"with a fist" or "with the fist"?
Tell me please which article I need to use in the following sentence.
John's boss menaced him with a/the fist saying that if he don't finish the project by evening he will fire him.
I am not sure which article I need to use because the boss has two fists.
J.R.♦
Dmytro O'HopeDmytro O'Hope
The boss can have two hands but only one fist – like this guy – J.R.♦ Sep 11 '18 at 16:58
Something else occurred to me: do you mean that the boss is making fists with both hands? In that case you would say fists and not a or the fist. – stangdon Sep 11 '18 at 17:01
For what it's worth: If he didn't finish the project . . .he would fire him. – Jason Bassford Sep 11 '18 at 19:02
And then John gave his boss the finger. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Sep 11 '18 at 19:24
We have answered this question in many forms before and I believe for you,too. – Lambie Sep 11 '18 at 22:22
The only one that sounds fluent is a fist, because it happens to be one fist but it is not important or known exactly which one, and it doesn't make a difference. The fact that the boss has two fists doesn't matter.
"The fist" sounds like it's referring to some specific fist that we've already mentioned.
Reference: http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/grammar/articles.html
This is just rule #1: Use the indefinite article a or an only with a singular count noun whose specific identity is not known to the reader. It's one fist, but the specific identity isn't known.
stangdonstangdon
Exactly. Compare: John's boss gave him a banana after work. It doesn't matter if there is one banana, or a whole bunch. – J.R.♦ Sep 11 '18 at 17:00
You're assuming there has been no previous reference to a fist. If there has been (John closed his fingers into a fist), then the fist (or this fist) is completely appropriate—and more warranted than a fist. – Jason Bassford Sep 11 '18 at 19:01
@JasonBassford True, but in what we were given, there wasn't. – stangdon Sep 11 '18 at 19:18
Dontcha think this is a duplicate? I don't mind at all myself. Duplicates are ok by me. I was not looking to give you a piece of my mind. – Lambie Sep 11 '18 at 22:24
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