An easy question from a kid

涂于德

There is an office on the first floor.

对on the first floor提问，是Where is there an office?
还是Where is the office?
Different reference books have different answers, what on earth is the most appropriate answer?

lucy12345678

I think the common way to say is where is the office?....................

涂于德

Thank you
So quick response!

Then how could it be:
"an" is changed into "the"?

"an office" in the original sentence didn't mean a certain one, after all.

lucy12345678

I agree with you
"an office" in the original sentence didn't mean a certain one, after all.

But when you ask question, "an office" become a particular one, that's why we use "the office" instead "an office"

gzlaser

the same as lucy12345678. since the questioner ask the location of an office, he must know something about the office, such as its name, its function, and so forth. it's a specific office. while the first answer refers to an office that the replier doesn't know what kind of the "an office" is.
so the answer should be "The office is on the first floor." rather than "There is an office on the first floor".

lucy12345678

I'm happy. I have a supporter......................................

What's the next question?...........................................................

toreador

anyway, it is not difficult to presuppose a situation where it is more appropriate to ask "where is an officer."

let 's imagine:

if u go into a governmental building to dispose some affair for the first time, you may ask the first person you encounter the question:

Where is an officer?

instead of

Where is the officer?

If you know there is an officer in the first floor, and you ask someone else where is the officer, it seems to me that you are kidding.

the drill of dialogue, as it were, can be a tautology.

vicwjtor

However, the question is There is an office on the first floor? not the officer,
so, in my view, the most appropriate question should be "Where is the office?"
Because, if you don't specify the "the office", there are so many offices on earth, it is also very common for you to ask for the place of some office, while not a office.
Is my answer correct???

lucy12345678

请原谅哦，本人英语不太好。不过我怎么觉得6的解释好像混淆了楼主的问题。
6楼的解释好像是在解释如何使用a/an/the这三个冠词。如果我的理解没错的话，楼主是在对There is/are句型的提问方式作讨论，尽管楼主的第2个问题也是与冠词的使用有关。


这个贴子的讨论如此热烈，版主应该要加点分表扬一下噢。。。。。。。。。。。。。。