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Originally Posted by YuriTokoro
Can you say “The Asian is smart” meaning “most Asians are smart”?
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The sentences don't share exactly the same meaning. "The Asian" is a singular noun which I could see being used in a sentence defining a group of individuals by nationality and differing among them by certain attributes, intelligence being one of them. However, even saying that is stereotyping in a way, which may not sound good to some people.
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What the difference in meaning among these?
1. The Asians are smart.
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This would be similiar to the above two sentences, except the group being observed and categorized has at least one subgroup sharing the same nationality (Asian).
This is a more general observation compared to Sentence 1, and encompasses all individuals of Asian nationality. It describes all Asians as sharing the same trait of high intelligence.
This sentence is different from both previous sentences as it is only referring to one individual of Asian nationality, and describing that individual's high intelligence level.
This sentence is too vague to be understood, and needs the revisions found in either Sentence 2 or 3 to gain meaning and definition to an English reader/listener.
Hope that helps, Yuri!
