Reply to Articles are completely useless in the English language, grammar police where are you to weigh in?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There is a big difference between "the" and "a."  Look at these two sentences:

1)  The boy is running down the street.
2)  A boy is running down the street.

In #1 you know it is a specific boy, one who within the context of the paragraph has been identified.  In #2 you only know that some random boy is running down the street.[/quote]
Not much difference, though, and who is ever saying that other than English teachers? To teach how to use a useless article. When did you hear that sentence in actual use? I know this boy or a random boy is running? You are never going to use it that way, ever. Useless.[/quote]

Well, why not communicate like cave people, i.e., "me hungry?"  "Me done?"

Or, write using proper English.

"A Falls Church boy was found today lost in the woods.  The boy had been missing for five days."

As a PP explained, you introduce the person or thing using "a" or "an."  After the introduction, you use "the."

Consider incorrect English:

"The Falls Church boy was found today."

"The" boy?  Is he famous?  Should I already know about THE boy?

On that note, I'm not "a" DCUM.  I am THE DCUM.  THE one. ha!

[/quote]
Superfluous use, at best. Your examples are only showing that in most cases articles are useless for the meaning of the sentence. Like in that sentence I just typed. However, one smart pp showed me examples of when they do matter. You would likely not even get a job with VIPKID with that great "knowledge" of English![/quote]

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