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Navitasan Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Ran over a man who

Is this sentence ambiguous:

1-He ran over a woman who was injured.

I think it could mean:

1a-He ran over an injured woman.

and:

1b-He ran over a woman who was injured as a result.
  

Top answer

It means he ran over an injured woman. Here "was" associates the condition of the woman immediately before beginning of the act of running her over. g.

— JoshStafford

  • It means he ran over an injured woman.
  • Here "was" associates the condition of the woman immediately before beginning of the act of running her over.
  • g.
  • "became".
  • " Adding a comma would make it ambiguous: He ran over a woman, who was injured.
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3 Answers
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It means he ran over an injured woman.

Here "was" associates the condition of the woman immediately before beginning of the act of running her over.

To change it to the second meaning, substitute 'was' with a word that describes the resulting effect, e.g. "became". It's clumsy but acceptable grammar to say, "He ran over a woman who became injured."

Adding a comma would m
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Hi

I would briefly add that part of the problem may be trying to use a passive verb to avoid saying who was responsible. If you use the active form of the verb (assuming that it is true) then..

- He ran over a woman and injured her

Regards, Dave
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