Thanks and additional question
Posted by ESC on May 28, 2001
In Reply to: Thanks and additional question posted by K Yone on May 28, 2001
: Hi!
: Thanks a lot for your interesting observations, ESC and R.Berg.
: How about the following sentences? They may not be acceptable as generic statements?
: 1. A Italian is a good cook.
: 2. The Italian is a good cook.
: Thanks again!
: All the best,
: K Yone
1. An (rather than "a") Italian is a good cook. That would be correct grammatically but it is a stereotype -- you are saying that any Italian is a good cook.
2. The Italian is a good cook. You are saying a specific Italian is a good cook. That sounds OK but I wonder why you wouldn't use a person's name and not just "the Italian." Maybe it's an international "cook off" and no names are used.
- Be careful with nationalities R. Berg 05/29/01