public

I don't think I can help you much, Taka, but I think that if the writer meant that univirsities are public as well then it modifies them both and if it's only the schools that are public then it modifies "schools" only. I don't know if there's such thing "public unibersities" so I can't tell for sure

This may turn out to be unanswerable grammatically.

From http://www.answers.com/topic/public-university :

A public university is an institution of higher education that is funded by public means through a national or regional government. In Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and

Hi,

The situation in Britain is that a 'public school' is in fact a private one. These are usually exclusive and expensive places to send your child. They are primarily boarding schools, meaning the students live, eat and sleep there. Perhaps the most famous is Eton. The other kind of schools are termed 'state schools'.

Taka, perhaps you are asking more generally about adjective

Taka, perhaps you are asking more generally about adjectives that precede two nouns linked by 'and'. As a general rule, I feel the adjective would apply to both, unless the meaning and context made it apparent that it only applied to the first noun.

I know generally the adjective would apply to both, but I wonder if such difficulty arises only in public universi

Hi Taka,

I tend to read the paragraphs you offer as just exercises in grammar, which is perhaps a bad habit. Now that I'v read this to think about the meaning, it seems to me that the author could have just omitted the word 'public'. Although it's possible, I don't see any sign that he is making the finer kind of distinction you suggest, about excluding private schools.

Betst wis

OK. Thank you, Clive (maybe the author used the word 'public' as something like 'the places everybody goes to', now I've come to think).

'in classroom' should be 'in class', or 'in classrooms'

A couple of typos there are, as davkett says. Sorry, the original text says 'in classrooms.' It was my fault.

Taka,

The reason I quoted from the website is that Canada was mentioned. And I thought that maybe your question required more than a grammatical speculation,--speculation is the only way to approach this one. I thought you might have had a practical need to know, not a theoretical need.

Are you not a teacher with responsibilities to students, some of which responsibilities m

The reason I quoted from the website is that Canada was mentioned.

I know. Thank you. But the author is talking about both Canadian and American universities. So I think his/her 'public' is less specific and broader in its meaning.