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Contraposition Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

What does 'in 1741' modify?

Handel wrote Messiah in anticipation of a visit to Dublin in 1741.

In 1741, does 'a visit' occur, or 'the writing' occur, or both?

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Top answer

contraposition Handel wrote Messiah in anticipation of a visit to Dublin in 1741. The sentence is ambiguous. He obviously wrote the composition in question before he visited Dublin, but other than that we don't know from this sentence whether the writing or the visit occurred in 1741.

— CalifJim

  • contraposition Handel wrote Messiah in anticipation of a visit to Dublin in 1741.
  • The sentence is ambiguous.
  • He obviously wrote the composition in question before he visited Dublin, but other than that we don't know from this sentence whether the writing or the visit occurred in 1741.
  • My guess is that the author doesn't think that it's important to make a distinction.
  • Probably both occurred in 1741.
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5 Answers
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contrapositionHandel wrote Messiah in anticipation of a visit to Dublin in 1741.
The sentence is ambiguous. He obviously wrote the composition in question before he visited Dublin, but other than that we don't know from this sentence whether the writing or the visit occurred in 1741. My guess is that the author doesn't think that it's important to make a dis
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CalifJimThe sentence is ambiguous.
Hi.

What does one have to change in the sentence to make it not ambiguous?

Thank you.
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In 1741, Handel wrote Messiah in anticipation of a visit to Dublin.
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Thank you, Fivejedjon, for your useful reply. It means that he wrote Messiah in 1741 and his Dublin visit date is unknown, doesn't it?
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Yes, except that we know that the visit was to take place after the writing.
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