Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <articles><nouns>
Title: "The cow" OR "a cow" OR "cows" in this context
Question: Article before a  common noun:   The  cow--- a particular cow.  A  cow--- any cow.  Cow s. ---all of them.   But while reading an  essay  on  cow , we usually get to see:   The  cow is a very useful domestic animal.   In my opinion I should be:   Cows  are very useful domestic animals.   And the title should be  Cows  instead of  The cow.  Please help.  Thank you.

Answers:
sents: text: This is a special usage of the word "the".
text: It is listed in the MacMillan Dictionary under definition #2 as follows, "used before a singular noun when making a general statement about people or things of a particular type"
text: They give two examples:
text: The average university student is not very interested in politics.
text: People have come to depend on the car as their only means of transport.
text: Used in this way, "the + singular noun" means basically the same thing as that same noun pluralized: the cow
text: = cows the English garden =
text: English gardens
text: the computer
text: = computers
text: This construction is very common in titles and introductory sentences within paragraphs and chapters because it has a certain air of scholarliness about it that the simple plural form just doesn't convey.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/40154/Lorel C.
score: 40
sents: text: It's a difference between the abstract and the concrete.
text: Adding "the" before a noun this way changes the meaning, from actual instances of the concept to the concept itself .
text: Other answers have stated correctly that semantically the two are equivalent but one just "sounds" more formal or more academic.
text: That's true, but I believe the reason is that "the cow" refers to the concept of cows, whereas "cows" refers more directly to, well, actual cows; and speaking at the conceptual level is common in scholarly writing.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/9730/Jenn D.
score: 21
sents: text: The cow is a common way of referring to a species, as well as just a specific individual cow.
text: Cows refers to all of them.
text: It's slightly more formal to write of "the cow" than "cows", and is normally preferred in an essay.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/93471/jonathanjo
score: 11
sents: text: A cow is a useful domestic animal. is semantically equivalent to: Cows are useful domestic animals.
text: ANDThe cow is a useful domestic animal.
text: Usually, the use with the is more academic.
text: In everyday language, we tend to use the plural.
text: So, in fact, any of them could be used in a title.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/33113/Lambie
score: 5
sents: text: You have only recognised three meanings for the grammatical forms.
text: There are at least six: Introduce into context a cow - used to introduce a single cow into context cows - used to introduce multiple cows into context
text: Cows were grazing by the side of the road.
text: A cow wandered off.
text: Refer to existing context
text: the cow - a single cow already in context the cows - multiple cows already in context
text: The cow wandered into town.
text: The other cows returned to the farm.
text: Refer to entire species
text: the cow - the species known as "cow" cows -
text: all individuals of the species "cow" The cow is a bovine.
text: Cows are large animals.
text: Both the original and your sentence are correct to refer to the entire species: The cow is a very useful domestic animal .
text: Cows are very useful domestic animals .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/9936/CJ Dennis
score: 3

Summary of the answers:
This construction is very common in titles and introductory sentences within paragraphs and chapters because it has a certain air of scholarliness about it that the simple plural form just doesn't convey It's a difference between the abstract and the concrete.  It's slightly more formal to write of "the cow" than "cows", and is normally preferred in an essay, The cow  is a common way of referring to a species, as well as just a specific individual cow.    In fact, any of them could be used in a title.
Any of these terms can be used in a title. However, "The Cow" is a more formal title than "Cows" and is preferred in an academic essay.