intersection point

Question

"Look at the intersection point between the two lines."

I believe this sentence has two meanings. The first meaning is look at the point where the two lines intersect while the second meaning is look at the intersection point which does not belong to the two lines but fall in between them.

Thanks in advance

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

New2grammarI believe this sentence has two meanings. The first meaning is look at the point where the two lines intersect while the second meaning is look at the intersection point which does not belong to the two lines but fall in between them.

Hi N2G,
yes, could be. But the meaning is practically always the first in most cases. The second is possible too, but in that case your sentence could have been written a little better in order to be clear. It's like:

Jump in the water!

Am I telling you to jump into the water or to keep jumping while you are in the water? You can't be 100% sure. But if that sentence is used in its context, it is obvious what it means.

New2grammar · Answer

If the person is a grammarian, I would say the latter is correct. Otherwise, she would have said 'Jump into the water' <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/4.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/4.gif' alt='Emotion: stick out tongue'/>

Kooyeen · Answer

New2grammarIf the person is a grammarian, I would say the latter is correct. Otherwise, she would have said 'Jump into the water'

Yep, I once thought the same, until someone here told me that I can say "Go to the kitchen", "Go into the kitchen" and "Go in the kitchen", or "Jump on the roof" instead of "Jump onto the roof". So it seems that the part of the preopsition that implies "movement" can be left out.
Studying grammar books, English seems so simple... but then the truth is that it is soooo ambiguous!
This is one I like:

Move the pencil to the left of the book.

Does that mean that I have to move the pencil so that it is then to the left of the book, or that I just have to move the pencil that is already to the left of the book? LOL

Pao3 · Answer

I believe this sentence is not ambiguous, because if the pen was ON the left, they would not have written TO the left. Sometimes, Correct prepositions are demanded and shouldn't be left or replaced.

anyway, I might be wrong, not being a native speaker

New2grammar · Answer

"Move the pencil to the left of the book."

I don't have any problem with this sentence, at least I think so. If the pencil was originally on the left of the book , the preposition would be 'on', not 'to' : "Move the pencil on the left of the book." Move to where? I don't know but just move it!

Ummm... on second thought, I think changing the preposition to onhas just given the sentence a new meaning which is the pencil is not located next to the book but on the book to the left.

intersection point

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