GENERIC REFERENCE
Each of the articles can also be used when we wish to refer to a whole class of entities, usually with regard to their typical characteristics or habitual activities:
the + singular count noun: They say the elephant never forgets.
a(n) + singular count noun: They say an elephant never forgets.
zero + plural count noun: They say elephants never forget.
zero + mass noun: They say exercise keeps you healthy.
In the everyday use of English, the zero form with plural count nouns (elephants) is most applicable, while with mass nouns (e.g. love) the zero form is obligatory. The three articles express genericity from different points of view, which we will gloss as follows:
• the represents the referent of the noun as a single undifferentiated whole class of entities;
• a(n) represents any individual member of a class of entity as typical of the whole class;
• zero implies that all or most members of the class of entity possess the characteristic that is predicated of it.
The four structures mentioned above are not freely interchangeable in all generic statements. The generic use of a(n) is restricted, in that it can’t be used in attributing properties which belong to the class as a whole. For example, the but not a is acceptable in the following, since an individual kangaroo does not constitute a species, whether near extinction or not, whereas the class as a whole, represented by the, does:
The kangaroo is far from being extinct.
*A kangaroo is far from being extinct.
Both the and a(n) are acceptable with a characterizing predicate, as in our next example, since carrying its young in a pouch is characteristic of each and every female kangaroo:
The female kangaroo carries its young in its pouch.
A female kangaroo carries its young in its pouch.
The article the tends to generalize more readily than a(n). The + singular count noun may have a generalizing value, even when not used in a generic statement:
Do you play the piano?
Some people sit for hours in front of the television.
The definite article is also used:
• with certain adjectival or participial heads of NGs referring to abstract qualities (the unknown);
• for groups of people named by a nominalized Attribute (the underprivileged, the vulnerable);
• with nouns derived from PPs (the under-fives, the over-forties);
• for nationalities (the Dutch, the Swiss).
All but abstract qualities have plural concord with the verb:
Science proceeds from the known to the unknown.
Nursery schools for the under-fives are desperately needed in this area.
Not all adjectives and PPs can function in these ways and the non-native speaker should be cautious in choosing them.
The loosest and therefore most frequent type of generic statement is that expressed by the zero article with plural count nouns or with mass nouns:
Kangaroos are common in Australia.
Wine is one of this country’s major exports.
Zero article with plural count nouns may have generic or indefinite reference according to the predication:
Frogs have long hind legs. (generic = all frogs)
He catches frogs. (indefinite = an indefinite number of frogs)
A mass noun with zero article can be considered generic even if it is modified: Colombian coffee is said to be the best. It is definite, however, if preceded by the. Contrast, for example:
generic: Nitrogen forms 78% of the earth’s atmosphere.
definite: The nitrogen in the earth’s atmosphere is circulated by living organisms.
