Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[capri169]

Dear teachers
In articles, we often use "the" to point out one specific thing.
But, can you tell me what is the proper time to add "the", or it may be unnecessary? Thank you, teacher.
Sincerely, Cindy Liu.

[redset]

Hi Cindy - I'm not exactly sure what you mean, can you give some more information or examples? Are you asking about using the when talking about time?

[capri169]

Dear teacher
Sorry, I had a poor expressiveness. For example, (1) "The" right time to do something. or (2) "A" right time to do something. Which one of them is better? And what is the proper time to add them?
Thank you very much.
Sincerely, Cindy Liu.

[redset]

Ah ok, I see what you mean

First of all, a and the are called articles. I'll explain them quickly, but there's a lot more information here:
http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/articlestext.htm

Basically you use the when you're talking about one specific thing:

'The cat is hungry.' (you know which cat I'm talking about)
'The house is cold.' (you know which house, probably the one we're in)
'Look at the moon!' (there's only one moon)

You use a when there are a lot of options, or if the other person doesn't know what thing you're referring to:

'A cat walked in.' (you didn't know about the cat, I just introduced it! From now on I would say 'the cat' because you know which cat I'm talking about)
'Take a cookie!' (there are several cookies, take whichever one you like)
'I'm going to take a day off.' (I didn't specify which day, there are a few possibilities)

In your example we would say "the right time", because there's only one 'right' time - it means the perfect time, or the best time, better than any other time. If we said "a right time" that would mean there were several right times - which makes sense, but we don't say that in English! Instead we'd say "a good time", "a suitable time", or maybe "an appropriate time" - one of several possible times.

I don't think we ever say a right... (meaning 'a correct...' or 'a suitable...'), it's always the right.... The only exception I can think of is a right answer, which is an informal way of saying a correct answer and might only be a British thing!

[capri169]

Dear teacher
Thank you very much!
I got many information an new knowledge of English.
Sincerely, Cindy Liu.