we had an opportunity to go there vs we had the opportunity to go there

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in slightly different contexts. 'We had an opportunity to go there' is more general and implies any opportunity, while 'We had the opportunity to go there' is more specific, referring to a particular opportunity. The choice between 'an' and 'the' depends on the level of specificity you want to convey.

Last updated: March 26, 2024 • 2424 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"we had an opportunity to go there"

This phrase is used when referring to a general opportunity without specifying a particular one.

Show examples from the web [+]

We had an opportunity to go into this in depth during the 2000 budget discussions.
See, it's comments like that that make me wish I'd had an opportunity to go to a school like oppenheimer.
I will not go into the animal health side, since we had an opportunity to discuss that recently in this House.
We realized we had an opportunity to make things right.
You then closed the vote before we had an opportunity to correct our own votes.
We had an opportunity to discuss this issue in this House quite recently.
I'll never get an opportunity to go further.
You have an opportunity to go out there and accept the challenge.
We now have an opportunity to go further down that route.
Recently, just in May, we had an opportunity to debate tourism, when the European Parliament adopted the report of Ms Torres Marques.
With the crisis now so urgent, we had an opportunity to call on the European Commission to introduce strict legislation.
We had an opportunity to observe the projects developing there and we saw that Chile is a model for economic and social development in the Southern Cone region.
We all know - and we had an opportunity to discuss the threat of a pandemic in this House some weeks ago - that avian flu is an animal disease.
And I think that means that maybe we have an opportunity to go forward.
Still, I think we should use this as an opportunity to go on a much-needed vacation.
This is why I regard the Cancún Summit as an opportunity to go further than an operational agreement.
The Committee trusts that it will have an opportunity to go into this subject in a subsequent opinion.
In November 2006 we had an opportunity to acquaint ourselves with such results in the course of the hearing on education systems in the EU which our committee organised.
In the Committee on Budgetary Control we had an opportunity to discuss the proposed reform and the specific steps involved in great detail.
Similarly, we have held three political dialogue meetings, one of which at ministerial level, when we had an opportunity to see exactly what is expected of Turkey up to the end of 2004.

Alternatives:

we had a chance to go there
we had an opportunity to visit the museum
we had an opportunity to learn new skills
we had an opportunity to travel abroad
we had an opportunity to improve our performance

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"we had the opportunity to go there"

This phrase is used when referring to a specific opportunity that is known or has been mentioned before.

Show examples from the web [+]

And then a few days later, we had the opportunity to go fishing in a glacial stream near our campsite, where the fish were so abundant that you could literally reach into the stream and grab out a foot-long trout with your bare hands.
I have had the opportunity to go there and I know the people in that area are very much inclined to go forward and to be progressive.
Back in 2000, I had the opportunity to go to South Africa to form a new opera company.
Having had the opportunity to go to Bridge House for rehab, it's a shame that he's let himself go like this.
All I'm asking, Your Honour, is that you not dismiss this case until my witness has had the opportunity to go on the record.
Now, I don't know if any of you have had the opportunity to go to Mt. Everest, but it's quite an ordeal getting up there.
I'm sure you studied hard but at least you had the opportunity to go to High School.
Last year, you had the opportunity to go to Paris, and because of me, you didn't.
On Monday I had the opportunity to go to a certification institute and to have a look and inquire as to what the problems are.
I'll take the opportunity to go and see my friends.
She has the opportunity to go to Bryn Mawr.
They have the opportunity to go home.
I would like to take the opportunity to go into Mr van Dam's amendment very briefly.
Tom missed the opportunity to go to Boston with Mary.
We had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Gord/ock's mother.
Last week our group met in Madeira where we had the opportunity to visit several isolated communities.
Mr Mulder, we had the opportunity to talk about this yesterday.
The first few weeks, you can take the opportunity to go and throw up on deck.
Meeting. I'm taking the opportunity to go through some of the work you two did in the old days.
Parliament, which is examining the regulation, now has the opportunity to go a step further than the Commission did.

Alternatives:

we had that opportunity to go there
we had this opportunity to go there
we had a great opportunity to go there
we had the perfect opportunity to go there
we had the wonderful opportunity to go there

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we had an opportunity to go there vs we had the opportunity to go there