I have been struggling with articles for quite a long time. Most of the times, I understand but then the more I understand them, the more it's getting perplexed!
For this particular question, I'm keeping in mind that the definite article 'the' is used for the one and only, a unique thing. Known to both – the listener and the speaker. If I say there was a table, it means there was some table but then if you and me are standing in a hall and we see a table, I won't use an indefinite article. There, it's Do you see the table? Quite clear.
Let's extend this further…
You and me are standing on a footpath. And we see a sexy Bentley…
"Wow, what a car!" is generally what we hear. But…
why not the? I'm talking about that Bentley only –that particular car, in front of us (like the table).
And to argue, I'm not talking about the same model by German Volkswagen AG (or else 'a car' is justified!) because it has a beautiful sticker of Spiderman on it. Volkswagen does not make it that way!
Same case with…
"What the beautiful pair of legs!" – She's right in front of me!
"What the movie it is! Awesome!" – Telling someone in the interval.
Though I'm asking this question, What a beautiful… and What a movie… seems correct.
Ah, I am trying to come up with What the [countable noun]… examples but finding it difficult. Is it that weird?
Best Answer
The definite article is not used in this expression.
When we assign an entity membership in a class we use the indefinite article, regardless of how ‘determinate’ the entity is, because it is not the only member of the class.
For instance, we ordinarily say “I own a ’57 Chevy”—that is, “The car I own belongs to the class ’57 Chevy”. You own only one car, it is entirely determinate, you introduce it into the conversation with the definite article; but it is just one of many ’57 Chevys. You would only say “I own the ’57 Chevy” if you and your hearers were looking at a group of cars and you were identifying your car as the only ’57 Chevy in the group.
Likewise, when you speak of a particular individual known to your hearer, you use a definite determiner in identifying or naming her—my wife—but the indefinite article in assigning her to a class: “My wife is a graduate student in mediaeval English lit.”
In the same way, when you say “What a car!”, you are not identifying the car but asserting its membership in the class of “cars to which attention should be drawn”.
We never say "What the X," because that utterance is not intended to identify which X you are talking about. It does not enjoin the hearer to "Look at that X", it observes that that X is an X of a certain class: it is an X which excites your admiration and deserves your hearer's attention.