'a thesis' or 'the thesis'?

Question

I have some questions concerning sentences.

... majoring in Biological Systems Engineering chosen by [full name] conclude with preparation of a thesis and the engineering exam. The title of the thesis prepared by ...
... majoring in Biological Systems Engineering chosen by [full name] conclude with preparation of the thesis and the engineering exam. The title of the thesis prepared by ...
... majoring in Biological Systems Engineering chosen by [full name] conclude with preparation of thesis and the engineering exam. The title of the thesis prepared by ...

Which sentences is correct? Which sentence is better?

Thank you for your help in advance.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 05 '13 at 11:17

Use a thesis.

Unless it is a mass noun (which thesis is not), a noun in the singular must have an article or other determiner (eg this, my).

And, barring a few special cases, the is used only when the object has already been identified to the hearer/reader in some way, or is being identified in that use by an explicit mechanism such as a relative clause. The first introduction of an object is almost always with a, but after that references to it will use the, as in the following sentence of your example.

'a thesis' or 'the thesis'?

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