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To: Thomas A Watson who wrote (124538)	7/11/2005 11:04:01 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793914

If in fact there are two or more cats who are orange. It it not false to say "Cats are orange." It is false to say about a cat you haven't seen that it must be orange because it's a cat.

To: Thomas A Watson who wrote (124538)	7/11/2005 2:31:35 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793914

I check in on you guys to see how you're doing and look what I find! LOL. If in fact there are two or more cats who are orange. It it not false to say "Cats are orange." The fact that I just saw a black and white cat out my window belies that assertion. In English, a plural or uncountable subject used without an article or determiner and followed by the verb, "to be," describes a class. "Cats are orange" means "all (or virtually all) cats are orange." As in "grass is green" and "whales are huge." I don't know if it's a logic thing or a grammar thing, but your assertion is incorrect. "The zero article refers to a whole class rather than an individual." uefap.co.uk "When you want to say "all" or "every one of a kind" you put nothing! e.g Shoes are made in factories." grammar-cat.com Re your "two or more" cats, you can use a quantifier such as "some" or "two or more" and then your statement would be correct.

To: Thomas A Watson who wrote (124538)	7/11/2005 4:35:44 PM
From: Bridge Player	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793914

If in fact there are two or more cats who are orange. It it not false to say "Cats are orange." It may not be false, but if I tell my 3 year old granddaughter that, she will surely be seriously misled, if she accepts my statement at face value. And if she is looking at a gray cat at the time, she may wonder whether grampa has lost his marbles. In addition, the statement certainly fails the test of "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth".