The definite article is used before words or phrases that refer to a specific thing, person or event. It is also used before a number or an ordinal (such as first, second, third, etc.).
A common question is "What's the difference between a and b?" This can mean one difference or multiple differences, as the phrase is open-ended. It may also imply that the person asking expects a list of the differences, which could be true in some cases.
This can be a bit confusing because of the different ways that the phrase is interpreted. It can be interpreted as meaning a single difference, or it could mean more than one. The correct answer to this question is that there is a difference, or there are differences between A and B.
In mathematics, the complement of a set A is defined as U - A. This means the set of elements in universal set A that are not in Universal set B. It can also be interpreted as A take away B.
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This article was originally published on Oct 22, 2014. It has been updated to reflect the most recent news and developments.