Thank you for a nice present

hirashin · 29 Nov 2017

Dear native English speakers,
I have a little question.

About the following sentences:
(a) Thank you for the nice present.
(b) Thank you for your nice present.
(c) Thank you for a nice present.

I believe you say (a) or (b). But do you ever say (c)?
If you do, in which case do you say it?

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin

OoTmaster · 29 Nov 2017

I can't think of any situation where you would say that exact phrase. You might say "Thank you for bringing a nice present."

hirashin · 30 Nov 2017

Thanks for the help, OoTmaster. Is it that you use (a) and (b) but not (c)?

joadbres · 30 Nov 2017

In this case, as in almost every case, you should follow the standard rule for determining when to use "the" vs. "a" for singular nouns. If you expect the 聞き手 to know what you are referring to, then use "the" (定冠詞). Otherwise, use "a" (不定冠詞). In this case, obviously the gift-giver knows which gift is being spoken about, so "the" is appropriate. ("Your" is also OK.)
Note, though, that you might see "a nice present" used in a context such as the following:
"Thank you for bringing such a nice present." "such a ..." is a set phrase here.

hirashin · 30 Nov 2017

Thank you for the help, joadbres. It is really hard for Japanese to judge which article to use. In this case I thought that "the" or "your" would be appropriate but the answer book of the exercise book says "thank you for a nice present." So I wanted native speakers' views. I think we should use books by native speakers to teach English but many schools in Japan including the school I work for use exercise books by Japanese people.

hirashin · 1 Dec 2017

How about "Thank you for such a nice present."?

OoTmaster · 1 Dec 2017

Yes you can use it like that.

Thank you for a nice present

hirashin

Sempai

OoTmaster

先輩

hirashin

Sempai

joadbres

八方凡人

hirashin

Sempai

hirashin

Sempai

OoTmaster

先輩

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