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new life VS the/his new life

hirashin

Sempai
Donor
8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
I need your help.

Which would sound right?

My brother has just moved to Tokyo.
(a) He's excited about new life there.
(b) He's excited about the new life there.
(c) He's excited about his new life there.

Thanks in advance.
Hirashin
 
Only (c) is correct to convey the idea that you want to convey.

"Life" used in the sense used here is a countable noun, and singular countable nouns must ALWAYS be preceeded by an article or possessive, so (a) is grammatically incorrect (in the sense in which you are using "life" here).

In (b), "the new life" sounds like some life other than your brother's, so is not correct to convey what you want to convey.
 
By the way, A would be interpreted the same way as the opening in Star Trek (or at least that's how I would interpret it), i.e. trying to discover new species.
 
"a new life" is 100% natural in some sentences, but sounds somewhat unnatural in this sentence, perhaps because the sentence as a whole is describing something specific/definite, rather than general/indefinite.
With your sentences, I would say:
(c) ◎
(d) ○
An example of a perfectly natural sentence with "a" is:
When he moves to Chicago, he can start a new life. ◎
However,
When he moves to Chicago, he can start his new life. × or △
sounds unnatural.
The differences in these cases might have to do with definite vs. indefinite objects (i.e., the same type of difference that affects whether "the" or "a" is used).
 
Dear native English speakers,
I need your help.

Which would sound right?

My brother has just moved to Tokyo.
(a) He's excited about new life there.
(b) He's excited about the new life there.
(c) He's excited about his new life there.

Thanks in advance.
Hirashin
C
 
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