article + noun?

Question

when you talk about something(such as singers,songs,movies,,,or whatever), you say the singer britney,the movie titanic,,,,or something like that,,,,but what if the person you are talking to do't know about it??

you still the? or a(an)? like a singer briney,,,a movie titanic,,,

Answer 1

In writing, you could use "a/an" in such a case, but you'd need a comma between "singer" and "Britney". "Britney" would then be what's called an appositive.

You could of course still use "the" if you think everyone *should* know who Britney is.

In speaking, you can get that same effect with stress on "singer" and a pause before "Britney", but in casual speech you'd be more likely to say "this singer Britney" or "Britney--she's a singer" or something like that.

If you just use "a singer Britney" without a comma or special stress it would tend to refer to one of several of the singers named Britney your friend HAS heard of. That's quite an unusual usage I think, but somewhat similar to "a McDonald's restaurant" or "a 7-11 store" which would be pretty common.

Answer 2

You use a/an + singer/movie/ other common nouns
but;
you don't use proper nouns such as Britney, Titanic afterwards coz that would already make it definite.

Answer 3

If you say, "the singer, Britney", then you are speaking about a definite person.

If you say, "a singer, like Britney" then you are making a comparison.