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Grammar

  • 18-10-2011 5:13pm
    #1
    smndly
    Registered Users Posts: 222 ✭✭


    What do you think the following means: "60% of those in groups A and B voted in favour of the motion"?

    Does this mean that 60% of the combination of the people in A and B voted in favour or does it mean that 60% of group A and 60% of group B voted in favour?

    I think the meaning would also be different if the word "group" was used instead of "groups".

    Bloody Grammar!


Comments

  • #2
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,508 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    Moved from Creative Writing to English


  • #3
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,508 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    Is there any more context? Are there any other groups for example? I'd be inclined to say it meant 60% of A and 60% of B although if the groups are of equal size it would amount to the same thing.


  • #4
    Permabear
    Closed Accounts Posts: 39,022 ✭✭✭✭Permabear


    This post has been deleted.


  • #5
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,508 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    Permabear wrote: »
    This post had been deleted.

    That's not really any less ambiguous to me. You'd need to use 'each' or 'across'.


  • #6
    looksee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,810 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    Doesn't it come to the same thing anyway?


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  • #7
    asper
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭asper


    "60% of those in groups A and B voted in favour of the motion"?

    Unless otherwise indicated , "60% of" is of the single subject following it. Here that would be "of those in groups A and B".

    The only other possibility is two individual subjects; those being "60% of those in groups A" and "B" (grammatically incorrect)

    Unless of course the sentence is of political or marketing origin, in which case all bets are off


  • #8
    BASHIR
    Registered Users Posts: 553 ✭✭✭BASHIR


    pickarooney wrote: »
    Is there any more context? Are there any other groups for example? I'd be inclined to say it meant 60% of A and 60% of B although if the groups are of equal size it would amount to the same thing.

    I would agree, also the groups don't have to be the same size.
    group A (20) 60% = 12
    group b (30) 60% = 18
    Total= 30

    group A+b 50 60% =30

    I know it's not the maths forum but thought it might help.


  • #9
    Unregistered.
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,532 ✭✭✭Unregistered.


    BASHIR wrote: »
    I would agree, also the groups don't have to be the same size.
    group A (20) 60% = 12
    group b (30) 60% = 18
    Total= 30

    group A+b 50 60% =30

    I know it's not the maths forum but thought it might help.

    Aye. 0/20 from group A and 30/30 from group B is still 60% across the two groups.


  • #10
    MathsManiac
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,595 ✭✭✭MathsManiac


    Since somebody mentioned maths, I'll lob in another perspective. ;)

    The OP mentions two possible interpretations, but there is another (dare I say, more literally logical) interpretation:

    "Of those people who are in group A and are also in group B, 60% voted in favour of the motion."

    That is, if I belong to both groups, then I am one of the people that this statement is about; if I belong to group A only, or group B only, or neither group, then I am not one of the people that this statement is about.

    That is how the sentence would be interpreted in a mathematical context, I believe.

    For example, if Group A consists of all of the women involved, and Group B consists of all the tall people involved, then we are being told that 60% of the tall women voted in favour of the motion.

    I realise, of course, that this is not how most people would interpret the statement in other contexts. However, it does illustrate that sentences sometimes don't mean what logic dictates they should mean!


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