Dan01  +  295334 Mon, 20 Nov 06 02:25 AM hello! this can be confusing for beginners as to as and when to use "the" (definite) or "a/an" (indefinite) article correctly. in grammar rules, the definite article (the) is used in occasions like stating a unique object, e.g. The moon, The sun and etc. secondly, when the same noun is mentioned again, e.g.  a boy meets a girl.  in an uncanny coincidence, the boy meets the girl again.  while the indefinite article (a/an) is mainly used in cases like indicating the concept of 'one' or 'everyone'. my question: the police is bestowed with powers and laws to maintain social order. in this case, do i use an indefinite article "the" for the phrase 'social order'? thank you.   Dan01 Joined on Sun, Feb 12 2006 New Member 49 Articles, Grammar, Nouns, Indefinite Articles, Definite Articles, Determiners

	Tung Quoc  +  295337 Mon, 20 Nov 06 02:48 AM Hi, My question: the police is bestowed with powers and laws to maintain social order. In this case, do I use an definite article "the" for the phrase 'social order'? I put the here.   Quoc   Tung Quoc Joined on Sun, Sep 17 2006 Regular Member 870 Articles, Definite Articles, Determiners

	Dan01  +  295566 Mon, 20 Nov 06 04:23 PM i see.  "the social order" is an unique object as it is the specific noun being determined here with a full-stop at the end of it. Dan01 Articles, Nouns, Determiners