A cotorsion theory is defined as a pair of classes Ext-orthogonal to each other. We give a hereditary condition (HC) which is satisfied by the (flat, cotorsion) cotorsion theory and give properties satisfied by arbitrary cotorsion theories with an HC. Given a cotorsion theory with an HC, we consider the class of all modules having a special precover with respect to the first class in the cotorsion theory and show that this class is closed under extensions. We then raise the question of whether this class is resolving or coresolving.

AMS 2000 Mathematics subject classification: Primary 18G15. Secondary 18E40