kooiu
Junior Member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2006
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- Yoruba
- Home Country
- Nigeria
- Current Location
- United States
Please correct me regarding the two sentences numbered 1 and 2 below:
1) What were you doing at the Mall yesterday? I was there to buy books (or the books) recommended by one of my professors.
Does "recommended by one of my professors" make "books" definite in my response above?
Can I still use "the books" when I meant all of the books recommended by that particular professor?
2) Mary has denied a (the) claim by John that she did not come around yesterday for illness.
Does "that she did not come around yesterday for illness" in sentence 2 make "claim" definite since it seems to define the claim by John?
My confusion has arisen from the fact that when a noun is post-modified, the noun must be definite.
1) What were you doing at the Mall yesterday? I was there to buy books (or the books) recommended by one of my professors.
Does "recommended by one of my professors" make "books" definite in my response above?
Can I still use "the books" when I meant all of the books recommended by that particular professor?
2) Mary has denied a (the) claim by John that she did not come around yesterday for illness.
Does "that she did not come around yesterday for illness" in sentence 2 make "claim" definite since it seems to define the claim by John?
My confusion has arisen from the fact that when a noun is post-modified, the noun must be definite.