learnt a lot from them which...

[navi tasan]

Are these sentences correct:

1-We learnt a lot from them which we should never forget.

2-We learnt a lot from them, which we should never forget.

I think '2' means
We learnt a lot from them and we should not forget that.

'1' has a restrictive clause. It means: We learnt a lot of things that we should not forget from them.

I think there is some ambiguity here. Does '1' necessarily imply that there were things we learnt from them that we can forget? I think it could imply that, but does not necessarily imply it.

Am I right?

Gratefully,
Navi.

 

[Raymott]

Yes, I agree with all your points. In speech, they would be more ambiguous on both counts. As usual, the context in which it's uttered will tend to disambiguate it. Written, they tend to have the meanings you ascribe to them.

 

[Tdol]

Is it a real ambiguity? It's clear enough about what you did learn, which is what concerns the speaker. They could make the rest clear if necessary.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I don't see any substantial difference in meaning. If anything, the comma in the second indicates a pause that would suggest an afterthought.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you both very much.
I think there is ambiguity.

2-We learnt a lot from them, which we should never forget.

This could mean two things:
2a-We learnt a lot from them and we should not forget what we learnt from them.
2b-We learnt a lot from them and we should not forget that we learnt a lot from them. We should not forget our debt to them.

The ambiguity is less important in the case of '1'.

1-We learnt a lot from them which we should never forget.

1a-We learnt a lot from them and we should never forget the things we learnt from them. (all of those things)
1b-We learnt a lot form them that we should never forget and we have also learnt some things from them that we can forget. (This is not really likely)

Gratefully,
Navi.