kept my eyes on him

[navi tasan]

1) I kept my eyes on him running across the street.
2) I kept my eyes on him running.

3) I shot him running across the street.
4) I shot him running.

Would the sentences be grammatical if he was the person running?

 

[emsr2d2]

Are you asking about the ambiguity of who might be "running across the street"? My attention is diverted by the fact that all four sentences are very unnatural.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you very much, emsr2d2,

Yes, indeed. And I also wanted to know if a comma before the adverbial would change anything.
I think that using 'while I/he was running' would be more natural. But I was, as usual, interested in the ambiguous construction.

 

[Tarheel]

@navi tasan What verb would normally be used in sentences one and two?

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you very much, Tarheel. I guess 'watch', but then that would obviate the whole problem!

What if I said: I kept my gun aimed at him running across the street.

What I am looking for is not the most natural way to express the idea, but the ways in which a particular structure can be used.
verb+preposition+object+present participle
Is that construct ambiguous? Could the agent of the participle be the object?

 

[Tarheel]

I forget more grammar terms every day.

Yes, "watch" is the verb there.

You could say you kept your gun aimed at him while he was running across the street.

You can start a sentence with a verb if you are asking a question.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you very much, Tarheel. I guess 'watch', but then that would obviate the whole problem!

What if I said: I kept my gun aimed at him running across the street.

What I am looking for is not the most natural way to express the idea, but the ways in which a particular structure can be used.
verb+preposition+object+present participle
Is that construct ambiguous? Could the agent of the participle be the object?

That has the same ambiguity and should be expressed much more clearly. You appear to be trying to use a construction that, for all the examples you've come up with, is ambiguous. Why?

 

[Tarheel]

I am stumped as to what that might look like using the words those grammar terms stand for. Also, I have no idea what the agent of a participle is.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you both very much,

I am obsessed with ambiguity. I used to be a translator and I was always worried that I might misunderstand a sentence. I thought a sentence might have two meanings and I might only see one of them! It was a strange fear, almost a phobia. I think the chances of such things happening is low, because one can generally rely on context. But that fear took root in me. I am not a translator anymore, but the fear is there! It might be hard to understand. I had a translator friend who had similar fears. Maybe some tranlators can understand that.

I don't want to use ambiguous sentences and try to avoid them, but I want to be able to recognize ambiguity when I see it.

 

[emsr2d2]

OK, but if you're not a translator anymore then you don't need to continue to be so obsessed. You certainly don't need to keep posting made-up examples on here to see if there's a 1% chance of ambiguity.
Please stick only to real-life examples from now on. If you have to write something in English and you're genuinely worried about potential ambiguity, feel free to ask us but otherwise, I'm requesting that you keep the obsession off the forum.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you very much, emsr2d2,

I didn't know my questions were annoying. From now on, I will do my best to base my questions on real-life examples.