Question “Where is” + indefinite article
Can we ask a question "Where is a snake?" instead of "Where is the snake"?
Now what's about the longer story?
My friend told me there are six snakes in the grass. I went there and I ask myself:
- Where is a snake?
- It is in the grass.
I assume I, while asking, decide the meaning of the sentence, so both forms are correct? In this example I know about six snakes and I don't care about which one I ask, because any of them is important for me. So this snake is not specified, because I choose so.
Is there any grammatical rule that says we must use definite article aftere "Where is?". Who decides if a thing is (the) specified or (a) unspecified?
questions definite-articles indefinite-articles where
asked 6 mins ago
SyjskcSyjskc
1
New contributor
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
Can we ask a question "Where is a snake?" instead of "Where is the snake"?
Now what's about the longer story?
My friend told me there are six snakes in the grass. I went there and I ask myself:
- Where is a snake?
- It is in the grass.
I assume I, while asking, decide the meaning of the sentence, so both forms are correct? In this example I know about six snakes and I don't care about which one I ask, because any of them is important for me. So this snake is not specified, because I choose so.
Is there any grammatical rule that says we must use definite article aftere "Where is?". Who decides if a thing is (the) specified or (a) unspecified?
questions definite-articles indefinite-articles where
asked 6 mins ago
SyjskcSyjskc
1
New contributor
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
Can we ask a question "Where is a snake?" instead of "Where is the snake"?
Now what's about the longer story?
My friend told me there are six snakes in the grass. I went there and I ask myself:
- Where is a snake?
- It is in the grass.
I assume I, while asking, decide the meaning of the sentence, so both forms are correct? In this example I know about six snakes and I don't care about which one I ask, because any of them is important for me. So this snake is not specified, because I choose so.
Is there any grammatical rule that says we must use definite article aftere "Where is?". Who decides if a thing is (the) specified or (a) unspecified?
questions definite-articles indefinite-articles where
asked 6 mins ago
SyjskcSyjskc
1
New contributor
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Can we ask a question "Where is a snake?" instead of "Where is the snake"?
Now what's about the longer story?
My friend told me there are six snakes in the grass. I went there and I ask myself:
- Where is a snake?
- It is in the grass.
I assume I, while asking, decide the meaning of the sentence, so both forms are correct? In this example I know about six snakes and I don't care about which one I ask, because any of them is important for me. So this snake is not specified, because I choose so.
Is there any grammatical rule that says we must use definite article aftere "Where is?". Who decides if a thing is (the) specified or (a) unspecified?
questions definite-articles indefinite-articles where
questions definite-articles indefinite-articles where
asked 6 mins ago
SyjskcSyjskc
1
New contributor
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 6 mins ago
SyjskcSyjskc
1
New contributor
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 6 mins ago
SyjskcSyjskc
1
New contributor
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 6 mins ago
SyjskcSyjskc
1
asked 6 mins ago
SyjskcSyjskc
1
1
New contributor
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Syjskc is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
0
active
oldest
votes
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Syjskc is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f483414%2fquestion-where-is-indefinite-article%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
0
active
oldest
votes
0
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Syjskc is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Syjskc is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Syjskc is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Syjskc is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f483414%2fquestion-where-is-indefinite-article%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
