4.45 Exercise 4.45

I’ve chosen to represent the five different parses of the sentence via the actual representations found by an amb interpreter, because this happens to be an unambiguous representation that can be understood readily and verified by parsing the sentence yourself. Here are the interpretations, followed by brief descriptions of how the placement of the prepositional phrases colors the meaning of the sentence:

(sentence
(simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun professor))
(verb-phrase
  (verb-phrase
   (verb-phrase
    (verb lectures)
    (prep-phrase (prep to) (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun student))))
   (prep-phrase (prep in) (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun class))))
  (prep-phrase (prep with) (simple-noun-phrase) (article the) (noun cat))))

Here, there are three nested verb phrases. The first, "lectures to the student", is qualified by the lecturing being in the class, and this is qualified even further by the fact that the lecturing is with the cat.

(sentence
(simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun professor))
(verb-phrase
  (verb-phrase
   (verb lectures)
   (prep-phrase (prep to) (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun student))))
  (prep-phrase
   (prep in)
   (noun-phrase
    (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun class))
    (prep-phrase (prep with) (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun cat)))))))

Here, the class is a part of a larger noun phrase, adding the qualification that the class has a cat. The lecturing is now taking place "in the class with the cat".

(sentence
(simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun professor))
(verb-phrase
  (verb-phrase
   (verb lectures)
   (prep-phrase
    (prep to)
    (noun-phrase
     (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun student))
     (prep-phrase (prep in) (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun class))))))
  (prep-phrase (prep with) (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun cat)))))

Here, "the student in the class" is a larger noun phrase which is the target of the lecturing. The professor is also lecturing with the cat.

(sentence
(simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun professor))
(verb-phrase
  (verb lectures)
  (prep-phrase
   (prep to)
   (noun-phrase
    (noun-phrase
     (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun student))
     (prep-phrase (prep in) (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun class))))
    (prep-phrase (prep with) (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun cat)))))))

Here, "the student in the class with the cat" is a single compound noun phrase, and the noun phrases are nested such that the student has the cat.

(sentence
(simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun professor))
(verb-phrase
  (verb lectures)
  (prep-phrase
   (prep to)
   (noun-phrase
    (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun student))
    (prep-phrase
     (prep in)
     (noun-phrase
      (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun class))
      (prep-phrase
       (prep with)
       (simple-noun-phrase (article the) (noun cat)))))))))

Here, "the student in the class with the cat" is also a single compound noun phrase, but the nesting of these phrases is different – now, "the class with the cat" is what the student is in.

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1	Chapter 1
2	Chapter 2
3	Chapter 3
4	Chapter 4
5	Chapter 5

4.1	Exercise 4.1
4.2	Exercise 4.2
4.3	Exercise 4.3
4.4	Exercise 4.4
4.5	Exercise 4.5
4.6	Exercise 4.6
4.7	Exercise 4.7
4.8	Exercise 4.8
4.9	Exercise 4.9
4.10	Exercise 4.10
4.11	Exercise 4.11
4.12	Exercise 4.12
4.13	Exercise 4.13
4.14	Exercise 4.14
4.15	Exercise 4.15
4.16	Exercise 4.16
4.17	Exercise 4.17
4.18	Exercise 4.18
4.19	Exercise 4.19
4.20	Exercise 4.20
4.21	Exercise 4.21
4.22	Exercise 4.22
4.23	Exercise 4.23
4.24	Exercise 4.24
4.25	Exercise 4.25
4.26	Exercise 4.26
4.27	Exercise 4.27
4.28	Exercise 4.28
4.29	Exercise 4.29
4.30	Exercise 4.30
4.31	Exercise 4.31
4.32	Exercise 4.32
4.33	Exercise 4.33
4.34	Exercise 4.34
4.35	Exercise 4.35
4.36	Exercise 4.36
4.37	Exercise 4.37
4.38	Exercise 4.38
4.39	Exercise 4.39
4.40	Exercise 4.40
4.41	Exercise 4.41
4.42	Exercise 4.42
4.43	Exercise 4.43
4.44	Exercise 4.44
4.45	Exercise 4.45
4.46	Exercise 4.46
4.47	Exercise 4.47
4.48	Exercise 4.48
4.49	Exercise 4.49
4.50	Exercise 4.50
4.51	Exercise 4.51
4.52	Exercise 4.52
4.53	Exercise 4.53
4.54	Exercise 4.54
4.55	Exercise 4.55
4.56	Exercise 4.56
4.57	Exercise 4.57
4.58	Exercise 4.58
4.59	Exercise 4.59
4.60	Exercise 4.60
4.61	Exercise 4.61
4.62	Exercise 4.62
4.63	Exercise 4.63
4.64	Exercise 4.64
4.65	Exercise 4.65
4.66	Exercise 4.66
4.67	Exercise 4.67
4.68	Exercise 4.68
4.69	Exercise 4.69
4.70	Exercise 4.70
4.71	Exercise 4.71