.
Some grammar structures can be understood in more than one way, just like some words
DOUBLE-MEANING STRUCTURES IN ENGLISH
Language structures are made by combining meaningful units together in accordance with a grammatical rule. Most are multi-word. Sometimes, the combined words can be understood in different ways, just as is often possible with single words. Alternative meanings of particular multi-word structures seem worth studying in order to avoid possible confusion in both reading and writing.
In reading, unfamiliarity with the different possible meanings of a particular structure could cause the same kind of problems as those that are possible with multi-meaning words, such as readers thinking the structure has a meaning they know when it actually has one they do not (see 11. Homonyms and Homographs). For writers, unawareness of a structure’s alternative meanings can hinder anticipation of reader misunderstandings, so that no measures are taken to prevent them (see 265. Grammar Tools for Better Writing, # 6).
As the above title indicates, this is not the only Guinlist post aiming to identify and describe fairly common word combinations with alternative meanings. For a full list, see 124. Structures with a Double Meaning 1. To read about single words with a variable meaning, see 7. Metaphorical Meanings, 11. Homonyms and Homographs, 121. Sentence-Spanning Adverbs, 213. Special Uses of “Do” 2 and 256. Unusual Meanings of Familiar Words.
.
EXAMPLES OF DOUBLE-MEANING STRUCTURES
1. Verb + “well” + Preposition
EXAMPLE
(a) Stairs are positioned well behind the kitchen.
Here, the adverb well could mean either “effectively” or “substantially”. The former describes the verb positioned, the latter the preposition behind.
Most adverbs describe either a verb, an adjective, an adverb or a complete sentence (see 120. Six Things to Know about Adverbs, #2). Well is one of a small number that can link with a preposition placed just after them (see 262. Adverbs that Describe a Preposition). Its potential to create a double meaning is shared by some but not all members of the group; others that could be understood in two different ways above include exactly, practically, right and roughly.
The double meaning of adverbs like well depends on more than just their placement between a verb and a preposition. The verb must be usable without a following noun (object or complement) or adjective (complement). Its meaning must also be logically compatible with well: there are plenty of verbs that are unlikely to have this property, such as BE DISCOVERED, FAIL and OCCUR. The preposition after well must be right too. Well and most adverbs like it have a very specific set of possible partner prepositions (see the above-mentioned post). Combination with a preposition outside the set would clearly indicate that well was partnering just the verb before it.
The double meaning of sentence (a) can be overcome by either placing well before positioned (removing the link with behind) or replacing well with a good way.
.
2. “(that) they have to do”
EXAMPLE
(b) Staff may bring home work (that) they have to do.
To appreciate the double meaning here, it is necessary to know the subtle difference between have to do work and have work to do. The first is a use of the familiar necessity verb HAVE TO (see 129. Differences between Necessity Verbs, #2); the second uses HAVE with an object noun (work) that has been expanded into a longer phrase by to do after it (see 239. Nouns Combined with a “to” Verb).
A to verb after an object of HAVE changes the necessity meaning of HAVE. The primary suggestion is of availability: in (b), for example, work to do means work that is waiting to be done. There may be a suggestion of need, but not of compulsion. Other common combinations are water to drink (= water available for drinking), a train to catch (= a planned train journey) and a mountain to climb (= a hugely difficult and therefore unlikely escape from failure) (see the end of 116. Rarer Uses of HAVE).
The obvious grammatical means of distinguishing between these two uses of HAVE is the position of the to verb relative to the object noun. This clue disappears, however, if the object is a relative pronoun (typically which or that), because objects in this form always go before their verb, in the manner of that in the example sentence above. It is this change that typically enables sentences like (b) to express either of the meanings of HAVE.
.
3. Questions with “or”
EXAMPLE
(c) Do investors want diamonds or gold?
Many uses of or carry a double meaning (see, for example, 266. Indicating Alternatives). The use in questions, whether direct like (c) or indirect, can be especially confusing.
One interpretation of (c) is that it is about the alternatives diamonds or gold. The speaker is asking for a choice to be made between them. The possible answers are then Diamonds or Gold or Both or Neither, but not Yes or No (see 297. Types of Response to a Question, #4).
Alternatively, the focus of (c) can be the verb (want). Here, there is no interest in discovering a preference concerning diamonds and gold; instead, the question asks whether the preference is for having or not having one of these. The most likely answers are Yes or No.
.
4. “Solve the problem with…”
EXAMPLE
(d) Technicians will solve the problem with software.
This is unclear whether software is the problem or the solution. The double meaning arises from the fact that the prepositional with phrase can grammatically and logically combine with either the noun before it (problem) or the earlier verb (solve), acting in the first case like an adjective and in the second like an adverb (see 84. Seven Things to Know about Prepositions, #2). Software is a problem if understood to link with problem, and a solution if understood to link with solve.
One condition for this double meaning to exist is the involvement of suitable nouns, particularly the one at the end, which must represent something usable for solving a problem. The main grammatical condition is the placement of the with phrase at the end of the sentence after the object of the verb. This is a cause of double meanings also mentioned in a previous Guinlist post (see 124. Structures with a Double Meaning 1, #2). The difference here is that two alternative meanings of with are involved: “using” In the adverb phrase, and “concerning” in the adjective one. In the previously-described use, with means “using” in both cases.
These two different meanings of with depend not on whether the with phrase has an adjective or adverb role, but on the kind of preposition that with is each time. Prepositions as a whole fall into three basic groups, which could be labelled natural, grammatical and collocational.
Natural preposition use is the fundamental one where the preposition is independent of other words, and is replaceable in the same context by one or more other prepositions expressing a different meaning. Most of these meanings are the elementary ones of space and time. The natural meaning of with is “accompanying”.
Grammatical prepositions, by contrast, are associated with grammatical structures, for example by after passive verbs, and for before the subject of an infinitive verb. With is a grammatical preposition when it has the “using” sense in (d). The noun after it in such cases is technically called an “instrument” (see 73. Prepositions for Saying How).
Collocational prepositions carry the least meaning, their use depending merely on the use of another word with which they are typically associated (see 229. Metaphorical Prepositions). With is a collocational preposition when it has the “concerning” sense in (d). This meaning is generated by the presence of problems just before (see 134. Words with a Variable Preposition, #2). A different preceding noun might generate a different meaning: for example, with after struggle means “against”.
.
5. Preposition after an Action Noun
EXAMPLE
(e) There is a report of an attack on a train.
This could mean either that something on a train suffered an attack, or that the train itself did. The choice of on is associated in the first case with a train, and in the second with an attack. These alternatives exist because on, like with in #4 above, is understandable as two different types of preposition.
When the choice of on is associated with a train, it is a natural preposition use expressing the fundamental location meaning of on and grammatically replaceable by such other location prepositions as by, under or behind. However, when the choice of on is associated with an attack, it is more collocational. It is the standard preposition after that word that enables the object of its action – the sufferer of an attack – to be named (see 31. Prepositions after Action Nouns 1).
The primary condition for this kind of double preposition meaning is a location noun after the preposition. Other examples of action noun prepositions that could alternatively link with a subsequent location noun are development by, disagreement over and emphasis on.
.
6. “When” after Two Closely-Linked Verbs
EXAMPLES
(f) Tourists WANT to VISIT the park when the sun is shining.
(g) It was EXPECTED that problems would OCCUR when the event started.
In these sentences, when indicates that what is said after it happens at the same time as something said before it (see 225. Simultaneous Occurrence, #2). But which of the capitalised verbs is each when clause more closely linked to? Is it the wanting in (f) that happens at the same time that the sun is shining, or the visiting? Was it the expecting in (g) that occurred exactly when the event started, or the problems? We cannot actually be sure.
For this double meaning to arise, the when… part must be added onto the end of a sentence containing two verbs (capitalised above) that are in a close grammatical relationship to each other. In (f), the second verb is part of the object of the first, while in (g) it is part of a delayed that… subject (see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “it”).
In these examples, the action of the first verb clearly happens earlier than that of the second. A double meaning would be less obvious if the two verb actions were simultaneous – if, for example, want to visit in (f) were replaced by enjoy visiting – though it would arguably still be present.
guinlist 