Re: Reader's comment
'Short and punchy' does not mean language that is inconsistent with native-speaker use.
'Call ambulance' is simply not the way that a speaker of English would ever speak unless he was dying or was otherwise unable to get all the words out. It would always be 'call an ambulance'.
For the subtleties of definite and indefinite articles (the, a/an), you just have to read English literature and pay close attention to the use and burn it into your brain.
Somehow, I always believed that dialogue should be punchy, original, short, and most importantly nothing like 100% correct grammatics.
'Call ambulance' is simply not the way that a speaker of English would ever speak unless he was dying or was otherwise unable to get all the words out. It would always be 'call an ambulance'.
For the subtleties of definite and indefinite articles (the, a/an), you just have to read English literature and pay close attention to the use and burn it into your brain.
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