"a" or "the"?

Question

English isn't my native language, and I don't know what I should put in the following parenthesis. "a" or "the"?

"Between 1860 and 1900, ( a / the ) government agency called the US Patent Office issued patents for more than a half million different inventions."

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Between 1860 and 1900 a government agency called the US Patent Office issued patents for more than a half million different inventions.

or

Between 1860 and 1900 The US Patent Office issued patents for more than a half million different inventions.

Answer 2

Stay away from "wordy" phrases. Shorten your sentence to: "Between 1860 and 1900 The US Patent Office issued patents for more than a half million different inventions."

Answer 3

"a".

"Between 1860 and 1900, a government agency called the US Patent Office issued patents for more than a half a million different inventions."

"A" is not specific
"The" is specific.
(I'm not american, i'm filipino)

Answer 4

the is used for a specific item. a is used for generic items.

so in this case, since tehre's only one government agency called us patent office, you use the.

Answer 5

Is: A

'A' is more on 'general' while 'the' is more 'specific' in pointing to a particular subject.

Example:
A House (can be any house)
The House (pointing at that particular house)

English isn't my native language too.... hehehehe....

Answer 6

The

Answer 7

"The."

There's only one patent office. Using "a" would imply there are more.

Answer 8

its "a", no problem
oh yeah, take out the comma because its seen as unnecessary where you have it
it cant be "the" because it would make the sentence redundant, meaning you're using the too much

Answer 9

The.

Answer 10

a