Help with sentence. Thanks!

[Maiah]

1) Clowns are a modern representation of harlequins.

2) Clowns are modern representations of harlequins.


Which is correct?

Thanks in advance!

[Fallen]

When I speak the first example aloud, I switch the vowel 'a' to upper case (giving an 'A' sound instead of short 'a'). Therefore the indefinite article (a) in the first example looks like it's serving to add emphasis to 'modern representation'. To me it gives 1 more of a crisp clear sentence. Indefinites usually obscure the choice: 'catch a bus' as opposed to 'catch the bus' (with the definite article 'the'), but I don't get that feeling with this. Neither is 'a' acting synonymous for 'one': one modern representation'. So I'm prone to go with emphasis in this instance.

Niether are wrong; meaning only changes slightly, but I'd be inclined to go for the first...

Others are welcome to disagree, though.

[CommonReactor]

I had to look at this for a while, and then consulted my mother, a former English teacher.

We both thought that #2 was correct, because "clowns" is plural. However, I think it's the idea or concept of a clown that is a representation, so you might consider this instead, "The clown is a modern representation of a harlequin."

Does that fit with what you are trying to do? Anyone else, please feel free to correct me! :)

[Juliette Wade]

I think CommonReactor's got the right idea. My only suggestion would be to use the definite article with the second, as follows:

"The clown is a modern representation of the harlequin."

"The" in "the clown" indicates a concept familiar to the reader. "a" in "a modern representation" suggests that this is new information - which I believe it is, since the sentence is informative. The indefinite article also leaves open the possibility that there might be more than one modern representation of the harlequin, which makes perfect sense to me. "The" in "the harlequin" suggests that you are accessing a known concept as well... your reader may not be as familiar with harlequins, but the harlequin is an established cultural concept, so it feels right to me. It also forms a nice parallelism with "the clown."

Which is a long way of explaining the reasoning behind my suggestion, but I hope it helps.

[Maiah]

Thanks to everyone!

This post helped me learn a few things! :D