# on the street /  on a street



## Ume

Hello.

_David: What did you do today?
Jeniffer: Well, when I was walking on the street, I ran into my uncle. He told me..._

Why "on the street," not on a street "?


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## Toadie

Here's a simple answer:

Because.

There's no rule (at least not that I know of).  That's just how it is.


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## Matching Mole

We would say "walking down the street" (or possibly "along the street"), or simply "I ran into my uncle on the street (often naming the street, e.g. "on Main Street").

"Walking on the street" is hardly ever heard, for some reason. "The street" can even be used as if it were a direct object: "I walked the streets all night", but we don't seem to say "walking on the street".

That's even before we get to the issue of "the" vs "a"  , but I guess it is because we mean streets in general, and not a particular street. That doesn't mean to say that "a street" would not be used if we were to make a more particular statement: "I was walking along a street in Kyoto when..." where you mean a particular street, but don't know the name, or the name is not relevant.


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## johnp

Could you explain a little more what your question regarding "on the street" is, please?


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## Toadie

Matching Mole said:


> We would say "walking down the street" (or possibly "along the street"), or simply "I ran into my uncle on the street (often naming the street, e.g. "on Main Street").#
> 
> "Walking on the street" is hardly ever heard, for some reason. "The street" can even be used as if it were a direct object: "I walked the streets all night", but we don't seem to say "walking on the street".


In AE, walking *on the street *is much more common than walking* the street*.


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## johnp

Oh I understand your question...I think.  You use "the," a definite article, because it was a specific street you were walking on.


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## Matching Mole

johnp said:


> Oh I understand your question...I think.  You use "the," a definite article, because it was a specific street you were walking on.


I would say (I did say, in fact) that the opposite is the case. "The" can be used for generic concepts (e.g. "the pig is an intelligent animal"), and this, I believe, is how "street" is treated here.


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## Ume

Thank you, all.

There're a great number of streets in the world. Jeniffer was walking down one of them. She just started talking about what happened to her. She didn't tell David where she was walking. Wouldn't it be appropriate to say, "When I was walking down *a* street..."?


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## johnp

Here are a couple instances where "a street" is used:

I'm *walking down a street* in Minneapolis with my very pregnant wife right now.

I am *walking down a street* in Paris whose name I won’t pronounce because I never galvanized my soft palate.

If you were to say:  "Well, while I was walking down a street, I ran into my uncle"  it sounds like the street itself in particular is immaterial, unimportant.  To me when you say "the street," a more specific street is being referred to and it was on that street that you ran into your uncle.


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## mgarizona

Another thought: I would understand "walking on the street" to imply "not on the sidewalk but on the street itself."

Also, "walking the street" means "engaged in prostitution."


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## Loob

Matching Mole said:


> I would say (I did say, in fact) that the opposite is the case. "The" can be used for generic concepts (e.g. "the pig is an intelligent animal"), and this, I believe, is how "street" is treated here.


 
I agree with MM: I see "street" here as generic, not specific.


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## Ume

johnp,
Thanks for the comment, but nothing hasn't clicked yet.


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## Phoebe1200

johnp said:


> Here are a couple instances where "a street" is used:
> 
> I'm *walking down a street* in Minneapolis with my very pregnant wife right now.
> 
> I am *walking down a street* in Paris whose name I won’t pronounce because I never galvanized my soft palate.


Hello. 
I just wanted to ask if these examples could also be used with the definite article as well.


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## PaulQ

Yes.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you for replying. Could you also tell me if the indefinite article* "a"* is possible in these sentences?
    You should always look both ways before crossing *the* street.
    You should always look both ways before crossing *the* street in Spain.


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## Oddmania

Phoebe1200 said:


> I just wanted to ask if these examples could also be used with the definite article as well.





PaulQ said:


> Yes.


_"I'm walking down *the *street in Paris whose name I won’t pronounce because I never galvanized my soft palate." — _Would you really say that, Paul? This is about some unspecific street whose name is a mouthful.


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## PaulQ

Yes - although *the* is commoner.

*The *is a demonstrative adjective similar to (but not the same as) *that.*
In "You should always look both ways before crossing *the* street." *the *street" means "the idea/concept of 'street' that we are all familiar with."
In "You should always look both ways before crossing *a* street." *a* street" means "*any *street" or "*any single *street* from among all the streets in the world.*"


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## PaulQ

Oddmania said:


> _I'm walking down *the *street in Paris whose name I won’t pronounce because I never galvanized my soft palate." — _Would you really say that, Paul?


I certainly would. 





> This is about some unspecific street whose name is a mouthful.


No - you have defined the street as being *the specific one *you are walking down and *the particular* street that is a bit of a mouthful.

A: "If you want to get to Carrefour take the third left onto Rue Des Enfants and then the fourth right."
B: "What's the name of the street?"
A: "It won't help you, it's on *the *street nobody can pronounce."


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## Phoebe1200

Matching Mole said:


> "I was walking along a street in Kyoto when..." where you mean a particular street, but don't know the name, or the name is not relevant.


So when I actually mean a particular street, I have to use the indefinite article *"a"*?


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## Oddmania

@PaulQ Oh right, my bad. I hadn't thought of that. A well-known street that's famous for its bizarre name. _"I'm walking down that street in Paris with the name you can't pronounce"._


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## PaulQ

Phoebe1200 said:


> So when I actually mean a particular street, I have to use the indefinite article *"a"*?


No, you might have misunderstood what Matching Mole wrote.

Both the following sentences are OK but for different reasons

"I was walking along *a* street when I found a $100 bill." -> "I was walking along *a* street (it doesn't matter what street it was) when I found a $100 bill."
"I was walking along *the* street when I found a $100 bill."-> "I was walking along *the* street (i.e. the thing we all know of and which we call "street" -> this use of "the" makes the word "street" more like a name for the thing you were walking along) when I found a $100 bill."


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## Phoebe1200

So when I don't want to pay any special attention to the street that I was walking along, it's just not important, I can totally use the indefinite article "a"?
    I was walking down a street, thinking over the job offer.


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## PaulQ

Yes. But, and this will not help, in this context, you can also say "the street"


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## Phoebe1200

Just to avoid any confusion or mistakes, can I use _*"the" *_with the word_ "street"_ all the time?


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## Oddmania

Not if you need to single out a particular street.
_
He lives on a street I know very well.
I turned down a street I had never taken before._​


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## PaulQ

The short answer is "No."

A: "Here is a list of 100 streets, go to the street and take a photograph."
B: "Which street? What do you mean "the street"?"

The subject of the use of "the" and "a" cannot be covered in a few questions, and we can never say "*always*" or "*never*" about anything in English. (This is what makes English so easy. )

Have a look at these links:
Articles

University of Toronto on use of articles in English
Using Articles
Special Cases in the Use of the Definite Article


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## Phoebe1200

PaulQ said:


> The short answer is "No."
> 
> A: "Here is a list of 100 streets, go to the street and take a photograph."
> B: "Which street? What do you mean "the street"?"
> 
> The subject of the use of "the" and "a" cannot be covered in a few questions, and we can never say "*always*" or "*never*" about anything in English. (This is what makes English so easy. )
> 
> Have a look at these links:
> Articles
> 
> University of Toronto on use of articles in English
> Using Articles
> Special Cases in the Use of the Definite Article


Was your reply addressed particularly to me?


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## PaulQ

Yes.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you for the links. I'll take a look at them. But for now, I just want to clarify that when I asked this (can I use _*"the" *_with the word_ "street"_ all the time?) I meant in combination with the words such as *"cross the street, walk down/along the street, on/in the street"*?


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## srk

Phoebe1200 said:


> But for now, I just want to clarify that when I asked this (can I use _*"the" *_with the word_ "street"_ all the time?) I meant in combination with the words such as *"cross the street, walk down/along the street, on/in the street"*?


Paul's example in post #26 is one in which "the" doesn't work.  If the example had been ...


PaulQ said:


> A: "Here is a list of 100 streets, *cross* the street and take a photograph."
> B: "Which street? What do you mean "the street"?"


... "cross the street" still would not work.

It is only when "street" stands for street as "a kind of thing" that this use of "the" works.  This usage does not extend to all other kinds of things:

Be careful when you cross the river.  What river?

I'll have to think long and hard about what sets streets apart from rivers in this way.  It has something to do with how common and dangerous crossing streets is.

Edit:  added "all" above in blue.
The usage does extend to some things:
When you swim in the ocean, do you worry about sharks?
When you sit at the table, do you sit up straight?
When you walk in the park, do you litter?


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## Phoebe1200

Just to clarify, in these examples 
_"Here is a list of 100 streets, *cross* the street and take a photograph."
"Here is a list of 100 streets, go to the street and take a photograph."_
it actually has to be "cross a street" and "go to a street", right?


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## PaulQ

Phoebe1200 said:


> I just want to clarify that when I asked this (can I use _*"the" *_with the word_ "street"_ all the time?) I meant in combination with the words such as *"cross the street, walk down/along the street, on/in the street"*?


I have said that there are no rules in English and therefore the short answer to your question is "No, you certainly cannot. Sometimes, only "a" is correct."


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## srk

Phoebe1200 said:


> Just to clarify, in these examples
> _"Here is a list of 100 streets, *cross* the street and take a photograph."
> "Here is a list of 100 streets, go to the street and take a photograph."_
> it actually has to be "cross a street" and "go to a street", right?


It would probably be something like "go to each street" and "cross each street."  If the idea were to pick just one street from the list, the instruction would be "go to any street" to be clear.  "Go to a street" makes more sense than "go to the street" in the example, but it is not as clear as it should be.


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## Phoebe1200

srk said:


> It would probably be something like "go to each street" and "cross each street."  If the idea were to pick just one street from the list, the instruction would be "go to any street" to be clear.  "Go to a street" makes more sense than "go to the street" in the example, but it is not as clear as it should be.


Thank you for explaining.


Oddmania said:


> Not if you need to single out a particular street.
> _
> He lives on a street I know very well.
> I turned down a street I had never taken before._​


I'm wondering if in the above examples I can use the definite article "the". 

_He lives on the street I know very well. _(Am I not specifying it by saying that I know the street that he lives on?)
_I turned down the street I had never taken before._


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## Oddmania

Using _"the"_ in these two sentences would imply there is only one street you know very well (sentence #1) and one street you have never taken before (sentence #2) in the entire town.


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## srk

Oddmania said:


> ... and one street you have never taken before (sentence #2) in the entire town.


With some context, it could be one of two streets.  "I had a choice of which street to take, and I turned down the street I had never taken before."


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## Phoebe1200

Oddmania said:


> Using _"the"_ in these two sentences would imply there is only one street you know very well (sentence #1) and one street you have never taken before (sentence #2) in the entire town.


Oh, I see it now. Thank you for explaining.


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## VicNicSor

Oddmania said:


> Using _"the"_ in these two sentences would imply there is only one street you know very well (sentence #1) and one street you have never taken before (sentence #2) in the entire town.


There's one more possible meaning though. The speaker may know very well other streets and have never taken other streets. But this specific street would be the one the listener knows about/familiar with. Maybe because the speaker has already mentioned them...


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## Phoebe1200

srk said:


> With some context, it could be one of two streets.  "I had a choice of which street to take, and I turned down the street I had never taken before."


I understand your example but please help me figure out one thing. I mean if he chose to turn down the street he had never taken before, was the other choice the street he was familiar with?
And if it was, then I suppose if it was the other way around, he would say=_I had a choice of which street to take, and I turned down the street I was familiar with or knew very well_=because in this case the other choice would be the street he had never taken before.
Is that right?


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## srk

Phoebe1200 said:


> I mean if he chose to turn down the street he had never taken before, was the other choice the street he was familiar with?


All you can say for certain from my example is that he had driven on the other street.  To assume that he is familiar with that street says something more than is in the example.


Phoebe1200 said:


> And if it was, then I suppose if it was the other way around, he would say=_I had a choice of which street to take, and I turned down the street I was familiar with or knew very well_=because in this case the other choice would be the street he had never taken before.


All you can say for certain from your reversed example is that he was unfamiliar with the street he didn't take.  He may have driven on the street before.

Suppose the example had been "I was familiar with one street and had never driven down the other.  I had a choice of which street to take, and I turned down the street I had never taken before."  You would be exactly right.

I really don't mean to nitpick.  I expect that you already knew what I have said in this post, and that you chose to say "familiar with" as clearly opposite to "never taken."  You assumed the additional context that I have just provided to make the example more complete.


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## Phoebe1200

srk said:


> "I was familiar with one street and had never driven down the other. I had a choice of which street to take, and I turned down the street I had never taken before."


Sorry for nitpicking but I'm a little confused.

I kind of get that the definite article is used here because we have only two choices or at least I think that's the reason (please correct me if I'm wrong ) but could I still use the indefinite article* "a"* with this example, because Oddmania said that using the definite article _"the"_ would imply that it's the only street in the entire town he had never turned down before?


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## srk

I agree with Oddmania that, without context, a possible way to read


Phoebe1200 said:


> I turned down the street I had never taken before.


 is "I turned down the only street in the entire town that I had not taken before." It would be very hard to interpret it that way with the context I provided:


srk said:


> "I was familiar with one street and had never driven down the other. I had a choice of which street to take, and I turned down the street I had never taken before."


Instead, it would be natural to suppose that there are (or may be) many streets in town that I haven't driven on, but that "the street" refers only to the one I just mentioned.  "I had a choice of which street to take" is meant to be understood as "I had to choose between the two streets."

Using "a" instead of "the" in my example would be very odd.  I can't think what it would mean.  It would be as though I was ignoring the fact that I had a limited choice, and picked a street other than one of the two I had just mentioned.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you very much, Srk. It's clear now. 
I just have one more question. 
Do the principles we have discussed here about the use of "the" with the word _street_ apply the same way to the use of "the" with the word *road*?
Like cross the/a road, on the/a road etc.?


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## srk

Phoebe1200 said:


> Do the principles we have discussed here about the use of "the" with the word _street_ apply the same way to the use of "the" with the word *road*?


Not so much.  When we say "Be careful crossing the street" we mean "street" literally, although we may not have a particular street in mind.  There are probably many expressions in which "the road" is used, but only figuratively:  "That decision is still down the road a way." (We won't make that decision for a long time.)  "He's on the road."  (He's traveling.  He may be on a plane or a train.)

It may just be me.  "Why did the chicken cross the road?" is certainly about real roads in the same sense as the examples I gave at the end of post #30 .  (The link is to a Wikipedia article that explains the "riddle.") Maybe there are uses for "the road" that I can't bring to mind.


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## Phoebe1200

So when I say "_I crossed the/a road_" which article do I use?


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## srk

Phoebe1200 said:


> So when I say "_I crossed the/a road_" which article do I use?


What is the context for your sentence?  It should be clear to you that questions like this one can not be answered without context.


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## Phoebe1200

Oh, sorry. How about these?

 You should always look both ways before crossing *the/a* road.
 You should always look both ways before crossing *the/a* road in Spain.
 I was walking down *the/a* road, thinking over the job offer.


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## srk

Phoebe1200 said:


> You should always look both ways before crossing *the/a* road.
> You should always look both ways before crossing *the/a* road in Spain.
> I was walking down *the/a* road, thinking over the job offer.


"Road" is different enough from "street" that I'd choose "a" for the first one.  "The" would make me wonder "What road?"
"Road" is enough like "street" in the contexts of the second and third sentences that I think "the" would be understood as "any/some road."  "A" would work for the second and third sentences too.


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## Phoebe1200

Thanks. 
I just thought of something and need your help. Hope this is the last question concerning your example. Please bear with me. I've changed it a bit. What if the context was like this: 

_"I was given a choice of three streets to choose from. I was familiar with one street and wasn't with the other two and I chose *a *street I was unfamiliar with." _

Does the indefinite article work there? Because in this case there were two streets he had never taken before and he chose one of them, even though it was a choice of three streets.

And if he chose the one that he was familiar with, then the definite article would be used (because he only has one choice of that). 

_"I was given a choice of three streets to choose from. I was familiar with one street and wasn't with the other two and I chose *the *street I was familiar with" _

Is any of it correct?

_
_


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## srk

I think those both work, Phoebe.  The only way I can think of to make the first clearer is to say " ... and I chose one of the two I was unfamiliar with."  That's probably more complicated than it has to be; "a" would be heard the way you want it to be.

Of course, your second example is clear.


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## Phoebe1200

Just to clarify:



srk said:


> I think those both work


Are you talking about articles or examples?


srk said:


> "a" would be heard the way you want it to be.


So you're saying that it's correct the way I used it in my first example?


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## srk

Phoebe1200 said:


> Are you talking about articles or examples?


Examples.


Phoebe1200 said:


> So you're saying that it's correct the way I used it in my first example?


Yes.


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## Phoebe1200

I cannot thank you enough for helping me with this, Srk. I'm not sure I've fully grasped the idea of using "the" with the word "street" though. The only thing I know is that it's more common. I don't have any further questions for now, maybe later I will,after I read it over a few more times. Thanks again.


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## srk

Phoebe1200 said:


> I'm not sure I've fully grasped the idea of using "the" with the word "street" though.


Hi, Phoebe,

I want to make sure you see this thread from today in which "the" is used with "mirror" in the same way it is used with "street" in the OP here.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you, Srk. That's very nice of you. I really appreciate it.


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## Peter Thompson

PaulQ said:


> *a* street" means "*any *street" or "*any single *street* from among all the streets in the world.*"


Hi! I would like to add a further question here.
Why do you use *"all the streets in the world" *to talk about every street in the world here ?
Shouldn't it be *"all streets in the world" *? Because you're referring to every street existing in this world and not to any specific ones.

Would you mind explaining ?

Many Thanks!


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## sdgraham

Peter Thompson said:


> Why do you use *"all the streets in the world" *to talk about every street in the world here ?


Someone might come up with some sort of "rule" here, but that's the way we commonly say it, having learned English by listening to native speakers around us from the cradle onwards.


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## Hans in Texas

Similar discussion in the thread “I’m going to the cinema”


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## Peter Thompson

sdgraham said:


> Someone might come up with some sort of "rule" here, but that's the way we commonly say it, having learned English by listening to native speakers around us from the cradle onwards.


I see.
But does it only work if we use *"all" *? 

If we remove *"all" *from it, and say *"the streets in the world"*, could we use it to mean every street in the world ?
Or do we always need *"all" *?


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## duvija

As a non-native speaker, who had to learn most rules with a hammer hitting my head, I got that 'walking down the street' is just the generic and nobody has to specify any street in particular. 
'Walking the street' is being a prostitute (like in Leonard Cohen, "I'm your man"). 
I equate this usage with 'I was talking to this guy....' which always made me want to ask 'which guy?' until I realized it was irrelevant and I don't need to know it. As I don't need to know which street, because it's irrelevant, or the speaker doesn't want to specify it because it's not needed - or he/she may not want me to know. Just not necessary to clarify.


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## PaulQ

Peter Thompson said:


> Why do you use *"all the streets in the world" *to talk about every street in the world here ?


The is licensed by the defining adjunct "in the world". 


Peter Thompson said:


> If we remove *"all" *from it, and say *"the streets in the world"*, could we use it to mean every street in the world ?


In certain contexts, "Yes"


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