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Hanuman_2000 Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

a/the

0Hello,02br
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00I want to refer a whole class of something.02br
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001. A hen gives us eggs.02br
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002. The hen gives us egss.02br
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003. Hens give us eggs.02br
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00I know about (2) and (3) which refer the whole class of hens. But I am not sure about (1).02br
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00Is (1) correct?0-
  

Top answer

0 Hello Hanuman02br 02br 00You may say like "a hen lays eggs and chicks hatch". 02br 02br 00paco 0-

— Paco2004

  • 0 Hello Hanuman02br 02br 00You may say like "a hen lays eggs and chicks hatch".
  • 02br 02br 00paco 0-
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3 Answers
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0 Hello Hanuman02br
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00You may say like "a hen lays eggs and chicks hatch". But I doubt if we could say like "a hen is a bird" to define the whole class of hens.02br
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00paco 0-
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0With all due respect, I think this might be the one.02br
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01u00A hen02u00 is a kind of the bird among many that lays eggs. 02br
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00Again, I welcome any comments too.0-
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0 All three sentences have a generic reading and a non-generic reading.02br
00 For the generic readings it is necessary to interpret "us" as "mankind".02br
00 This is most difficult to do in the first sentence. Maybe that's why you have doubts about that one.02br
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01i00A hen lays eggs02i00 is more easily read as a generic stat
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