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Re: Subject/Object + Everyone/Someone

From:Muke Tever <muke@...>
Date:Sunday, September 7, 2003, 19:30
> Tristan McLeay wrote: >> >> My logic lecturer pointed out that while 'Mary loves John' and 'John is >> loved by Mary' mean the same thing, 'everyone loves someone' and >> 'someone >> is loved by everyone' mean different things and so concluded that you >> can't apply 'subject' and 'object' to 'everyone' and 'someone'. >> >> Is that true? Then what would you call the everyone and someone? If not, >> what's happening?
Your lecturer's possibly pulling your leg. "everyone" and "someone" are pronouns, which by definition don't have fixed referents. What you really want is "Mary loves John" : "John is loved by Mary" :: "everyone loves someone" : "that someone is loved by everyone", where "that" particularizes that the same someone from the first sentence is meant, and not a new someone, i.e. some indefinite person. *Muke! -- http://frath.net/