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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
A bird ate a worm on the tree.
Hi all,
Please look at the sentence below.
A bird ate a worm on the tree.
What I am wondering is which is on the tree? Is it a bird or a worm?
From my little knowledge of english, this sentence may be understood in two different ways.
First, a worm was on the tree and a bird swooped down to the tree, caught and ate it.
This implies that a bird doesn't have to be on that tree while eating the worm.
On the other hand, the sentence might be interpretted as describing a situation where
a bird sat on the tree and ate a worm it caught from somewhere.
In this case, putting the phrase"on the tree" right after "a bird" would be clearer in meaning, I guess.
What do you guys think?
Please look at the sentence below.
A bird ate a worm on the tree.
What I am wondering is which is on the tree? Is it a bird or a worm?
From my little knowledge of english, this sentence may be understood in two different ways.
First, a worm was on the tree and a bird swooped down to the tree, caught and ate it.
This implies that a bird doesn't have to be on that tree while eating the worm.
On the other hand, the sentence might be interpretted as describing a situation where
a bird sat on the tree and ate a worm it caught from somewhere.
In this case, putting the phrase"on the tree" right after "a bird" would be clearer in meaning, I guess.
What do you guys think?
Top answer
Hi, I agree with you. ( I don't usually see worms on trees. ) Clive
- Hi, I agree with you.
- ( I don't usually see worms on trees.
- ) Clive
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5 Answers
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I think it implies the worm is on the tree. The bird caught that worm. I will go to a tree tommorow to check if worms do indeed climb trees.
To make it the other way around: A bird, on the tree, ate a worm.
To make it the other way around: A bird, on the tree, ate a worm.
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i think he was referring to a caterpillar. In this case, the the right sentence would be A bird on the tree ate the caterpillar
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In this particular sentence, asking where exactly the bird and worm are in relation to each other and the tree is irrelevant. Birds are always hanging around trees, on which there are often found worms, so from the context it is understood that the bird and worm are on the tree.
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The word 'worm' usually refers to an earthworm, which is usually found on or in the soil rather than on trees.
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