What is the synthetic analytic distinction?

The analytic/synthetic distinction is the claim that all statements can be classified as either synthetic or analytic. An analytic statement’s truth value can be determined simply by knowing the meaning of its constituent parts. For example, (1) All bears are bears.(2) All male ducks are drakes.(1) and (2) can be known to be true just by knowing what each word in them means. By contrast, the truth of a synthetic statement is dependent on the state of the world. For example,(3) Socrates was a philosopher.(4) Napoleon was exiled to Saint HelenaWe can imagine worlds in which (3) and (4) are not true. Socrates might have pursued a different profession, Napoleon could have been killed in battle or exiled elsewhere, therefore these are synthetic statements.