Article: "the" or "a"

[tung quoc]

Please read the thread "sentences" where there is this sentence:

Both the speaker and the listener have known the year. (1)

Why there is "the" in front of "speaker" and "listener"? When I write:

Both a speaker and a listener have known the year. (2)

What is the difference in menaing btw (1) and (2)?You think I shoul write "the" or "a"?
What is the rule?

Quoc

[Alan]

Hi,

Look at the material I have written on the articles on this site:

ESL Lesson: Articles in English: The vs. A/an
http://www.english-test.net/lessons/16/index.html

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story A day in the life of a driving instructor