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CHAPTER 4<br />
<strong>English</strong> is a highly ambiguous language.<br />
Give me your photograph.<br />
There are more than 3 interpretations of the sentence.<br />
1. "Your" may mean "you own the photograph".<br />
2. Or, the photograph was taken by you.<br />
3. Or, the photograph was taken of you. (= your portrait)<br />
The other interpretations can be "1" + "2", or "1" + "3" and so forth.<br />
Again, the following can inspire us to the need of some guidelines<br />
(grammar) for the language.<br />
A passerby wandered through a graveyard and saw a tombstone with<br />
the words: "Here lies Tome Jones, a politician and honest man."<br />
"Hey!" he cried out. "They got three people buried in one grave."<br />
Here, grammar tells us that there is only one person buried in the grave.<br />
So, it is grammar that defines what is what and guides us to<br />
understanding a sentence according to the function of each word, phrase,<br />
and clause. And it helps us to write a clear and unambiguous statement<br />
with ease. That is why <strong>English</strong> is called a language of definition. It is<br />
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