Why do people more commonly say I've made a wrong turn as opposed to the wrong turn. But when it comes to the wrong number, it's always "the" wrong number.

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Pallodillo

2020年11月26日

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英語 (アメリカ)

It's because there are probably a few different turns you could have taken, and you took one of the wrong ones. It kind of implies you don't know which one was the right one. You MIGHT say "I've made the wrong turn" if there were only two options and you knew immediately that you picked the wrong one, like if you were using GPS.

"The wrong number" is because you dialed a specific number, so you know which number it is. If someone calls you by accident and your friend asks you who called, you might say "oh, it was a wrong number," because you don't know what the number was.

"The" is a definite article, so it expresses certainty. If you say "a cat walked by," all you're saying is that there was a cat. If you say "the cat walked by," it's implied that you know which cat it is.

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Pallodillo

2020年11月26日

英語 (アメリカ)

It's because there are probably a few different turns you could have taken, and you took one of the wrong ones. It kind of implies you don't know which one was the right one. You MIGHT say "I've made the wrong turn" if there were only two options and you knew immediately that you picked the wrong one, like if you were using GPS.

"The wrong number" is because you dialed a specific number, so you know which number it is. If someone calls you by accident and your friend asks you who called, you might say "oh, it was a wrong number," because you don't know what the number was.

"The" is a definite article, so it expresses certainty. If you say "a cat walked by," all you're saying is that there was a cat. If you say "the cat walked by," it's implied that you know which cat it is.

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cheneric

2020年11月27日

タイ語

thank you!

but once you made that wrong turn, should it become the wrong turn as well?

it's that particular turn that you made a mistake similar to that particular wrong number that you called.

or suppose we have many objects and we don't know which one is the right one.
in this case do we say i picked a wrong object or the wrong object. I feel like you can switch out these objects for phone numbers or turns as in driving.

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