How to use "of" preposition (POSSESSION)

Question

I read that the preposition "of" is used to show possession, belonging, or origin. For example:

a friend of mine

employees of the company

a habit of mine

the love of a good woman

I hear the bark of a puppy.

I understand some but sometimes I don't understand well how to use article (a,the) before or after "of". For example.

a habit of mine

Can I say "the habit of mine "?

the love of a good woman

Can I say "the love of the good woman "?

Could you please tell me the different meanings of those sentences if I change articles?

Answer 1

While you could use both "a" and "the" in your examples, it's much more common to use "of" in the indefinite case.

When using a:
You're talking about no particular item, but one among a bunch of others. the "of"-part serves as reducing the size of that bunch.

a habit - well, there are many habits out there
a habit of mine - one of the few habits I have

the love - now, that term is mighty unspecific, isn't it?
the love of a good woman - oh, that kind of love, I see.

When using the:
You're already talking about a very distinct subset (namely one occurrence) and other ways of showing that are available.

the habit of mine - my habit / that habit (i was talking about)
the love of the good woman - that good woman's love / her love