4 ms·
Sigh. You're barking up the wrong tree. OK, I'll append a third reason: maybe the speaker was confident. Yes, I guess technically just because he knows some pie
by mehrdadn 8y ago
Sigh. You're barking up the wrong tree. OK, I'll append a third reason: maybe the speaker was confident. Yes, I guess technically just because he knows some piece of information, that doesn't mean he has to convey that information to you. Maybe because, for whatever reason, there being a single hill was not a conclusion he intended you to draw from the statement. Which means you shouldn't be drawing that conclusion. Are we good now? I think I'll rest my case here; if you think your conclusion is just as correct as the alternative then please do go around responding with that assumption as you hear people speak; I wish you (and the people you're speaking to) the best of luck.
- foldr 8y agoYour sarcasm kind of proves the point: I don’t actually have any difficulty in my day-to-day life with misusing or misunderstanding definite or indefinite articles. So I don’t think I’m likely to be alone in finding the quiz question obscure. There are all kind of things that you might infer from a speaker choosing to use the indefinite rather than the definite in a particular circumstance. But I don’t think that non-uniqueness inferences are all that strongly indicated in the absence of any knowledge of the speaker’s intentions. Here are a couple of other examples: Every student in the class sat an exam. Every child in the school has joined a club. These sentences simply don't carry any strong implication that it wasn't the same exam/club for each student/child. The specific indefinite reading is readily available.