0

A letter written in Spanish addressed to a person who doesn’t read Spanish can’t be considered communication until it’s translated into a language the person does read and understand.

Shouldn't it be "into the language" here? Because we're talking a specific language: the one the receiving person understands.

1
  • 4
    Some people understand more than one language. Jun 2, 2016 at 7:34

1 Answer 1

7

There is no constraint that the receiver understands only one specific language. In such a case, 'a' is the more suitable usage (indefinite article).

For example: Person 1 knows Spanish. Person 2 knows English & French. A letter written from Person 1 to Person 2 can be translated into English or French for the receiver to understand the message. As the same case can be extended to any number of languages, it is an indefinite value.

Usage of 'the' (definite article) is more suited to cases where you can distinctly identify the target as a single value.

You must log in to answer this question.