his entire lifespan. Stage-level predicates can occur in a wide range of grammatical constructions and are probably the most versatile kind of predicate. Individual-level predicates An individual-level predicate is true throughout the existence of an individual. For example, if John is "smart", this is a property that he has, regardless of which particular point in time we consider. Individual-level predicates are more restricted than stage-level ones. Individual-level predicates cannot occur in presentational "there" sentences (a star in front of a sentence indicates that it is odd or ill-formed): There are police available. — available is stage-level predicate. *There are firemen altruistic. — altruistic is an individual-level predicate. Stage-level predicates allow modification by manner adverbs and other adverbial modifiers. Individual-level predicates do not, e.g. Tyrone spoke French loudly in the corridor. — speak French can be interpreted as a stage-level predicate. *Tyrone knew French silently in the corridor. — know French cannot be interpreted as a stage-level predicate. When an individual-level predicate occurs in past tense, it gives rise to what is called a lifetime effect: The subject must be assumed to be dead or otherwise out of existence. John was available. — Stage-level predicate does NOT evoke the lifetime effect. John was altruistic. — Individual-level predicate does evoke the lifetime effect. Kind-level predicates A kind-level predicate is true of a kind of a thing, but cannot be applied to individual members of the kind. An example of this is the predicate are widespread. One cannot meaningfully say of a particular individual John that he is widespread. One may only say this of kinds, as in Cats are widespread. Certain types of noun phrases cannot be the subject of a kind-level predicate. We have just seen that a proper name cannot be. Singular indefinite noun phrases are also banned from this environment: *A cat is widespread. — Compare: Nightmares are widespread. Collective vs. distributive predicates Predicates may also be collective or distributive. Collective predicates require their subjects to be somehow plural, while distributive ones do not. An example of a collective predicate is "formed a line". This predicate can only stand in a nexus with a plural subject: The students formed a line. — Collective predicate appears with plural subject. *The student formed a line. — Collective predicate cannot appear with singular subject. Other examples of collective predicates include meet in the woods, surround the house, gather in the hallway and