helpppppp!? I have been confused about the grammar in the use of the articles in English since I started learning the language seriously, that is around two years ago. I still don't think that I am quite confident to handle them naturally and freely in various contexts and wondered if any of the native speakers could help me resolve the problem at once. (or at twice would be all right as well! 
)
For example, 'a dog' with a ribbon is definitely not as specific as
'the crazy dog that I saw in the park last night...'.
But even in the second sentence, if I am speaking to a person about the story for the first time, shouldn't the preceding article of the word 'dog' be the indefinite 'a'?
Another example, which is more abstract: You should not pass up an/the (?) opportunity of going to the restaurant that I have told you before, if you ever come to this area. The love of mother. The tension between the South and North Koreas. The/A(?) agony of despair.
Oops, I cannot think of good examples right now. But anyway I often experience a/the(?) situation where I am not so sure if the/a(?) sentence or word is SPECIFIC enough to be preceded by the definite article 'the' or too general and therefore should be preceded by 'a'. Do you understand my question? Basically I cannot easily draw a/the(?) border between SPECIFIC and GENERAL, besides some obvious a-piece-of-cake cases.
Please also correct the sentences with a question mark by choosing between a and the.
Thanks a lot.
-A determined English learner.
)For example, 'a dog' with a ribbon is definitely not as specific as
'the crazy dog that I saw in the park last night...'.
But even in the second sentence, if I am speaking to a person about the story for the first time, shouldn't the preceding article of the word 'dog' be the indefinite 'a'?
Another example, which is more abstract: You should not pass up an/the (?) opportunity of going to the restaurant that I have told you before, if you ever come to this area. The love of mother. The tension between the South and North Koreas. The/A(?) agony of despair.
Oops, I cannot think of good examples right now. But anyway I often experience a/the(?) situation where I am not so sure if the/a(?) sentence or word is SPECIFIC enough to be preceded by the definite article 'the' or too general and therefore should be preceded by 'a'. Do you understand my question? Basically I cannot easily draw a/the(?) border between SPECIFIC and GENERAL, besides some obvious a-piece-of-cake cases.
Please also correct the sentences with a question mark by choosing between a and the.
Thanks a lot.
-A determined English learner.