Adjectival placement in a sentence

[divineacclivity]

Hi,

An example sentence:
"Secret copies of personal journals that were the property of Finnbar Brenneisen, is about to be published"
In the sentence above, [that were the property ..] --> is about the journals

Query:
1. How would the sentence shape up if instead of journals, this phrase [that were the property ..] was to talk bout the copies and [copies of personal journals] is also to be maintained.

An example of a sentence i wanna phrase:
Secret copy of <something 1>, [that is the property of <some noun 2>], is about to be published.
Now how do I know if [that is the property of <some noun 2>] is talking about <something 1> or about [secret copy]

Thanks in advance.
DA

 

[divineacclivity]

Ok, I take another example:
"Secret copies of journals, that were thought to have been lost, are available now."

1. In the sentence above, [that were thought to have been lost] - does this phrase talk about the "copies" or is the "journals"?
2. Pls write a sentences each if the phrase - [that were thought to have been lost] was to talk about
(i) about copies
(ii) journals

 

[SoothingDave]

Sometimes context helps you figure it out. Sometimes it's ambiguous.

If I say "I need to replace my replica of the Mona Lisa which was destroyed in a fire" you probably mean the replica was destroyed in a fire.

If I say "I have been able to find a replica of the Mona Lisa, which was destroyed in a fire." you probably mean the original was destroyed.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Secret copies of personal journals that were the property of Finnbar Brenneisen, are about to be published." ("Are" refers to "copies".)

An example of a sentence I [STRIKE]wanna[/STRIKE] want to phrase:
A secret copy of <something 1>, [that is the property of <some noun 2>], is about to be published.

Please note the amendments I have made to your original post.
Remember to always capitalise the word "I".
Please do not use textspeak (wanna). All words should be written out in full please.