《評論》徐薇的英文 好怪!!

Hi Sophie,

Hope you don't mind me joining the discussion. I agree with you that ambiguity is a problem with the original sentence. But I also agree with Kevin that commonly accepted interpretation should be taken into account.

2010-05-29 09:18:35 補充：
There are many other examples of commonly used sentences that are ambiguous as well.

One of my favourites is a frequently heard question asking time of the day: "Do you have the time?" (well, at least it's commonly used where I live.)

2010-05-29 09:19:03 補充：
Frankly, I've always been tempted to give a frisky answer when asked this question. ;)

Even the sentence "I can help you learn better" can be interpreted differently. :)

It's great that you've noticed the ambiguity.

2010-05-29 12:16:27 補充：
Hi Kevin,

Yeah, as Sophie's correctly pointed out, it's best to avoid ambiguity. I'm not so good at it myself. Often my poorly chosen words result in embarrassing gaffes. ^_^|||

Hi OSophie,

Thanks for your comment.
I agree with your translation: 我可以把你教得更好.
But I don't think you've got what I really tried to say. The "better" in the sentence is a comparison between two versions of "you," before and after being taught - by the speaker, of course.

2010-05-29 08:41:04 補充：
You can look at the sentence as the concise version of:
I can teach you to be better than before.
Hence the word "better" is for the object, not the verb, and that applies to the examples I offered, too.

2010-05-29 09:02:07 補充：
As for ambiguity, I think it's for exams. In daily use, you can often tell in a reasonable sense what an author wants to express. As you said, she would not be such a person as to make comparisons between herself and others.

2010-05-29 09:02:40 補充：
Common sense is often all you need to understand a sentence, not grammar.
Nice discussing the topic with you. ^_^

2010-05-29 09:59:45 補充：
Hi Joe, good to see you!

To avoid ambiguity, I'd better revise my sentence as follows:
Common sense, not grammar, is often all you need to understand a sentence.
^_^