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I saw the beautiful moon in the sky.

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
the sentence above is from a textbook we use. Does it sound natural?

Do you also say "I saw a beautiful moon in the sky"?

Thanks in advance.
Hirashin
 
Both versions are correct:
I saw a beautiful moon in the sky.
I saw the beautiful moon in the sky.

There are three rules. (Actually, there are over 30 rules for a/an/the, these are only three of the 30+ rules.)

I saw a beautiful moon in the sky.
1. This is used to emphasize what the person saw.

I saw the beautiful moon in the sky.
2. This is used when the moon has already been mentioned. This would be the second time, the third time, etc., the moon is mentioned.

I saw the beautiful moon in the sky.
3. This is used to talk about "large parts of nature". We often say the sun, the moon, the sea, the sky, the air, the beach, etc. For example, "The rocket landed either in the sea or on a farm." Another example, we would never say, "The rocket is in an air", we must say, "The rocket is in the air."

So, in your example, either "a" or "the" are correct, depending on the situation.
 
Last edited:
I should add that "the beautiful moon" is more common than "a beautiful moon" in this situation.
 
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