[Grammar] question on generic statement

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snoopya1984

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I would like to ask something on generic statement.

When we say "lions are wild animals" ,it is a generic statement but when we say "hunters kill lions" the article is omitted before "lions" because of generic statement or because "lions" are simply unknown and not identified?And something else if we say "hunters kill the lions" suggesting that the person we are talking to or the person who reads it is aware of the fact that hunters kill lions so "the"is used for reasons of emphasis and appeals to a common shared knowledge is it correct ?


Thankss
 

BobK

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I would like to ask something on generic statement.

When we say "lions are wild animals" ,it is a generic statement but when we say "hunters kill lions" the article is omitted before "lions" because of generic statement or because "lions" are simply unknown and not identified?And something else if we say "hunters kill the lions" suggesting that the person we are talking to or the person who reads it is aware of the fact that hunters kill lions so "the"is used for reasons of emphasis and appeals to a common shared knowledge is it correct ?


Thankss
No. The 'shared common knowledge' is of which lions are being specified. 'There several kinds of wild cat living in the Masai Mara, but sometimes hunters kill the lions.' [Q: Which lions?/A: The ones in the Masai Mara.]


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