HOPES TO BUILD OR HOPES TO BUY

[Rikt]

HOPES TO BUILD OR HOPES TO BUY

“He hopes to build the best team in the league by buying the best players available.”

Is the sentence above ambiguous? I feel it might be because it may not be clear what he is hoping for: is he hoping to build the best team, or hoping to buy the best players (if, for example, the club hasn’t yet agreed to pay for the best players)?

Maybe I am over-analysing it a bit, but if I wanted to emphasise the latter option (he’s hoping to buy the best players) would I have to rephrase it like this:
“He hopes to buy the best players available and thereby build the best team in the league” ? I think this is clearer, but it doesn’t sound as nice to me.

Can anyone please suggest a nicer way of re-phrasing it, if, indeed, you feel it does need to be re-phrased?

Thank you

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum, Rikt.

Always tell us the source and author of any text you quote, please.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

HOPES TO BUILD OR HOPES TO BUY

“He hopes to build the best team in the league by buying the best players available.”

Is the sentence above ambiguous?

No. How will he build the best team? By buying the best players. That's how. Nothing could be clearer.

I feel it might be because it may not be clear what he is hoping for: is he hoping to build the best team, or hoping to buy the best players (if, for example, the club hasn’t yet agreed to pay for the best players)?

Maybe I am over-analysing it a bit,

Yes, you are.

but if I wanted to emphasise the latter option (he’s hoping to buy the best players) would I have to rephrase it like this:
“He hopes to buy the best players available and thereby build the best team in the league” ? I think this is clearer, but it doesn’t sound as nice to me.

It's no clearer. And there's a cadence to the build-by-buying-the-best form that your version loses.

Can anyone please suggest a nicer way of re-phrasing it, if, indeed, you feel it does need to be re-phrased?

I can't, and it doesn't.

Thank you

Now tell us the source and the author.

Always do that!

 

[Rikt]

This is something i am writing. I am the author! The piece is not to do with sport, but religion. I wasn't sure if that was an advisable topic to discuss, so I changed it to sport, using the same sentence structure.

 

[Rikt]

Thank you, Charles, for your insightful comments. Both examples were written by me, which is why I couldn’t be sure that the meaning was clear. Thank you again!

 

[jutfrank]

Hi, Rikt. I'll give my view, which differs from Charlie Bernstein's for the second question.

Is the sentence above ambiguous?

No.

I feel it might be because it may not be clear what he is hoping for: is he hoping to build the best team, or hoping to buy the best players (if, for example, the club hasn’t yet agreed to pay for the best players)?

No, that's not right. The grammatical structure makes it very clear that he's hoping to build the best team. I don't think that any background knowledge that the listener may have will affect the interpretation. It's understood that his primary goal is to build the best team. Having the best players is just one possible means to that end.

if I wanted to emphasise the latter option (he’s hoping to buy the best players) would I have to rephrase it like this:
“He hopes to buy the best players available and thereby build the best team in the league” ? I think this is clearer, but it doesn’t sound as nice to me.

Yes, that's better. The focus of his hope is different now. I can't see what doesn't sound nice to you.

Can anyone please suggest a nicer way of re-phrasing it, if, indeed, you feel it does need to be re-phrased?

I don't really see why you need to focus on his building the 'best team'. His real aim is to win the league. Whether he has the best team on paper is irrelevant, surely.