[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by oichi

OK, this number is mine and I am interested in only this one number.
But doesn't the caller on the other side also say "Oh, I seem to have dialed the wrong number"?
If he does, why does HE say so, considering it is not HIS number and there are so many other wrong numbers he can dial?

Hello, :D

I'm going say what everyone else has said but I'm going to use different words. :wink:

Sam: Hello?
Max: Hello. I'd like to order a pizza.
Sam: Pizza? Sorry. The number you (have) dialed is wrong.

Another way of saying "The number you (have) dialed is wrong" is "You have dailed the wrong number".

"The number" refers to a specific number, as tdol said, the number you are calling. There is only one number registered with the location you are calling and that number is different (i.e. chigau) from the one you want to call.

the number is wrong ~ the wrong number

a nice haircut

Pat: That's a nice haircut!
Sam: Thanks. :D

There are many kinds of haircuts, and of those many, Sam has one--not "the one" as Mike has explained, but just one of the many.

Another example
Sam: Please lend me a pencil.
Max: What kind of pencil? I have several kinds.
Sam: A nice one. (Meaning, any one pencil in your case)

or

Sam: (pointing) The nice one there. (pointing = specific)

or

Sam: The green one. ('green' = specific)

Please consider this situation.
A teacher asks students to buy a specific textbook and bring it to the next class. In the next class, one student brings a book which is not the one the teacher intended. Here, does the teacher say "you got THE wrong book" or "you got A wrong book"? Unlike "You dialed the wrong number," that wrong book is not the teacher's.

Teacher: Did you bring your workbooks?
Student: Yes. Here it is.
Teacher: That's the wrong workbook.

the workbook (I asked you to buy) is wrong ~ the wrong workbook.

"I asked you to buy" modifies "workbook" and makes "workbook" specific and so "The" is added.

How about a situation like this?
Two men are looking for a specific woman they know in the street.
One man says "Isn't that her?" pointing at a woman walking in front of them. The other man understands that it is not her. Here, does the other man say "That's the wrong person" or "That's a wrong person"?

Pat: There's Miki!
Sam: No. That's not her.
Pat: Yes, it is!
Sam: That's the wrong person.

the person (we are looking for) is wrong ~ the wrong person

"we are looking for" makes "person" specific, and so "The" is added.

Yoroshiku