Removing ambiguity

Question

remove ambiguity in the following wordsJane told Allan that he lacked self confidenceI saw a monkey with a telescopelook at that cow with one eye

Clive · Accepted Answer

In English culture, we say 'please' when we ask people to help us.

Please remove ambiguity in the following ~~words~~ sentences.

Jane told Allan that he lacked self-confidence I don't see any ambiguity here. He clearly refers to Allan.

I saw a monkey with a telescope

With a telescope I saw a monkey.

look at that cow with one eye

With one eye, look at that cow.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

scarf slide 250Jane told Allan that he lacked self confidence

No ambiguity.

scarf slide 250I saw a monkey with a telescope

This can only mean that the monkey was in possession of the telescope. The other meaning is worded differently, maybe, "I saw a monkey through a telescope."

scarf slide 250look at that cow with one eye

If the cow has two eyes, it means the one thing, and if it has only one, you can see that it does.

Anonymous · Answer

1. Allan lacks self-confidence (in my opinion)

2. With a telescope, I saw a monkey.

3. With one eye, look at that cow.

Anonymous · Answer

1. Jane told Allan, "I lack self-confidence."

2. Using a telescope, I saw a monkey.

3. With one eye, look at that cow.

CalifJim · Answer

scarf slide 250Remove the ambiguity in the following sentences.

In these exercises where you are supposed to show ambiguity, you write a new sentence for every possible interpretation of the given sentences.

I saw only two interpretations for each of your sentences, so I have written two sentences for each. If you have to do this for a sentence with three interpretations, be sure you write all three sentences.

scarf slide 250Jane told Allan that he lacked self-confidence.

a) Jane told Allan something about Tom. She said that Tom lacked self-confidence.
b) Jane told Allan something about himself, namely, that he lacked self-confidence.

scarf slide 250I saw a monkey with a telescope.

a) I saw a monkey that was holding a telescope.
b) I used a telescope to see a monkey.

scarf slide 250Look at that cow with one eye.

a) Using only one eye, take a look at that cow.
b) Look at that cow which has only one eye.

CJ

By the way, you must make the first letter of every sentence a capital letter, and you must end every sentence with a punctuation mark, usually a period or a question mark. If you don't do these things, you may find yourself losing a lot of points on English exams.

CJ

Removing ambiguity

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