are you a cat or a cat? not as simple as it sounds -- cat in the
instrumental takes the particle -em in the singular, so that the cat is
on the mat comes out different to it is a cat on the mat.
some of these matters can take some patience to make peace with. say
someone would really like the cat to have been on the couch, while a
simple glance at said piece of furniture revealed it to be as gone as
the chesire cat (sans grin -- cat's never stop smiling, even as they
register as absentees). this someone could apply any of the present
approaches to conjure the cat couch-wise: (1) write a letter of protest;
(2) attend a rally; (3) refuse to accept the cat _as_ cat; (4) etc.
nevertheless and less than never, the cat under discussion remains on
the mat and therefore _not_ on the couch.
be that as it may.
--
Best regards,
-tor
http://torgeirfjeld.wordpress.com/
* * *
"It makes no difference to me at what point I begin, for I shall always
come back again to this. It is necessary both to say and to think that
being is; for it is possible that being is, and it is impossible that
not-being is; this is what I bid thee ponder." -- The Goddess of
Parmenides
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