[Grammar] "I saw girls wearing stockings."

Status
Not open for further replies.

sky3120

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea

"I saw girls wearing stockings."

Does this sentence have two possible meanings?

1) I saw girls who was wearing stockings.

2) I saw that girls were wearing stockings.

I am sorry about the lame example and I know that we should consider context first and we can figure out right meanings usually but I would like to know if it is possible that the sentence can be used for different meanings. Thank you as usual and have a good day.
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland

"I saw girls wearing stockings."

Does this sentence have two possible meanings?

1) I saw girls who was wearing stockings.

2) I saw that girls were wearing stockings.

I am sorry about the lame example and I know that we should consider context first and we can figure out right meanings usually but I would like to know if it is possible that the sentence can be used for different meanings. Thank you as usual and have a good day.

1) is ungrammatical.
The sentence has one meaning: "I saw girls who were wearing stockings".
 

sky3120

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
Thank you and is it possible to understand "I saw them(girls) wearing stockings"?
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
What sort of context do you have in mind?
Things can be made to mean all sorts of things.
I saw girls who were barefoot and girls wearing stockings.

A: What did people wear there?
B: I didn't really notice.
A: Did they get dressed up much?
B: Hmmm. I did see girls wearing stockings, so I guess maybe.

We don't plop down next ot someone and say a sentence and run away. Sentences take their meaning from context. It's the same with your question about people working on the streets.
A: Will these damn roads ever get better?
B: I think so - I saw people working on the streets just last night.

A: What is the city like?
B: Busy all the time!
A: Even at night?
B: Yes! I saw people dancing at night. I saw people eating at night. I even saw people working on the streets last night.

CONTEXT!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

tzfujimino

Key Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan

"I saw girls wearing stockings."

Does this sentence have two possible meanings?

1) I saw girls who werewearing stockings.

2) I saw that girls were wearing stockings.

I am sorry about the lame example and I know that we should consider context first and we can figure out right meanings usually but I would like to know if it is possible that the sentence can be used for different meanings. Thank you as usual and have a good day.

Hello, sky3120.:-D
I think I understand what you mean.

Your interpretations could be as follows:

Interpretation 1.
I saw girls [wearing stockings].

Those words in the brackets (the participle clause) function as a postmodifier, which describes the noun 'girls'.
So, it could be rewritten as "I saw girls [with stockings on/who were (in the process of) wearing stockings/who had stockings on].

Interpretation 2.
I saw girls wearing stockings.

The so-called 'see (or other verbs of perception) + object + -ing form' construction is used here.
So, it could be rewritten as something like "I saw (some) girls, and they were in the process/middle of wearing stockings."

It is an interesting but difficult question, the answer to which I don't know.:oops:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top