What makes a sentence ambiguous

This is known as structural ambiguity or syntactic ambiguity. Structural ambiguity can sometimes lead to some funny interpretations.

This often happens in news headlines, where function words get omitted. Another source of ambiguity in English comes not from the syntactic possibilities for combining words, but from the words themselves.

If a word has more than one distinct meaning, then using that word in a sentence can lead to lexical ambiguity. In this sentence:. Corrected : The postman could not make it to the door because the dog liked to guard the house and was barking viciously. Determiners When you use a determiner e. Example : There is a bird in a cage that can talk.

Corrected: In the cage is a bird that can talk. It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. Have you ever been accused of being ambiguous? Ambiguity is a funny thing. Sometimes, people do it on purpose. 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. Within that story arc lies the opportunity to be a bit ambiguous while setting the stage for the conclusion.

Hopefully, these will get the wheels turning so you can incorporate a little bit into your everyday speech and writing. Each of these general examples of ambiguity can carry double meanings:. When found in literature, ambiguity is sure to be intentional, forcing the reader to contemplate a central idea. I ran all the way to the main gate, and then I waited a second till I got my breath.

I have no wind, if you want to know the truth. They made me cut it out. Another thing, I grew six and a half inches last year. Or is it about the loss of a loved one? Why was "Rose" capitalized?

Her right arm lay in the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand, and made a light, quick movement toward the right. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Richard Nordquist. English and Rhetoric Professor.

Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks. Updated September 18, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Nordquist, Richard. Syntactic Ambiguity. Lexical Ambiguity Definition and Examples. Definition and Examples of Vagueness in Language.