Grammar: 💡 Effective Word Choice & Style - Advanced (C2) - Lesson 6: Exploring Grammatical Ambiguity and its uses/avoidance

💡 C2 Lesson 6: Understanding Grammatical Ambiguity

As a master user of English, you know that clarity is usually our main goal. However, sometimes language can have more than one possible meaning. This is called ambiguity¹. At the C2 level, we learn to identify ambiguity, eliminate it when we need to be precise, and understand when skilled writers use it on purpose for effect.

1. Lexical Ambiguity (The Word Itself)

Lexical² ambiguity occurs when a single word has multiple meanings. Context usually makes the meaning clear, but not always.

Ambiguous Sentence: "The fisherman went to the bank."
Interpretation³ 1: He went to a financial institution (a building).
Interpretation 2: He went to the side of the river (a riverbank).

2. Structural Ambiguity (The Grammar)

More common and complex is structural⁴ ambiguity, where the grammar of the sentence allows for multiple interpretations. This is often caused by a misplaced modifier.

Ambiguous Sentence: "I saw the tourist with the binoculars."
Interpretation 1: I saw a tourist who was holding a pair of binoculars.
Interpretation 2: I used a pair of binoculars to see the tourist.

To make it clear, you must rewrite it:
→ "I saw the tourist who was holding binoculars."
→ "Using my binoculars, I saw the tourist."

Deliberate Use of Ambiguity

While we usually want to avoid ambiguity in professional and academic writing, it is a powerful tool in other contexts.

• For Humour & Puns: Many jokes rely on ambiguity. Newspaper headlines often use it for wit. For example: "Stolen Painting Found by Tree." (Was the tree a detective?)
• For Literature & Poetry: Poets and novelists use ambiguity to create multiple layers of meaning, forcing the reader to think more deeply. A phrase can be intentionally left open to interpretation.

A C2 skill is recognizing whether ambiguity is a writer's mistake or a deliberate⁵, artistic choice.

🧠 Practice Quiz: Spot the Ambiguity

Explain the two possible meanings of these ambiguous sentences.

1. "The tour guide told the story to the children with a happy ending."
   Possible Meanings: 1. The story itself had a happy ending. 2. The tour guide had a happy ending on their face (a smile) while telling the story.
2. "Flying planes can be dangerous."
   Possible Meanings: 1. The act of flying a plane is a dangerous activity. 2. Planes that are in the air can be dangerous things.
3. "Let's discuss the problems with the politicians."
   Possible Meanings: 1. Let's talk to the politicians about some problems. 2. Let's talk about the problems that are associated with politicians.

📝 Homework: Eliminate Ambiguity

The following sentences are ambiguous. Rewrite each one in two different ways to make both possible meanings clear.

1. Ambiguous: I fed the cat in my pyjamas.
   Clear Version 1: While I was in my pyjamas, I fed the cat.
   Clear Version 2: I fed the cat that was (for some reason) in my pyjamas.
2. Ambiguous: The woman hit the man with the umbrella.
   Clear Version 1: The woman used an umbrella to hit the man.
   Clear Version 2: The woman hit the man who was holding an umbrella.

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Ambiguity: (Noun) - ភាពមិនច្បាស់លាស់ (phéap mĭn ch'bah'leah) - The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness. ↩
2. Lexical: (Adjective) - ទាក់ទងនឹងពាក្យ (teăk'tông nɨng péak) - Relating to the words or vocabulary of a language. ↩
3. Interpretation: (Noun) - ការបកស្រាយ (kaa bâk'sraay) - The action of explaining the meaning of something. ↩
4. Structural: (Adjective) - ទាក់ទងនឹងរចនាសម្ព័ន្ធ (teăk'tông nɨng rô'châ'na'sâm'poan) - Relating to the way in which the parts of a system or object are arranged. ↩
5. Deliberate: (Adjective) - ដោយចេតនា (daoy chet'nā) - Done consciously and intentionally; on purpose. ↩