A showed B a picture of her

Question

Alice showed Francine a picture of her.

An answer of the question:

It means Alice showed Francine a picture of someone else.

Q) I thought 'her' can referto Alice. Is it impossible? Then, how do you say if you want 'her' refer to Alice?

Is it like Alice showed Francine her picture?

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

It's impossible to tell.

The picture could be of Alice, it could be of Francine, or context could tell that it was a picture of some third female person.

Jim showed Peter a picture of her -- her refers to a third person, a female.

Alice showed Francine a picture of him -- him refers to a third person, a male.

With Alice and Francine and the subject of the photo all female, you can't tell.

You COULD say "Alice showed Francine a picture of herself" to be clear that the picture was of Alice, but I don't eliminate Alice as the subject of the picture because the writer used "her" instead of "herself."

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Another approach is to say 'Alice showed her picture to Francine'.
Here, the grammar indicates that the pictire is of Alice, but the listener may still wonder which meaning is really intended. Often, the context makes these matters clear.

Clive

Moon7296 · Answer

Hi, Gg.

Thank you for your answer.

May I ask one question?

You said 'but I don't eliminate Alice as the subject of the picture because the writer used "her" instead of "herself." ' <= can you rephrase this sentense ? Because of my poor understanding, I didn't get the meaning of it clearly.

My book says 'Alice showed Francine a picture of her' only means a picture of someone while you open more possibility. Here I found a gap between a book and real people! Thank you for your close attention!

One more thing is that my book says, 'Alice showed Francine a picture of herself' means a picture of either Alice or Francine. Didn't you say that a picture of herself makes the context clearer? ; meaning a picture of Alice? The book's interpretation is wrong?:either Alice or Francine.

Thank you for reading a wrong add

BarbaraPA · Answer

moon7296May I ask one question?You said 'but I don't eliminate Alice as the subject of the picture because the writer used "her" instead of "herself." ' <= can you rephrase this sentense ? Because of my poor understanding, I didn't get the meaning of it clearly.

Sorry for my poor phrasing.

If I read "Alice showed Francine a picture of herself" I would know for sure that the picture was of Alice. "Herself" is reflexive, referring back to the grammatical subject of the sentence, which is Alice.

However, I don't require it to be "herself" to be correct if the photo is indeed of Alice. Alice continues to be a possible subject for the pictures, even if the word "her" is used instead of "herself." This is because "Francine" is between Alice and the her/herself position.

"Alice found a picture of her taken when she was about four years old" would not refer to Alice. That would require "herself."

moon7296One more thing is that my book says, 'Alice showed Francine a picture of herself' means a picture of either Alice or Francine. Didn't you say that a picture of herself makes the context clearer? ; meaning a picture of Alice? The book's interpretation is wrong?:either Alice or Francine.

I completely disagree with your book. "Herself" can ONLY be Alice, reflecting back on the grammatical subject, which is Alice.

If the sentence were "When Alice saw Francine she smacked herself in the forehead" (that's a gesture that we use when we suddenly remember something) could you ever imagine that Alice hit Francine? If Alice shows Francine a picture of herself, she is showing a picture of Alice, not Francine.

A showed B a picture of her

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