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AdieuToLogiclast Tuesday at 4:10 AM1 replyview on HN

> Just like in speech, people also have accents in writing. For example, despite having used English on daily basis for years, I can't tell when to use "a" and "the" even if my life depended on it.

"A" and "an" are indefinite articles[0] used to identify a single entity (noun) without specificity. "The" is a definite article[1] used to identify a single entity (noun) specifically. For example:

  A car is parked on the street.
  The car is parked on the street.
The former sentence indicates a vehicle of unknown origin exists "on the street", whereas the latter indicates a vehicle known to the speaker exists "on the street."

Now, to the topic at hand. Part of the original post to which I replied is:

> The piece was deeply thought-provoking, but I struggled to get through it sensing how much AI was used to write it.

> I’ve been drafting a manuscript for a novel lately, trying to see how well llms can help.

> I recognize this prose immediately as OpenAI gpt 5.

To the best of my knowledge, this was not posted by the person who wrote the article nor someone with direct interaction with same. Additionally, the quoted text self-identifies as being intimate with LLM generated content in work important to the poster as well as unequivocally identifying the article as "OpenAI gpt 5."

My premise is only that having this level of intimacy with LLM generated text may create a bias toward "this was made by a LLM" when reading prose published by an unknown person.

0 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/is-it-a-or-an

1 - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the


Replies

anal_reactorlast Tuesday at 9:36 AM

Okay so according to that rule, we should say "I've been to the Germany" because there's one specific Germany we're talking about. Correct? Also, I can say "I like listening to a music when walking" because there's no one specific music I enjoy, it's a general habit I have that I like music in general. Just like I enjoy "listening to a podcast".

Moreover, we say "The Lake Michigan" just like we say "The Gulf of Mexico" because in both cases we talk about specific bodies of water. Right?

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