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Should I use "a" or "the" in this sentence?

"A role model is the/a person who you want to be like."

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i see only slight difference in the meaning here...

"the person" may make the person getting this sentence think of a very specific person, where "a person" feels more like you are just defining the "Role Model" term and being more generic.

"the" also implies you could only have one role model, where "a" because it feels more like you defining "role model", properly implies there can be many role models.

To answer your question, it depends on the goal of your sentence, but I would lean more towards the "a"

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