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Why is the first article indefinite and the socond is definite here?

 A prolific artist the Canadian composer Barbara Pentland wrote four symphonies, three concertos, and an opera, among other works. 


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EveO profile picture EveONovember 2015
Well, I do understand the difference between definite and indefinite article. However, here both words - artist and composer refer to one person - Barbara Pentland. So she is the artist and she is the composer. The thing I don`t understand is why we use different articles for words that both describe one person.
AussieInBg profile picture AussieInBgApril 2021
”A prolific artist the Canadian composer Barbara Pentland wrote four symphonies, three concertos, and an opera, among other works.” is actually a very formal construction. I think this is the source of difficulty in understanding.

To answer the question properly (and more clearly , we must transform the sentence into something ”less formal”:

”The Canadian composer Barbara Pentland who is a prolific artist wrote four symphonies, three concertos, and an opera, among other works.”

It’s clear that ”Canadian composer Barbara Pentland” uses a definite article - we immediately define ”composer” - ”Barbara Pentland”.

The clause ”who is a prolific artist” describes ”Barbara Pentland”.

Here, we introduce the idea of ”prolific artist” to describe ”Barbara Pentland” - ”Barbara Pentland” = one (of more than one) prolific artists . Therefore, it has an indefinite article ”a”.
Boyuen profile picture BoyuenNovember 2015
'a prolific artist' could be any artist, this person is just ONE OF many 'prolific artists' that exist all over the world, but there is ONLY ONE 'Barbara Pentlan' so we need to use 'the'.
  • EveO profile picture EveONovember 2015
    But articles belong to the words that refer to her, not to her name.
melsal1214 profile picture melsal1214November 2015
"A" is indefinite because there are more than just one prolific artist. "the" is definite because there is just one Barbara Pentland. Another example: The cat is asleep. (One specific cat) A cat likes milk. (basically means that cats in general like milk, not just one specific one)
  • EveO profile picture EveONovember 2015
    But articles belong to the words that refer to her, not to her name