Answer to Question #85065 in English for Khutso

Question

Use of articles :definite and indefinite
The brackets articles in the following two sentences are different, and they serve different purposes. Identify the articles.
a. I saw (a)man walking down the street.
B. I saw (the) man walking down the street.

Answer 1

1 I saw (a) man walking down the street.

Here the article (a) is indefinite since the specific identity of the noun (man) is not known. The speaker is not familiar with the man.

2 I saw (the) man walking down the street.

Here the article (the) is definite since the specific identity of the noun (man) is known. The speaker is familiar with the man.