Re: 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