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Do you remember the year I scored a hattrick ?
This sentence can have two meanings :
1. Do you remember those days or that year in general ?
2. Do you remember or can you recall what year it was when I scored a hattrick ?
How can we disambiguate the two meanings ?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Do you remember the year I scored a hattrick ?

This sentence can have two meanings :

1. Do you remember those days or that year in general ?

2. Do you remember or can you recall what year it was when I scored a hattrick ?

How can we disambiguate the two meanings ? Ask 'Why are you asking?'

But very often, the context will make the meaning clear.

Clive

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousDo you remember the year I scored a hattrick ?
This sentence can have two meanings :
1. Do you remember those days or that year in general ?
2. Do you remember or can you recall what year it was when I scored a hattrick ?
How can we disambiguate the two meanings ?

Puzzling question you ask here. You seem to have answered your own question.

The original example question is ambiguous. It can't be disambiguated just by asking it. Only its context can do that.

You have already given two questions which paraphrase the two meanings of the original question. In my book, that means you've disambiguated the orginal question. So ask one of those two questions instead of the original example question if you think the original is too ambiguous in the given context. (The first is, in my opinion, very close to an imperative: Remember the year ...; Think back to the year ...; Consider the year ...; There was a year when .... Think about that year. That might serve as another paraphrase, if you want one.)

CJ

PS. I can't imagine what "scoring a hattrick" means.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Hat trick - two words. It means three goals in the same game. Quite a feat in hockey, soccer, field hockey, etc.

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