C2 Lesson 6: Understanding Grammatical Ambiguity
Recognizing Multiple Meanings
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 ambiguity. 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)
Lexical 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."
Interpretation 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 structural 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
A Tool for Style
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 deliberate, artistic interpretation.
A C2 skill is recognizing whether ambiguity is a writer's mistake or a deliberate, artistic choice.
Practice Your Grammar 🎯
Exercise: Spot the Ambiguity
Explain the two possible meanings of these ambiguous sentences.
- "The tour guide told the story to the children with a happy ending."
- "Flying planes can be dangerous."
- "Let's discuss the problems with the politicians."
Your Grammar Mission ⭐
Homework: Eliminate Ambiguity
The following sentences are ambiguous. Rewrite each one in two different ways to make both possible meanings clear.
- Ambiguous: I fed the cat in my pyjamas.
- Ambiguous: The woman hit the man with the umbrella.
Key Vocabulary
- Ambiguity The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.
- Lexical Relating to the words or vocabulary of a language.
- Interpretation The action of explaining the meaning of something.
- Structural Relating to the way in which the parts of a system or object are arranged.
- Deliberate Done consciously and intentionally; on purpose.