The usage of 'the'
I found the sentence (a) in a book, and am wondering if it’s grammatically correct.
Is this ‘the’ used as what is called a ‘generic use’ like in (b)?
Isn’t (c) more common than (a)?
(a) On average, the U.S. junior high school student spends just over 6 hours a week on homework.
(b) The horse is a friendly animal.
(c) On average, U.S. junior high school students spend just over 6 hours a week on homework.
Top answer
Koji from Japan Is this ‘the’ used as what is called a ‘generic use’ like in (b)? Yes, exactly. Koji from Japan Isn’t (c) more common than (a)?
- Koji from Japan Is this ‘the’ used as what is called a ‘generic use’ like in (b)?
- Yes, exactly.
- Koji from Japan Isn’t (c) more common than (a)?
- Yes.
- S.
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Koji from JapanIs this ‘the’ used as what is called a ‘generic use’ like in (b)?
Yes, exactly.
Koji from JapanIsn’t (c) more common than (a)?
Yes. In fact "a U.S. junior high school student" would likely be more common than "the", and so would "your U.S. junior high school student". The writer wanted
0Koji from JapanIsn’t (c) more common than (a)?
Yes. For generic references you have three possibilities. Here they are, arranged from most common to least common:
1) plural
2) singular with 'a/an'
3) singular with 'the'
Type 3) is in fact the least reliable because it can overlap with non-generic meanings more easily than the other
0
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