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Sun 7 Oct, 2018 07:21 am
I'm just wondering whether the use of the article "a" (not "the") before "house"is justified in the following sentence, "After driving for an hour, he arrived at a house." Here's the context (British text from Longman English Grammar Practice): The family party was in full swing when the phone rang. Dr Craig answered it. He listened carefully for a moment, then said, 'I’ll come right away.' 'Do you have to go out?' his wife asked. 'If it is an urgent case, I have to go,' Dr Craig answered. 'If I should be late,
please don’t wait up for me.' Dr Craig drove into the night. If
I don’t hurry, he thought, I might be too late. The thought made him drive faster. After driving for an hour, he arrived at a house. All the lights were on. .... Wasn't it the very definite house he was heading for and actually arrived at? Why did the authors said "a house" instead of "the house"? Or is it just a Britishism and they would like say "the house" in AE?
@alexsnapper,
The fuller context reads, "after driving for an hour, he arrived at a house. All the lights were on. If all the family is up, the doctor thought, the situation (must) must be serious. A woman opened the front door immediately. "Thank God you’ve come, doctor," she cried. "It’s my daughter."
Using the article "a" indicates that the doctor was unfamiliar with the house that he arrived at, like he was merely following given directions to that house.
@InfraBlue,
What article would you use before "house" in the given context? Or maybe the personal pronoun "their"? I still can't help thinking that "arrived at a house" may also mean arriving at the wrong house, some house, somebody else's house. Of course, the following context makes it clear that it was the right house. But still....?
@alexsnapper,
By using the article "a" the writer was purposefully implying the Dr.'s unfamiliarity with the house he arrived at.
Context, as you've pointed out, is important. Up until the Dr. arrived at that house, one didn't know if it was the correct one. That was confirmed by the proceeding text.
@InfraBlue,
Thanks a lot indeed. Very exhaustive. No further questions.
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