I have a question about using "the" or "a/an"

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rlawlgns1272

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Hi, I'm wondering if I should use "an" or "the" in the following sentence,

In the/an aim to provided improved customer service, ...

The usage of "the" and "a/an" has always been confusing to me, but I personally believe that I should put "the" in the case of this particular sentence. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks in advance,
 
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jutfrank

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I think you mean:

With the aim of providing improved customer service, ...

Please make sure you give us complete sentences in context. Thank you.
 

rlawlgns1272

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I think you mean:

With the aim of providing improved customer service, ...

Please make sure you give us complete sentences in context. Thank you.


I'm sorry. I thought the part of the sentence I provided was enough.

The full sentence that I was provided with is "In an aim to provide improved customer service, inspection of the exterior signage is scheduled during the period below."

Can I just replace "an" with "the"? or should I replace "to provide"" with "of providing" as well?

Thanks in advance,
 
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emsr2d2

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Please use the "Edit Post" facility to change every instance of the word "i" to "I". You must use a capital letter for the first person singular pronoun every time you write it.
 

emsr2d2

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I'm sorry. I thought the part of the sentence I provided was enough.

The full sentence that I was provided with is "In an aim to provide improved customer service, inspection of the exterior signage is scheduled during the period below."

Can I just replace "an" with "the" (no question mark here) or should I replace "to provide"" with "of providing" as well?

[STRIKE]Thanks in advance.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. Thank us after we help you, by clicking on the "Thank" button.

No, you can't say "In the aim". As stated in post #2, you need to start with "With the aim of providing". I think perhaps you are confusing it with "In an attempt to provide ...". That's grammatically correct but it doesn't really fit your context.
 
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