HO TECHNICAL

UNIVERSITY
COMMUNUCATION SKILLS
ROSE ASANNTEWAA ANNSAH
ransah@htu.edu.gh
 AMBIGUITY
• Ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings in a
single passage.

• Ambiguity is sometimes regarded as a fallacy (commonly known as

equivocation) in which the same term is used in more than one way.

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TYPES OF AMBIGUITIES

• In speech and writing, there are two basic types of ambiguity:

• Lexical ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible meanings
within a single word.

• Syntactic/Structural ambiguity is the presence of two or more possible

meanings within a single sentence or sequence of words.

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• You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving
today. They left a little note on the windscreen; it said, 'Parking
Fine.' So that was nice.

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SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY

• Syntactic ambiguity generally results from poor word choice.

• If care is not used when selecting phrases that taken in a connotative
rather than a denotative context may have more than one meaning, or

• if the sentences in which they're used are not properly constructed, the
results can often be confusing for readers or listeners. Here are some
examples:

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EXAMPLES OF SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY

• The professor said on Monday he would give an exam.

(This sentence means either that it was on Monday that the professor told
the class about the exam or that the exam would be given on Monday).
• The chicken is ready to eat.
(This sentence either means the chicken is cooked and can be eaten now or
the chicken is ready to be fed).

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EXAMPLES OF SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY(2)

• The burglar threatened the student with the knife.

( This sentence either means that a knife-wielding burglar threatened a student or the
student a burglar threatened was holding a knife).

• Visiting relatives can be boring.

(This sentence either means that the act of visiting one's relatives can lead to boredom or
that visiting relatives can sometimes make for less than scintillating company).

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• Ambiguity may be caused by carelessness in the arrangement of words.

A. CONFUSED PRONOUNS
Eg. Tom asked Bill if he could go to the cinema.
When the boys were talking to the men they were afraid.

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 DANGLING MODIFIERS

• A clause or a phrase is identified as dangling or misplaced when as a

result of the way the sentence is constructed such a modifier attaches
itself to or is attributed to the wrong head word (noun or verb) or

• To a headword which cannot be identified in the sentence.

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a. Without any stick, the snake escaped.

b. Nana saw a monkey, driving to Accra.

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• In (a) there are no noun in the other part of the sentence than the snake.

• It appears in the construction, it was the snake which did not have any
stick.

• This is nonsensical, for no one expects a snake to possess a stick

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CAUSES OF DANGLING MODIFICATION

• Dangling modifier occur in response to two basic and related rules in English grammar or
syntax.
• 1. modifier exist because they must modify, and where what is to be modified is absent,
the modifier will be seen as modifying something else.

• Principle of proximity: attaching to a headword closer to it

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1. NO HEAD WORD

• In this situation, the logical headword which the modifier is attributed

to is absent from the rest of the sentence.

Eg. While watching TV, the lights went off.

After nominating the Ministers, Parliament was asked to vet them

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 2. MISPLACED HEAD

• Here the head word is in the sentence all right, but it is removed
from the modifier.

• The head is thus placed wrongly or misplaced as a result of poor

syntactic arrangement or word order.

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• As a student, the Principal advised George to study hard.

• Nana saw a monkey, driving to Accra.

• I bought a car from a dealer with tinted glasses.

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• In the sentences, the modifiers are close to and therefore attached to
the wrong nouns.

• George is the students, however, since the Principal is nearest to the

modifier as a student, it indicates that the Principal was the student,
which is certainly illogical.

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FORMS OF DANGLING MODIFIERS

• 1. To-Infinitive forms

• These are usually used as adverbs of purpose. Again, they have no

identified subject:
• To become rich, the business must be taken serious.
• (For one/me/you to become rich, the business must be taken
serious).

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• 2. Present Participle (-ing) forms
They are used generally as adverbs of reason or circumstances. They
also do not usually have subjects.
Eg. Thinking they were honest, goods were given to them on credit

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• 3. Past Participle (-ed/-en) forms
• Eg. Admired by many people, the boy’s funeral was well attended.

• 4. Verbless clause
• Eg. Worried, the students’ noise disturbed Angie seriously.

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• 5. Prepositional Phrase
Eg. I bought a car from a dealer with tinted glasses.

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CORRECTING DANGLING MODIFIERS

• 1. CONFUSED PRONOUNS
One must be specific. One must also be careful about
pronouns.
Eg. Tom asked Bill if he could go to the cinema
Tom wanted to know if Bill could go to the cinema.

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• 2. Introduce head words – a noun or pronoun should be introduced to
avoid further questioning.
• After nominating the Ministers, Parliament met to vet them.
After the President had nominated the Ministers, Parliament met to vet
them.
• While watching TV, the lights went off
While I was watching TV, the lights went off.

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• 3. MISPLACED HEAD WORDS – change the word order to bring
modifiers closer to the noun or pronoun they modify.
• Eg. I saw a monkey driving to Accra.
While I was driving to Accra, I saw a monkey.
• As a student, the Principal advised George to study hard.
The Principal advised George to study hard as a student.

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• 4. To-infinitives- introduce a subject such as one, someone, me,
you, or a name.

• Eg. To be a man is not easy.

For Kofi to be a man is not easy.

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• Present participle (-ing) : introduce a subject after the (-ing) clause.

• Eg. Thinking they were honest, goods were given to them on credit.
 Thinking they were honest, Ama gave goods to them on credit.

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TWO-WAY MODIFIERS

• Another way in which a careless writer sometimes confuses his reader is by placing a
modifier in such a way that it may be taken to modify two words. As a result, the reader
cannot be sure which of the two possible meanings is intended. Such a modifier is called
a two-way, or a squinting, modifier.
• Eg. Mary said during the meeting Jo acted like a fool.
 Did Mary say this during the meeting, or did Jo act like a fool during the meeting?
Clear During the meeting Mary said Jo acted like a fool.
Clear Mary said Jo acted like a fool during the meeting.
SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

• A group of words is a complete sentence when it has a subject and a verb and expresses a
complete thought.
 complete After the flood the barn roof lay in the yard.
 incomplete After the flood the barn roof in the yard
 incomplete After the flood the barn roof lying in the yard
A sentence fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought.
Since it is part of a sentence, it should not be allowed to stand by itself, but should be kept
in the sentence of which it is a part.
The Phrase Fragment
• Fragment On the school steps I saw Alice. Waiting for her mother to pick her up.
• Fragment corrected On the school steps I saw Alice, waiting for her mother to pick
her up.
 THE SUBORDINATE CLAUSE FRAGMENT

• A second type of fragment is the subordinate clause that is incorrectly

separated from the sentence in which it belongs.
• A subordinate clause does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone.
• Fragment I was grateful for his financial assistance. Which enabled me to go to
college.
• Fragment corrected I was grateful for his financial assistance, which
enabled me to go to college.
 RUN-ON SENTENCES

• When a comma (instead of a period, a semicolon, or a conjunction) is used

between two complete sentences, the result is referred to as a "run-on sentence.“
• Avoid the run-on sentence. Do not use a comma between sentences. Do not omit
punctuation at the end of a sentence.
run-on sentence The choice of a camera is difficult, there are many good ones on
the market.