Introduction

Syntactic ambiguity, also known as structural ambiguity or grammatical ambiguity, in English

grammar refers to the existence of two or more alternative meanings inside a single phrase or
group of words, as opposed to lexical ambiguity, which refers to the existence of two or more
distinct meanings within a single word. A syntactically ambiguous phrase's intended meaning
can typically—but not always—be ascertained from the context in which it is used.

Material and Analysis

1) I was reading a letter to John.

Tree diagrams of the meanings:

a)

NP Aux
VP

Pro V NP PP

Det N P NP

I was Reading a letter to John

Meaning: a) The above structure shows “I was reading/a letter to John” (I was read a letter for
John)

b)

NP Aux VP

Pro V NP

Det N PP

P NP

I was reading a letter to John

Meaning: b) Shows “I was reading a letter/to John” (I was reading while Jhon was listening a
letter)
 Explanation
Structural ambiguity occurs when a sentence or phrase has more than one interpretation. The
above mention sentence “I was reading a letter to John” It may be read as “I was reading/a letter
to John” (I was read a letter for John) Or “I was reading a letter/to John” (I was reading while
Jhon was listening to letter)

Conclusion
Change of the Structure of Sentences First, the prepositional phrase may be taken as the
adverbial or the attribute in the sentence and may easily produce ambiguity. If we bring forward
the prepositional phrase of the former or change the prepositional phrase of the latter into the
attributive clause, the ambiguity can be eliminated.
 2) The daughter of the officer with the green hat seems upset.

Tree diagrams of the meanings:

a)

NP VP

De N PP AdjP
t V

P NP Adj

De N PP
t

P NP

De Adj
t P

Adj NP

Th daughte office wit gree seem upse

e r of the r h the n hat s t

Meaning: a) Shows that “The officer has the hat whom daughter is upset. The daughter is not
with the hat.
 b)

NP VP

De N PP AdjP
t V

P NP Adj

De N PP
t

P NP

De Adj
t P

Adj NP

Th daughte office wit gree seem upse

e r of the r h the n hat s t

Meaning: b) shows that “The daughter has the hat, not the officer”.

Explanation
The aforementioned sentence “The daughter of the officer with the green hat seems upset” is
ambiguous and has two possible interpretations. It is not clear who has the “hat”. The structure
“a” below means that “The offer has green hat whom daughter is upset” in other words the
officer has worn a green hat, not the daughter. While structure “b” shows that “The daughter has
the green hat, not the officer”.

Conclusion
Poor word choice frequently contributes to syntactic ambiguity. Readers or listeners may become

confused by the consequences if care is not taken when choosing phrases that, when used in a

connotative rather than a denotative context, may have more than one meaning or if the

sentences in which they are used are improperly written.