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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > help with articles
help with articles
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gordana44
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help with articles
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I wonder if someone could help me.
Which sentence is correct?
It �s a town she comes from or it �s the town she comes from?
Could someone explain why that is.
I appreciate your help.
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30 May 2014
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anaram
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I think it should be "the town" because she can only come from one town and that is the one we �re talking about so it should take a definite article.
I hope it helps
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30 May 2014
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ahmedelizmiri
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anaram is right.
The town she comes from is only one even if we don �t know exactly where it is.
You can use "a" when there are more options.
This is a town where you can have a good summer holiday. (= there are more towns where you can have holiday and this is one of those)
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30 May 2014
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nasreddine Sarsar
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The town she comes from, but the explanation provided is not accurate. The explanation provided treats the word "town" as one of a kind! This is not true. The answer should be: "The town she comes from" because the "town" is already identified with the adjective clause " she comes from" that follows it. The adjective or relative clause in this case lacks the relative pronoun �which � or �that �. The relative pronoun was omitted because it is in the objective case. When the relative pronoun is in the objective case, it can be omitted. So the word "town" MUST be identified with the definite article "the". I hope my explanation is of some help to you. Have a nice day.
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31 May 2014
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anaram
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Of course I
may be wrong but I can think of some complex noun phrases with relative clauses
which do not necessarily take definite article. Although most restrictive
relative clauses work within noun phrases starting with a definite article I
think this is not always the case. For example: This is a book you can easily read implies there are more books you can
read easily and this is one of them. The same goes for: A town I visited last year.
A town I come from would imply it is possible to come from more
than one town.
But, again,
I may be wrong and grammar is not an exact science.
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31 May 2014
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Peter Hardy
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You can say "It �s a town she comes from" with an unmentioned addition like "and not a village". If the town in question was mentioned before I would say �It �s that town she comes from � instead of �the town �. You �d say "The town she comes from is on the east coast" or something like that. Depending on the context both articles can be used. Cheers. |
31 May 2014
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