English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Last time I read a story about...
The last time I read a story about...
Is it acceptable to use "the last time" (with the) when speaking about the previous occasion, one in a row: "The last time I read an interesting story", "The last time we talked about elephants"?
(Yes, I know that in sentences like "The last time I read that story someone knocked at the door", "The last time we met I saw that he hadn't changed much" the article is necessary.)
Both are correct and idiomatic. There is an answer to a similar question on English Language & Usage that explains that the phrase without a definite article is acting as an adverb describing a superlative circumstance.
Last time, I read a story about...
In this case, not using the definite article, the accent of the sentence falls on "I read a story", and "last time" has the meaning of "previous time". Please note the comma after "last time".
The last time I read a story about...
The use of the definite article keeps the accent of the sentence on "last time". In this case, "the last time" has the meaning of "the last occurrence of several similar events": maybe it is not the last time when I read something (anything), but the last time when I read a story about... (TopicXZ) So it can mean previous, or it can refer to some older event - depending on the exact sequence of events.
