Timeline for "The male pheasant is brightly colored" VS "A male pheasant is brightly colored" — When to use "the male" and when to use "a male"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 26 at 18:29 | comment | added | Lambie | Yes, to all of those. One caveat: One car as in one make of car. | |
| Jan 26 at 18:16 | comment | added | Loviii | Can I infer that: "A car of the future will be electric" — we're talking about one car. "A bed was crucial in Western history" — we're talking about one bed. "An arrowhead was an early manmade tool" — we're talking not about one arrowhead but about all arrowheads. | |
| Jan 26 at 15:50 | comment | added | Lambie | @Loviii Yes, that's right. BUT "a car of the future will be electric" means there will be one car that is or it is a prediction. The second means: A bed [not some x] was crucial in Western history and three is just a definition. | |
| Jan 26 at 2:54 | comment | added | Loviii | You said "Yours is grammatical but not formal". Therefore, all your examples would also be grammatical but not formal with "a": a car of the future will be electric; a bed was crucial in Western history; an arrowhead was an early manmade tool. Did I understand you correctly? | |
| Dec 3, 2023 at 14:45 | history | answered | Lambie | CC BY-SA 4.0 |