- The bark was painful. (Could mean a tree’s bark was rough or a dog’s bark communicated pain or hurt the listener’s ears).
- You should bring wine or beer and dessert. (Could mean that you must bring just wine, wine and dessert, or beer and dessert).
- Harry isn’t coming to the party.
What is an example of ambiguous sentence?
An ambiguous sentence has two or more possible meanings within a single sentence or sequence of words . ... Problem: This sentence is ambiguous because it is not clear if Mr Smith was guilty of keeping the snake in the Magistrates Court, or guilty of keeping the snake after he caught it from a neighbour’s property.
What are the three types of ambiguity?
Three types of ambiguity are categorised as potential ambiguity: lexical, syntactical, and inflective .
What is ambiguity in simple words?
Ambiguity means that what a thing is, is not clear . Literally, the word refers to a choice between two different things. In the proper sense it should mean “two different meanings” because “ambi” comes from the Greek word for “two”. ... If we cannot decide what is going on, the event is ambiguous.
What are some examples of ambiguity?
For instance, it is ambiguous to say “I rode a black horse in red pajamas ,” because it may lead us to think the horse was wearing red pajamas. The sentence becomes clear when it is restructured as, “Wearing red pajamas, I rode a black horse.”
What is ambiguity in grammar?
In English grammar, syntactic ambiguity (also called structural ambiguity or grammatical ambiguity) is the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single sentence or sequence of words , as opposed to lexical ambiguity, which is the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single word.
How do you remove ambiguity in a sentence?
Expansion: Adding a word or two to the sentence can remove ambiguity. He finished the race last Thursday. —> He finished the race on last Thursday.
What is an ambiguous message?
open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead. “ the polling had a complex and equivocal (or ambiguous) message for potential female candidates” synonyms: equivocal double, forked.
How do you use the word ambiguity in a sentence?
- Their actions showed moral ambiguity . ...
- The ambiguity begins to disappear as more explanations are made. ...
- This statement has a lot of ambiguity . ...
- She chose her clothing carefully to avoid gender ambiguity . ...
- The ambiguity cannot be cured. ...
- They found possible ambiguity in interpretation.
What is an ambiguous person?
ambiguous • am-BIG-yuh-wus • adjective. 1 a : doubtful or uncertain especially from obscurity or indistinctness b : incapable of being explained, interpreted, or accounted for : inexplicable 2 : capable of being understood in two or more possible senses or ways.
What creates ambiguity?
Semantic and syntactic ambiguity
Syntactic ambiguity arises when a sentence can have two (or more) different meanings because of the structure of the sentence —its syntax. This is often due to a modifying expression, such as a prepositional phrase, the application of which is unclear.
Is ambiguity a noise?
Ambiguity, in general meaning, means something related to different interpretations . it closely focuses on the use of language. Sometimes it is also connected to someone’s behavior. Ambiguous sound and meaning can cause a kind of effect to both speaker and hearer.
How do you resolve ambiguity?
- Understand your Own Tolerance and Reactions. ...
- Be Crystal Clear on What is Clear. ...
- Know What You Collectively Know and What You Don’t. ...
- Don’t Waffle (Or if you do need to change direction, do it boldly) ...
- Encourage Risk-Taking. ...
- Envision Alternative Scenarios.
Is ambiguity good or bad?
It means you’re being unclear or inexact. Ambiguity is a funny thing . ... In speech and writing, however, ambiguity can be a useful tool. In your speech, you might want to use ambiguity to make your audience consider things for themselves.
Is there any ambiguity?
If you say that there is ambiguity in something, you mean that it is unclear or confusing , or it can be understood in more than one way. If you say that there is an ambiguity in a situation or in someone’s character, you mean that it contains several different qualities or attitudes which do not fit well together.
