Snappy
Member
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2009
- Member Type
- Other
- Native Language
- Japanese
- Home Country
- Japan
- Current Location
- Japan
When I show a watch, which I bought yesterday,” to a friend of mine, I think I can say: “This is the watch that I bought yesterday.”
An English usage reference book that I have explains “This is a book that I bought yesterday” is also possible, if the person I am talking to does not know that I bought the watch yesterday.
This is rather an old book, and I would like to hear native speakers’ opinions about the above sentence and the following ones.
1. A/The new TV set that I bought yesterday was broken. (Situation: I bought one TV set. Can I say either “A new...” or “The new...” ? If I say, “A new TV set...,” doesn’t the person I am talking to wonder how many TV sets I bought?)
2. A/The box of chocolate that I bought yesterday was good. (Situation: I bought one box of chocolate. Can I use either the definite article or indefinite article before “box”?)
3. Oh, you have a new credit card! Did you ask the credit card company for priorities/the priorities that you are entitled to? I’m sure card users will have some priorities. (Same question. Can I use either “priorities” or “the priorities”?)
Our language (Japanese) has no concept of definite or indefinite articles. So I still have difficulty using them.
Thank you in advance.