I am making a test where I am asked to add the missing words.
[…] chair is […] useful piece of furniture.
I would have said that a is the missing word in both the cases, but the test says the words I should have added are the and a respectively.
[…] last time I saw […] bear, I was travelling in […] Europe.
I would have added: nothing, a, nothing. The correct answer is: the, a, nothing.
Why is the the correct article to use in both the sentences?
Best Answer
1. In the first example "the" is used because of generalizing. When you generalize about something (an object, an animal), you use the definite article before it if it is a singular countable noun. Some other examples would be:
Notice than uncountable nouns are used without an article in this case:
2. In the second example "last time" sounds similar to "last week" or "last month" and that is why many people would not use "the". Compare, however, these two sentences:
In the first example"last" means "previous, the one closest to the present", and is similar to the use in "last month, last week". In the second example we use "the" because it is the last in a specified period of time or within a specified group of events. The difference would be more obvious here:
This is the most recent Friday.
This is not the most recent Friday, but the Friday, which was last of all the Fridays he was here.