The Article

  • Здравствуйте)
    Подскажите пожалуйста какая разница в значении слова The whole и A whole?
    I have read the whole book. He ate a whole chocolate cake last night.

    С уважением,
    Светлана

  • Hello,
    What is the difference :
    "I was working the whole/ a whole afternoon"

    "The whole afternoon" is referring to a specific afternoon.
    I would probably say this when talking about what I did on that day.
    I wasn't able to go to Billy's party because I was working the whole afternoon.

    "A whole afternoon" is not specific.
    I would probably say this when talking about how much time I spent working on something.
    "I spent a whole afternoon working on that birthday card."

    What's the difference between "a whole day and the whole day"?

    In Grammar,

    ‘A’ & ‘An’ are called “Indefinite Articles” (Referred to ANYTHING/ANYONE - Single in count)
    ‘The' is called a “Definite article” (Referred to SPECIFIC Person/Place/Animal/Thing)
    Difference between the Phrase:

    ‘A WHOLE day' is referred to some day (Any day) accounting for an 'Entire Day.’

    'The WHOLE day” is referred to a ‘Specific day' accounting for an 'Entire Day'

    E.g.

    “A whole day" - It's going to take a whole day to finish the task. (Someday, when the task will be carried out, it will consume one full day )
    “The whole day” - She worked the whole day to meet the deadline. (Refers to a ‘specific/Entire’ day ‘the person in reference' took, to meet the deadline.