Re: how detect english subject and predicate in a sentence

"PJH" == Peter J Holzer <hjp-usenet2@xxxxxx> writes:

>> Actually, the sentence can be read *correctly* in two
>> incompatible ways. You can read "Fruit flies" as the subject,
>> and "like a banana" as the predicate, or "Fruit" as the subject,
>> and "flies like a banana" as the predicate. Both readings are
>> correct.

PJH> Only syntactically.

You're trying to make a distinction between the reading of the sentence
conveying information (in which sense both readings are correct) and the
reading of the sentence conveying factually true information.

This is a level removed from correctly parsing the sentence.

For instance, given the sentence "Tokyo is the capital of
Massachusetts," the correct reading of the sentence is factually wrong.
This does not make it grammatically incorrect or even grammatically
ambiguous.

Charlton


--
Charlton Wilbur
cwilbur@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.

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