Quote Originally Posted by Crocodile View Post
I mean, after the fact we could probably find a reasonable explanation, but would that help us to use it correctly in a speech?
Yes, there are so many "rules" about articles that usually it's no trouble to explain an article, even if it is used incorrectly, but it is close to impossible to choose a "proper rule" when you need to use an article yourself.

For example, in the sentence above, shouldn't I have written "the proper rule"? I am not sure. Perhaps, either one could do.