冠詞の使い分け

*A beaver is increasing in numbers.

【和訳】

ビーバーは数が増えつつある。

The beaver is [Beavers are] increasing in numbers.

【要点】

総称表現として使う1) 不定冠詞＋単数名詞、2) 定冠詞＋単数名詞、3) 無冠詞＋複数名詞は、常に交換可能ではない。Perlmutter (1970), Leech & Svartvik (1975), etc.

【類例】

1) A [The] tiger is a beautiful animal. / Tigers [*The tigers] are beautiful animals.

2) ?A beaver lives in Canada. / Beavers live in Canada. / ?A basketball player is tall. Basketball players are tall. / Germans are good workers. [*= All Germans are good workers.] / The [*A] beaver built dams in prehistoric times.

3) A [?*Any] kitchen is a cooking room. / Any [?A] cat drinks milk served up in a Wedgewood saucer.

4) *A beaver and an otter build dams. / *Any beaver and any otter build dams. / Beavers and otters build dams. / The beaver and the otter build dams.

【出典】