Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Junkomama]

Hello, teachers.

"Men are stronger than women."
Is it OK to change this sentence to "The man is stronger than the woman."?

Thank you in advance!
Junkomama

[Anuradha Chepur]

Hi Junkomama,

I know how to answer your question, but since you say men are stronger than women, I would rather a man answer your question.

Just joking.

[Junkomama]

Oh, I should have written "Generally, men are phisically strong than women."
Now, can "men/ women" be changed to "the man/ the woman"?

Regards,
Junkomama

[Anuradha Chepur]

Well, when we are referring to a species/ class, we use a/an/the for animals, but not for man:

A/The dog is a faithful animal.
A/The cat eats rats.
An/The elephant has tusks.
but,
Man is intelligent.
Man went to moon in 1969.

Or
We may use plurals for animals and to talk about generalizations based on gender in humans:

Dogs are faithful animals.
Cats eat rats.
Elephants have tusks.

Men blink twice as much as women do.
Women outlive men.
Generally, men are physically stronger than women.

[Junkomama]

Thank you so much for your answer, Anuradha-san!
Your explanation is easy to understand and setences you showed me are very helpful!

Regards,
Junkomama

[CP]

Dr. Chepur:

[Anuradha Chepur]

Yeah Mr. CP, actually I got my generalization reversed there. I had heard on TV, that women blink twice as much as men do. But I don't know why, much less if it's true.