we have a sentence with a when-clause that gives background information

[EngLearner]

I wrote the following in my other thread:

So, if we have a sentence with a when-clause that gives background information to the main events of a past tense narrative (as in post #1), then we don't use the past perfect. Right?

Do you understand the underlined part to mean 1) that a sentence containing a when-clause gives background information, or 2) that only a when-clause within the sentence does?

I had meaning #1 in mind when I wrote it, but then I realized that it could mean #2 (at least in my native language).

 

[SoothingDave]

I understood it to mean 2. "A when-clause that gives background information"

 

[EngLearner]

Is meaning #1 at all possible?

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes, it's potentially ambiguous. If you meant 1, you could re-arrange. "...sentence that gives background information"