.
If that happens, the diary keeper can go to the teacher and say “well, we actually only have one chair in our home, so of course it is ‘the chair’ to me!”
And the diary keeper would be right :)
Am I taking this hypothetical situation too far…hahaha
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- Coreano
@nautilii
Thank you so much!! This really helps!! I love the hypothetical explanation. It gives me the feeling that I'm listening to an untold secret story or something :)
Thank you!!!
Thank you so much!! This really helps!! I love the hypothetical explanation. It gives me the feeling that I'm listening to an untold secret story or something :)
Thank you!!!
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
@MoreToThePoint that’s so poetic…you’re very welcome!:)
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