The girl in a / the red T-shirt.

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Pastsimple

#278362 Mon, 09 Oct 06 07:18 PM

Hi,

imagine you're walking down the street with your friend. Suddenly, you notice a girl in a red T-shirt. You want to tell your friend something about her. Are you going to identify her as: "The girl in a red T-shirt" or "The girl in the red T-shirt" ? To be honest, I have the suspicion that either might be possible.

And... what if you omit the colour?

Other examples:

"The girl with a / the mobile", "The girl in a / the hat"...

Thanks in advance.

Pastsimple

Joined on Thu, Feb 16 2006

Czech Republic, Europe

Full Member (303)

If you are a native speaker and find any grammar or stylistic mistakes in my posts, don't hesitate to tell me! I will really appreciate that.

Grammar Geek

#278369 Mon, 09 Oct 06 07:28 PM

If there is a specific girl, identifiable by the shirt or hat she is wearing, then use "the girl in that red shirt" or "the girl in the huge hat with flowers." Either "the" or "that" (presuming you can point to it) will work.

(If you don't know who you are looking for - you are meeting someone you haven't met before in person - you could say "I'm looking for a girl who is wearing a red t-shirt.")

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (15,565)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

CalifJim

#278562 Tue, 10 Oct 06 09:02 AM

To identify her, she's the girl in the ..., the girl with the ...
Looking for someone unknown, you look for a girl in a ..., a girl with a ...

CJ

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (16,954)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche