"A/An" or "The"

Words like "a/an" and "the" have always been part of our everyday life. We had been using them since the very day we learn how to talk. But the question is, what really the difference between the two.

I've been asking around what is the difference between them but all I got from them are mere example or they would just shrugged off but the worst or funniest reaction I got is they would just stare at me like I suddenly got two heads (hahaha...). In the end, I figured it out myself by analyzing how was it use in a sentence.

My analysis is that "A/An" is use when you're generalizing while "The" is use when you're referring to something specific.

The first example is referring to specific book.

Let's read the book.

The second example is referring to any kind of book.

Let's read a book.

The Riverside

This short story is what my friends and I created for a groupwork in school (though I did some revisions before I upload it here). I thank my groupmates, Karen Lim, Nashra Bato-on, Charmaine Geronimo, and Donnavie Gene Geronimo, for making this story great.

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The day had just begun. The waves were rushing through the shore. As I passed by, I saw two young boys that caught my attention. They look so peaceful playing with the water, they look so happy together, who would have thought that maybe one day those two would go their separate ways.

This scene looks familiar, my friend and I was once like this. We used to play under the heat of the sun. But, unfortunately, the day came wherein he left me. I stopped with that thought; I would want to keep that picture of those two boys playing together in my mind to ease the sadness I’m feeling. I continue to walk passed them and left the two boys in their games.

A few years passed, as I strolled by the sea, which had become my favorite past time lately, I saw one of those little boys back then. He was picking dried leaves with an older woman, whom I supposed was his mother. I was curious where his friend was so I went over to him when his mother left. I talked to him and asked where his friend was and I was shocked to found out that his friend left for the city. My emotions started to rush as I remembered my sad past. It was also something like this, my friend left for the city to study in a good school, and by the time when I grew up and also got the chance to go there, I followed him but I didn’t find him.