Question
1. He told a lie to me yesterday.
1-2. He told one lie to me yesterday.
2. He told lies to me yesterday.
3. He tells lies to me.
[Does #1 mean #2? Or is 'a like' in generic use? What about #2 or #3? Is 'lies' used as a generic noun? Or just several lies?]
1-2. He told one lie to me yesterday.
2. He told lies to me yesterday.
3. He tells lies to me.
[Does #1 mean #2? Or is 'a like' in generic use? What about #2 or #3? Is 'lies' used as a generic noun? Or just several lies?]
Answers
Reed
1 and 2 mean the same thing, yes. The plural means more than one lie, whether it was only yesterday (#2) or repeatedly over time (#3).