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Dtwx Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Ambiguity and chunks
Hey, I have a few more questions regarding ambiguity.
1. Consider the following sentence: "Sara invited us to her party on Saturday."
Did the invitation happen on Saturday, or will the party be on Saturday? I know we can say something like "This past Saturday, Sara invited us to her party" (the first case) or "Sara invited us to her party on this coming Saturday," but are there any better ways to disambiguate the sentence?
2. Here's another sentence: "The parents told their children to give their thanks."
Whose thanks? Do the parents want their children to give appreciation, or do they want the children to convey the message? I know we can say something like "The parents told their children to give the children's/parents' thanks," but this sounds very awkward. Are there any better ways to put this?
Thanks.
1. Consider the following sentence: "Sara invited us to her party on Saturday."
Did the invitation happen on Saturday, or will the party be on Saturday? I know we can say something like "This past Saturday, Sara invited us to her party" (the first case) or "Sara invited us to her party on this coming Saturday," but are there any better ways to disambiguate the sentence?
2. Here's another sentence: "The parents told their children to give their thanks."
Whose thanks? Do the parents want their children to give appreciation, or do they want the children to convey the message? I know we can say something like "The parents told their children to give the children's/parents' thanks," but this sounds very awkward. Are there any better ways to put this?
Thanks.
Top answer
1. On Saturday, Sara invited us to her party. Sara invited us to her party next Saturday.
- 1.
- On Saturday, Sara invited us to her party.
- Sara invited us to her party next Saturday.
- 2.
- When I was a child, if my parents said "give your thanks" to me and my brothers, it was usually when we sat down to eat.
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1 Answers
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1. On Saturday, Sara invited us to her party.
Sara invited us to her party next Saturday.
2.
When I was a child, if my parents said "give your thanks" to me and my brothers, it was usually when we sat down to eat. We were expected to say a blessing.
If what is intended is for the children to thank the parents, then I would write:
The parents told their c
Sara invited us to her party next Saturday.
2.
When I was a child, if my parents said "give your thanks" to me and my brothers, it was usually when we sat down to eat. We were expected to say a blessing.
If what is intended is for the children to thank the parents, then I would write:
The parents told their c
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