Why is "the" used with "headings" but "an" used with "address?"

Question

I came across one article on BBC and don’t really understand the usage of THE article there. There is a description of a postcard:

On its front was a cartoon of a rabbit asleep in a crib underneath the heading: "You're one to-day."

However, later there is a sentence:

On the reverse was a stamp bearing the head of King George, postmarked 27 September 1946. Next to that was an address: Miss F Kaye of 12 Northumberland Mansions, Luxborough Street, London, W1.”

Why is it "the headings" but "an address"? I thought it is "the heading" because we can see it quoted, but "the address" is also given…

Could you please help me ?

Answer 1

@FumbleFingers has the most important answer: Don't overthink it; the difference is not great. But just in the interest of covering all the bases: Yes, there is a little bit of difference in how the articles are being used.

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A cartoon ... underneath the heading: "You're one today" This usage means that what follows is about to report the content of the heading. It makes "You're one today" into one big adjectival phrase modifying "heading." This is similar to how Winnie-the-Pooh lives "under the name of Sanders." An indefinite article could not do for Pooh; "Sanders" is equated to "name." Or maybe a more parallel example: In Longfellow's poem the youth carries "a banner with the strange device 'Excelsior'." "The" tells us that we are about to be told the contents of the banner. Note that in this usage, unlike the next one, we could not reasonably end the sentence with the noun that follows the article:

There was a cartoon of a rabbit underneath the heading.

"The" heading? what heading? If we had chosen "a heading," we could end the sentence there, but if we choose "the" we must continue to identify it.

It's a little confusing because the author punctuated the example with a colon after "heading." This was not strictly necessary, though not a mistake either. But they could legitimately have used no punctuation at all and the sentence would be valid:

... of a rabbit asleep in a crib underneath the heading "You're one today."

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Next to that was an address: Miss F Kaye... This sentence could have ended with "address." As it happens, it chooses to go on to report the contents of the address, but this is extra, explanatory information, not grammatically vital to the sentence.

Answer 2

There + be

Next to that was an address ...

There was an address ...

is a common way to introduce a new thing. The noun after there + be is expected to have an indefinite or non-specific meaning. Usually, it's an indefinite article (a/an), zero article, some(body), no(body), etc. rather than the, this, my, or a name.

[x] There was the address ...

As an introduction, it sounds unusual.

It is a stylistic choice. Certainly, it could have been put differently.

The address was ...

The address read ...

The context allows it, and the reader can easily work out what address is being discussed.

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The heading is another stylistic choice. The context was prepared in the previous paragraph by the postcard. Now, unique and commonly recognised attributes of a postcard might (but don't have to) go with the definite article: the stamp, the heading, the signature, the date, etc. It's also reasonable to assume that a postcard, due to its limited space, has only one heading, thus the heading.

Answer 3

You should follow the first grammar rules; the first letter of address, 'a' is a vowel, so the article 'an' is appropriate, and 'heading' is some kind of special place on a TV screen / in pages, so 'the' is appropriate.