TITLE: First order logic: How to set a quantum of subjects
QUESTION [0 upvotes]: How can i create a sentence in FOL which contains a quantum of subjects?
E.g. "Five students took Greek in spring 2001."
I can phrase something like "One student took Greek in spring 2001" with:
∀xy : (took(x, Greek, Spring2001) ∧ took(y, Greek, Spring2001)) ⇒ (x = y)

Sure I can chain this phrase until all subjects (x, y, z, ...) are defined, but are there any patterns to do this?

REPLY [1 votes]: Assert the existence of five objects, say $\exists x_1, \cdots \exists x_5$, then state that they are all unequal, so $(x_1 \neq x_2),(x_2 \neq x_3),(x_1 \neq x_3), \cdots $ (there will be $5 \choose 2$ such expressions), then state that they each took Greek, and then state that if $z$ took Greek, then $z=x_1$ or $z=x_2$ ... or $z=x_5$ (presuming that exactly five students took Greek).
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