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I am really struggling to understand if I should use "a" or "one" in the below example. This is derived from another thread that became too confusing with the wrong examples. Thank you for any guidance.

The infection of a rodent causes the infection of all the other rodents in the world.

The infection of one rodent causes the infection of all the other rodents in the world.

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    I don't understand what the sentence is trying to say. Is this sentence set in a fictional world? Is it describing a specific event that takes place in a novel (a specific rodent is infected, and this causes all other rodents to become infected), or a feature of a video game (if any rodent is infected, all other rodents will become infected), or . . . ?
    – ruakh
    Oct 27, 2022 at 7:15
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    This isn't any less confusing. If you have a real-world question, please just ask that question. Otherwise, you're not going to get any better answers than on the first question
    – gotube ♦
    Oct 27, 2022 at 7:17
  • It describes a real world biological phenomenon. Take it as a scientific statement. I thought that this new thread would avoid the confusion from the examples in the prior one...
    – user163195
    Oct 27, 2022 at 7:17
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    @goalie But it doesn't. I have a pet rabbit. If she gets infected, it will not instantly cause all other rodents in the world to become infected. Give us a real-world example of where you're going to apply this in English. I know you're not writing about nuclear reactors, wars or rodent infections.
    – gotube ♦
    Oct 27, 2022 at 7:19
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    @goalie You got many accurate and clear answers to your other question. Tell us what's missing from them that you're still unsure about
    – gotube ♦
    Oct 27, 2022 at 7:25

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In your example sentences I would suggest a little correction. You could do well to substitute "of" with "in". And the definite articles are mostly superfluous in your sentences.

In your sentences both "a" and "one" have the meaning "single". In that sense, both "a" and "one" are interchangeable, though "one" draws more attention to itself or what is being talked about.

In some instances "a" and "one" are not interchangeable. This is the case when "one" is used as a pronoun. e.g.

You are the one who made her cry. (Source)

There are other instances also. Kindly look at these pages,

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=difference+between+a+and+one&ia=web

My (Source) for the example sentence above.

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  • Thank you. Would you eliminate all four "the" articles? Or just the one of "all the other"? Someone said that if I were to say "all other" (without "the"), then only "a" can be used.
    – user163195
    Oct 27, 2022 at 8:32
  • You can omit all "the"s. In the second sentence you may choose to keep the "the" in "all the other"(there is a little more stress in the second sentence with the use of "one", and "all the other" goes well with it).
    – banuyayi
    Oct 27, 2022 at 8:42
  • So these are the alternatives as per your suggestions? Infection of a rodent causes infection of all other rodents of world. // Infection of one rodent causes infection of all the other rodents of world.
    – user163195
    Oct 27, 2022 at 8:44
  • Yes. Infection of a rodent causes infection of all other rodents of world. // Infection of one rodent causes infection of all the other rodents of world.
    – banuyayi
    Oct 27, 2022 at 8:55
  • The point being made in preceding comments concerns a very fine nuance of "stylistic choice" that most ordinary native speakers would have trouble understanding, let alone implementing in their own speech / writing! It's "true" from a Lit Crit perspective, but hardly something that matters unless you write ("literary" texts) for a living. And I suggest that if you were a famous author, but you didn't follow the principle outlined here, no publisher or proofreader would ever dream of suggesting you might want to consider changing it. Almost certainly they wouldn't notice anyway.
    – FumbleFingers
    Oct 27, 2022 at 11:54
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From your question closed as a duplicate:

"The defence spending of [all / all the] countries increases if the defence spending of [one / a] country increases."

The defence spending of all countries increases if the defence spending of one country increases.

Correct. You do not have the context of a definite set, so you do not need (and must not use) the definite article.

The defence spending of all the countries increases if the defence spending of one country increases.

Incorrect. If you use the definite article, you need the context of a definite set. e.g.

In NATO, the defence spending of all the countries increases if the defence spending of one country increases.

I would suggest that "if the defence spending of a country increases" is wrong/unnatural, but I can't explain why. (And neither, it appears, can anyone else.) You can recast the sentence as: "If the defence spending of a country increases, the spending of its neighbours will follow suit", and this would be correct/natural.

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  • Thank you very much! I am not sure if I have to continue the discussion here or in the coments of the other thread (which they will hopefully reopen).
    – user163195
    Oct 27, 2022 at 16:56
  • PS: The sentence refers to all the countries in the world and no specific subset as NATO, so at least we have clarified that THE is not needed.
    – user163195
    Oct 27, 2022 at 16:57
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The infection of one rodent causes the infection of all the other rodents in the world.

Quantity 1 rodent will spread infection to all other rodents in the world. The quantity is the focus.

The infection of a rodent causes the infection of all the other rodents in the world.

The quantity of rodents is not the focus, but rather the fact that X is a rodent versus being anything else.

You might say this if for some reason, you were talking about infection of animals in general and want to focus on rodents versus other animals.

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