How to say "General Statement"

Question

I was trying to tell a friend that in English statements such as:

I like dogs.

I hate people.

I love hamburgers.

General statements in English use the plural noun form.

英語では一般的な発言は名詞の複数形を使います。

英語では普遍的な命題は名詞の複数形を使っています。

Self edit: I apologize, I didn't originally ask a clear question.

I have already explained the grammar to my friend using examples. My question is what would a direct translation of the sentence "General statements in English use the plural noun form." be?

Answer 1

"General", "generic" as grammatical term is 総称:

英語では総称文には複数形を使います。

But it doesn't seem a well-known term except for grammarians (unlike 過去形, 代名詞 etc).

You can instead say:

英語ではあるもの一般を言う時には複数形を使います。
英語では何とかというもの全体を指して言う時には複数形を使います。

一般的な発言 and 普遍的な命題 are likely to be confused with "general truths", such as "the Earth is round".

Answer 2

You could explain it this way...

• I like dogs = 犬が好き
• I like Dog = ドッグという人が好き・「ドッグ」というものが好き
  （例えば、「ドッグ」というブランドのビール）
  
  
• I love hamburgers = ハンバーグが大好き
• I love Hamburger = ハンバーガーという人が大好き・ハンバーガーというものが大好き
  （例えば、「ハンバーガー」という名前の付いているパチンコ屋）

以下はハッタリ話

You may also like to mention that what is most commonly referred to as the "plural" form（複数形）of nouns in English is actually the "non-singular" form（非単数形）.

This is why you have to say "I don't have any cats" or "I have zero cats" instead of, "I don't have any cat" and "I have zero cat".

The form "cat" is only used when talking about exactly one cat, in every other case it must be "cats". I really don't know why they teach the singular form first. I think this causes a great deal of confusion.

Answer 3

Er, I guess my comments wind up being an answer

You wanted to say "General statements in English use the plural noun form."

You came up with:

英語では一般的な発言は名詞の複数形を使います。

I would suggest:

英語では普遍的な命題は名詞の複数形を使っています。

I cannot guarantee this is correct, but here's why I'd suggest this:

1. "statement" is a word with many meanings. 発言 means an "utterance" and in that sense reflects a statement. In this context, statement is a technical word for philosophy that refers to how we express a proposition. E.g., "dogs are cute." As such, the meaning that you're closest to sounds like a 命題 which is the Japanese word for this sort of thing in philosophy.

   2. "general". General is a word with definitions that can't all be used interchangeable. One definition is affecting or concerning all or most people or things (from google). Another is "not limited"; another is "inexact." I think what you're meaning in your sentence based on context is that we make universal claims in this way. So I'd suggest 普遍 over 一般, because I take 一般 to mean general in the sense of a "normal" or "common."

   3. I switched it to the ている for rather plain verb form because if memory serves me correctly that's going to better capture a linguistic practice whereas a 使う fits better with single instances of use.

Anyway, we'll see if these suggestions are upvoted or downvoted.

Answer 4

I see that nobody has mentioned [ 一般的な法則 ].

http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/NAMBOKU/greek/finite_verb_detail2.html

(in classical Greek) 　 . . . . . 　また、＜一般的な法則＞を表現するときにも現在時制を使いますが、これも習慣と同様に過去から未来まで無数の認識をまとめて、一度に表現するため、時間的な幅があるように見えるだけなのです

一般的な記述, 一般的な主張, 一般的な表現, ...

btw, a general statement in English is often expressed using the singular noun (or nouns) :

• "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose."

• "A kingfisher is a kind of bird."

• "A graphic engine generally consists of ... "

• "Some parents believe a boy must learn to stand up and fight like a man."

• "Horses are useful animals."
• "The horse is a useful animal."
• "A horse is a useful animal."

( The last 4 examples come from : http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/singular-noun-plural-noun-as-in-general-statement.2699000/ )