Ejercicios C2 : Las ambigüedades sintácticas en inglés

Estos ejercicios te ayudarán a identificar, corregir y analizar estructuras sintácticas ambiguas en inglés. Pon a prueba tu comprensión de las interpretaciones gramaticales múltiples vistas en el curso.

→ Ver el curso : Las ambigüedades sintácticas en inglés : curso completo

Ejercicio 1 : Completa las estructuras ambiguas

Completa cada oración con la palabra o grupo de palabras que mejor refleje la ambigüedad sintáctica estudiada en el curso. Escribe la oración completa en tu respuesta.

1. The professor said ___ the lecture that the students found confusing.
2. She saw the man ___ the telescope on the rooftop.
3. Flying planes ___ be dangerous for inexperienced pilots.
4. I know more ___ people who have studied abroad than you might think.

Correction

1. The professor said during the lecture that the students found confusing.
2. She saw the man with the telescope on the rooftop.
3. Flying planes can be dangerous for inexperienced pilots.
4. I know more interesting people who have studied abroad than you might think.

Ejercicio 2 : Identifica y corrige la ambigüedad

Cada oración contiene una ambigüedad sintáctica problemática o un uso incorrecto de una estructura ambigua. Reescribe la oración completa de forma que la interpretación sea inequívoca y gramaticalmente clara.

1. Visiting relatives can be boring.
2. The chicken is ready to eat.
3. I saw the boy with the binoculars running in the park.
4. She told her friend that she had made a mistake.

Correction

1. Having relatives come to visit can be boring.
2. The chicken has been cooked and is ready to be eaten.
3. Using my binoculars, I saw the boy running in the park.
4. She admitted to her friend that she herself had made a mistake.

Ejercicio 3 : Elige la interpretación correcta

Elige la opción que describe con mayor precisión la ambigüedad sintáctica presente en cada oración, tal como se analiza en el curso.

1. Which analysis best explains the ambiguity in 'I saw her duck'?
   • A) 'Duck' can function either as a noun (the bird she owns) or as a verb (the action she performed), making the sentence structurally ambiguous.
   • B) The pronoun 'her' is ambiguous because it could refer to any woman mentioned previously in the text.
   • C) 'Saw' is ambiguous because it can mean either to perceive visually or to cut with a tool.
   • D) The sentence lacks a subject and is therefore syntactically incomplete.
2. Why is 'The old men and women left early' considered syntactically ambiguous?
   • A) The verb 'left' is irregular and admits two possible past tense readings.
   • B) 'Old' can modify only 'men' or both 'men and women', depending on the scope of the adjective in the noun phrase.
   • C) The adverb 'early' is misplaced and creates a dangling modifier.
   • D) 'The' before 'old men' suggests a definite reference that contradicts the plural noun.
3. What type of ambiguity is illustrated by 'They are visiting professors'?
   • A) Lexical ambiguity, because 'visiting' has two unrelated dictionary meanings with no grammatical consequence.
   • B) Referential ambiguity, because 'they' could refer to multiple antecedents in the discourse.
   • C) Structural ambiguity, because 'visiting' can be parsed as a participial adjective modifying 'professors' or as a present participle forming a verb phrase.
   • D) Phonological ambiguity, because 'visiting' sounds identical to another English word when spoken aloud.
4. How does attachment ambiguity operate in 'The spy saw the agent with the binoculars'?
   • A) The prepositional phrase 'with the binoculars' can attach to the verb phrase, meaning the spy used binoculars, or to the noun phrase 'the agent', meaning the agent had binoculars.
   • B) The noun 'spy' is ambiguous because it can refer to either a professional spy or someone who spies occasionally.
   • C) 'Saw' introduces a temporal ambiguity because it is unclear whether the action occurred in the past or is habitual.
   • D) The sentence is ambiguous only at the phonological level due to stress patterns in spoken English.

Correction

1. A) 'Duck' can function either as a noun (the bird she owns) or as a verb (the action she performed), making the sentence structurally ambiguous.
2. B) 'Old' can modify only 'men' or both 'men and women', depending on the scope of the adjective in the noun phrase.
3. C) Structural ambiguity, because 'visiting' can be parsed as a participial adjective modifying 'professors' or as a present participle forming a verb phrase.
4. A) The prepositional phrase 'with the binoculars' can attach to the verb phrase, meaning the spy used binoculars, or to the noun phrase 'the agent', meaning the agent had binoculars.