[Grammar] Preposition: a or the?

[Joe333]

Sentence: There should be a/the facility to omit certain numbers from the Do Not Call service/registry.


Question: Which preposition shall come in the sentence, a or the?


Thanks and regards

 

[5jj]

Sentence: There should be a/the facility to omit certain numbers from the Do Not Call service/registry.

Question: Which [STRIKE]preposition[/STRIKE] article/determiner [STRIKE]shall[/STRIKE] should come in the sentence, a or the?

Either is possible.

 

[Joe333]

Either is possible.

Thanks sir. Thanks for pointing out my mistakes in the question also. It also helps. But if either is possible then tell me which preposition is possible in which case? I'm very confused.

 

[5jj]

They are not preposistions, as I noted in my first response. In this particular sentence, there is no practical difference in meaning between having a facility, perhaps one of several, or having the facility specified.

 

[White Hat]

There should be a facility to omit certain numbers from the Do Not Call service/registry.

Judging by what they are trying to say, I'd go with "a".

 

[Joe333]

They are not prepositions, as I noted in my first response. In this particular sentence, there is no practical difference in meaning between having a facility, perhaps one of several, or having the facility specified.

Oops sorry I have been continuously referring to it as preposition. Believe me I know it is an article but because I have another question in mind which is related to preposition and I'm in a bit hurry, I am mistakenly referring to it as preposition. My bad.

Apropos of my question I think I should go with the article "the" as I'm talking about a particular facility that is to "exclude".

Thanks

 

[White Hat]

Oops sorry I have been continuously referring to it as preposition. Believe me I know it is an article but because I have another question in mind which is related to preposition and I'm in a bit hurry, I am mistakenly referring to it as preposition. My bad.

Apropos of my question I think I should go with the article "the" as I'm talking about a particular facility that is to "exclude".

Thanks

Context is all.

 

[Joe333]

There should be a facility to omit certain numbers from the Do Not Call service/registry.

Judging by what they are trying to say, I'd go with "a".

Lol! Bennevis just saw your reply after I posted my above reply. Thanks for it. But as you can see in my above post, based on the answer of fivejudjon, I decided to go with the article "the", but after your reply I think I need to reconsider my decision as myself is not 100% sure.

Also think going with the article a would be safe.

 

[Joe333]

Context is all.

Sir please do not confuse me first by saying article "a" would be right then by saying "context is all" . Please finally tell me according to my sentence which article would be more appropriate?

Thanks

 

[White Hat]

If the reader/listener knows which facility the writer/speaker is talking about, then it should be "the".

 

[White Hat]

Sir please do not confuse me first by saying article "a" would be right then by saying "context is all" . Please finally tell me according to my sentence which article would be more appropriate?

Thanks

Nobody is trying to confuse you. Please learn to provide context. Take a look at the file I've attached and draw your own conclusions.

 

[Joe333]

If the reader/listener knows which facility the writer/speaker is talking about, then it should be "the".

No, no the reader/lister does not know which facility I'm talking about as I'm going to invoke/demand, it in way, in my sentence for the first time. Since this facilty is not there, I'm in a way demanding it and since they will know/hear about the facility, I'm demanding, for the first time, I think I should use the article "a". Now I have got it correctly after getting the reason. Thanks Bennesvis. Thanks fivejedjon. I think you will agree with me.

 

[Joe333]

Nobody is trying to confuse you. Please learn to provide context. Take a look at the file I've attached and draw your own conclusions.

Sorry sir if you took that otherwise. I said that lightheartedly. Not meant to hurt you .

Thought sentence itself suffice the need of context. By the way what more info you think I could/should have given?

 

[konungursvia]

The difference between a and the is whether the article is meant to be anaphoric, i.e. whether it refers to something already referred to, or something newer and less expected. Given the context, if the listener/reader is familiar with such policies or technologies, the is appropriate, if it's introduced as a rather new notion, "a" is the answer.

 

[SoothingDave]

I would use "the." You're talking about a feature that software or some other system should have.

It's something the user should expect to be able to do.