ExCh1 Ambiguity 1b-b

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Example: Pat didn't know a guest at the party.

Yes, this is the correct answer!

The sentence shows a scope ambiguity, so the scope-bearing elements are responsible for the ambiguity. In the sentence, the negation (expressed by didn't) and the indefinite NP (a guest) are scope-bearing elements. If a sentence contains two scope-bearing elements, it will usually be scopally ambiguous.

Turn to the page with the explanations for more details.


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