Posted by hela · December 18, 2012 · 4 replies
Dear teachers,
Would you please tell me which type of article is needed in the following sentence and why? Could both the definite and the indifinite articles are possible ?
Many families keep pet animals like dogs. As is pointed out by some scientists, A / THE dog needs a regular balanced diet, not just meat.
Thank you for your help.
Hela
It shoulod bve "a dog". If you look here , you'll see that the reasons for this have already been discussed.
Hello Susan,
I had already read the thread you mentioned before sending my question but in my sentence can't we consider that "dog" can also be used as a generic term?
As you mentioned in the other thread isn't possible to say here "the species dog needs a regular balanced diet"?
Sorry but I still don't see why only the indefinite article should be used here.
Best regards
But families don't keep whole species - they keep one (or a limited number) of them. The meaning must be seen in context : Many families keep pet animals like dogs. A dog (ie any dog you keep) needs a ....
Ok, thanks 🙂
