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Pleasehelp Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Last night
Did you notice if my breath smelled bad last night? Or
Did you notice last night if my breath smelled bad?
Which sentence is correct?
Did you notice last night if my breath smelled bad?
Which sentence is correct?
Top answer
They are both possible. "last night" associates with the presence of bad breath in the first sentence, and with the noticing of it in the second. " is actually potentially ambiguous.
- They are both possible.
- "last night" associates with the presence of bad breath in the first sentence, and with the noticing of it in the second.
- " is actually potentially ambiguous.
- "last night" could refer to the time you were told.
- In spoken English the intonation will usually show which meaning is intended.
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1 Answers
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They are both possible. "last night" associates with the presence of bad breath in the first sentence, and with the noticing of it in the second. In practice there seems little difference in meaning in this sentence, but in other similar cases the difference may be significant:
"Were you told last night that he had escaped?" -- "last night" refers to the time you were told
"Were you told last night that he had escaped?" -- "last night" refers to the time you were told
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