0
Fire1 Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

What does " because of the new legislation " modify?

The policymakers didn't expect the loss because of the new legislation.

Does this sentence sound ambiguous?

I think it can imply #1 or #2 as below, but it seems like #1 does make more sense than #2.

  1. The policymakers didn't expect the loss. The loss is/was because of the new legislation.

  2. It is/was because of the new legislation that the policymakers didn't expect the loss.

(I think #1 is correct if "because of the new legislation" modifies "the loss", but #2 is correct if it modifies the entire sentence, but since #1 does seem to make more sense, I would say the implication of the sentence should be #1, so "because of the new legislation" modifes "the loss")

Please tell me whether my thinking is right.

  

Top answer

fire1 Please tell me whether my thinking is right. Yes, you're right. This problem occurs whenever you have a negation followed by a because clause.

— CalifJim

  • fire1 Please tell me whether my thinking is right.
  • Yes, you're right.
  • This problem occurs whenever you have a negation followed by a because clause.
  • In this situation the negation may apply either to the contents of the main clause or to the contents of the because clause.
  • The poster-child sentence for illustrating the ambiguity goes like this: She didn't marry him because he was rich.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

2 Answers
0
fire1Please tell me whether my thinking is right.

Yes, you're right.

This problem occurs whenever you have a negation followed by a because clause. In this situation the negation may apply either to the contents of the main clause or to the contents of the because clause. The poster-child sentence for illustrating the ambiguity goes li

0
0

Upon rereading your post, I think you are asking about a different ambiguity than I addressed earlier.

Under your interpretation I'd say the intended meaning is #2, not #1. It's very rare, if not impossible, for a "because of" construction to modify a noun.

CJ

You may want to try to find the other ambiguity in your sentence using what I explained in my previous post.

0

Related Questions