equivalent meaning. Use of the definite article "the" or a demonstrative determiner usually implies specific individuals, as in "the car he owns is fast", "the cars he owns are fast", or "those rabbits are fast", whereas omitting the definite article or other determiner in the plural creates a generic reference: "rabbits are fast" describes rabbits in general. However, the definite article may also be used in the singular for classes of nouns, as in "The giraffe is the tallest land mammal living today", which does not refer to any specific giraffe, but to giraffes in general. English generally uses the simple present tense as the equivalent of a gnomic aspect, as in "rabbits are fast" and "water boils at 212 °F". The simple present is used with specific references for the equivalent of a habitual aspect, as in "I run every day"; likewise, the auxiliary "will" is used with specific references for the habitual aspect, as in "he will make that mistake all the time, won't he?". Thus, in English the gnomic aspect takes the same form as the habitual aspect. The English "reportive present" tense as seen in newspaper headlines like "Technical Innovations Increase Efficiency, Lower Costs" can be viewed as gnomic. Ancient Greek In Ancient Greek, a general truth may be expressed in the present imperfective, future, or aorist, which are then called the gnomic present, the gnomic future, and the gnomic aorist. There is also a gnomic perfect. They are not distinct tenses but simply uses of the tense. A gnomic future, the rarest of the three usages, similarly states that certain events often occur and does not imply that an event is going to occur. A gnomic aorist (the most common of the three usages) likewise expresses the tendency for certain events to occur under given circumstances and is used to express general maxims. The gnomic aorist is thought to derive (like the English example) from the summation of a common story (such as the moral of a fable). Perhaps in imitation of Greek conventions, Latin sometimes uses a gnomic perfect: amor omnia vicit. Notes References Smyth, Herbert Weir, Greek Grammar, 1920. (rev. ed. by Gordon Messing, 1956), section 1931. full text in the 1916 edition Further reading Arnold, Bill T. and John H. Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 2003, p. 56. Carlson, Greg N. and Francis Jeffry Pelletier (1995). The generic book. University