Quote Originally Posted by Lena.from.Russia View Post
I was told that when you are talking about something not for the first time you should use the definite article.
A- You're putting in a new floor?
B - Yes we're putting in ''the'' floor.
because we are talking about the definite floor. Or am I mistaken?
This dialogue does not sound very natural because the important information inquired about by A is "new". There was a floor before the one being currently put in. Nobody would say "we're putting in the floor" here because it makes it sound as if there hadn't been a floor there in the first place. On the other hand, A could enquire "What are you going to do next?" and B could reply "We are going to put the floor in next" - here you have a first mention with a definite article because a room only has one floor and the type of floor is not important.

To tell you the truth, I never noticed how damn difficult the correct usage of articles is before I met Russians trying to come to terms with the concept. No matter how hard I try to explain all the shades of meaning conveyed by the articles, I never seem to be able to define them fully and clearly. You have my sympathies.