How can I explain the statement " The immigrant is the father of a young child, and he has a health problem.

Question

A student of mine says she learned in grammar class today that the above sentence I just posted is vague and does not make sense. She said the sentence does not clearly say who is sick. It is evasive. In order for her to do her assignment she said she needs to know clearly who is sick. Many sentences I hand out in History are like this. I am not an English teacher. How can I explain this in simple terms that the sentence is correct. She further says it is just inferring it is the grandfather, but does not clearly say this with the information provided. " Here is the sentence again. " The immigrant is the father of a young child, and he has a serious health problem. She feels the word "He" does not necessarily mean the grandfather and could be the child who is the he in this sentence. To me it was common sense that they meant the grandfather. The student does not except that explanation. Any English teachers can you help me?

Answer 1

You cannot explain in simple terms that this sentence is correct, because it is not correct. Your student is correct.

This sentence has a dangling participle. As both of the people could be male, "he has a health problem." does not indicate who is sick. The only reason you think this is "common sense" is that you would prefer that health problems be reserved for people who have already lived their lives. While this is noble, it is unrealistic.

Without more information, we simply cannot determine who is sick from this sentence.

Since your student is not writing this phrase, but reading what you have written, and you think that you're correct, I suggest you take it to some of your peers in the English department, and ask them to explain the grammar lesson that led your student to call you to the mat.

Anyone who tells you that there is enough information in the sentence as is to resolve the dangling participle should attend that lesson with you.

On a side note, your phrase "The student does not except that explanation." is an example of the misuse of the word "except." You'll want to replace that with the word "accept." You may not be an English teacher, but boning up on grammar and usage is not a bad idea for an History teacher.

You know I'm right. When your students come to learn that their knowledge of English exceeds yours, they will become contemptuous. You do not have to read anything I ever write, but your students will hang you out to dry if you keep this up.

Answer 2

She has a point. Saying child can mean a boy or a girl, so the word HE could mean either the father or the child.

Instead say - The immigrant is the father of a young girl, and he has a serious health problem. The HE would have to be the father then.

The immigrant is the father of a young girl, and she has a serious health problem - if it's the child that's ill.

The immigrant is the father of a young child, and he also has a serious health problem. - That would also infer the father, not the child to me, but again, it could possibly be interrupted either way.

When I read the sentence, I assumed it meant the father, but I can see where it could be interrupted either way, since the child isn't labeled a boy or a girl.

Answer 3

The purpose of good writing is communication. If a sentence is ambiguous then the writer should try to find a better way to phrase it, one where the meaning is clear to all. With no other information to put this sentence in context, it is not clear whether the immigrant has a sick child or the child has a sick, immigrant father. There is no way to tell. The student is correct in this case. In general, the pronoun refers to the nearest antecedent, but not always.(In fact, in this sentence, the nearest antecedent is the child). Sometimes a sentence may be grammatically correct, but still ambiguous.

I will give you an example of two sentences that are in the same form as your sentence.

Joe Montana threw the ball to Jerry Rice, and he ran forty yards
for a touchdown.

Joe Montana threw the ball to Jerry Rice, and he lowered his shoulder and knocked a linebacker flying.

In the first case, if the reader knows about football, it is clear that "he" refers to Jerry Rice.
In the second sentence, which is in the same form as the first, it is not clear who threw the block, Rice or Montana. "He" could refer to either player. Did Montana throw a short swing pass, then block a linebacker, or did Rice catch the ball and then hit a linebacker? There is no way to tell to whom "he" refers .
I would rewrite it as:
Joe Montana threw the ball to Jerry Rice, then lowered his shoulder and knocked a linebacker flying (if it was Montana who threw the block), or:
Joe Montana threw the ball to Jerry Rice, who lowered his shoulder and knocked a linebacker flying.


You might make your sentence unambiguous if you wrote:
The immigrant, who is the father of a young child, has a health problem.
or:
The immigrant has a health problem, and he is the father of a young child.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

If you meant to say the CHILD was sick you would have said:
" The immigrant is the father of a young child WHO has a health problem."

Granted if I was writing a will or a contract, I would take the extra precaution and write the sentence as:
"The immigrant, who is the father of a young child, has a health problem." OR
" The immigrant, who has a health problem, is the father of a young child."

But under normal writing conditions your sentence does strongly suggest the father is the one will the illness because you used the word AND keeping the added information still in reference to the father (the subject). Most people would assume it's the father, although the sentence can be made more clear to eliminate confusion to the few (as I showed).
Hope that helped.

My answer, and in your other post of the same question, "David" and "Queenrakl"'s answers are the only truly correct answers.
All three of us agree that you are correct, but we can see how someone can be confused and we've given examples on how to eliminate THEIR confusion. ;o)

Answer 5

Your student is right, the sentence is unclear. You should clarify it by re-writing the sentence either:

The immigrant has a health problem, and is the father of a young child.

or

The immigrant is the father of a young child with a health problem.

Answer 6

The general rule is that the pronouns refers to the noun closest to it - so your sentence would mean that the child is sick. Your feeling was that the "and" indicated the end of one complete thought, and the reader would assume the pronoun referred back to the immigrant, the subject of the first sentence.

But it is confusing. A clearer formulation might be
The immigrant, who has a health problem, is also the father of a young child.

I find no reference to a grandfather anywhere.

Answer 7

I agree with your student, I really don't know from your sentence who's sick and who isn't.

If it's the immigrant who is sick, say something like "The immigrant, who is the father of a young child, has a health problem." or "The immigrant has a health problem and is the father of a young child."

If it's the child, try "The immigrant is the father of a young child who has a health problem."

Hope this helps.

Answer 8

Where did the "grandfather" come from? It's the father first off...I am assuming the father has the health problem..If it were the child, it would read..The immigrant is the father of a young child with a health problem....

Answer 9

Your student has a difficulty with pronoun reference. interior the 1st element of the sentence, the daddy (the immigrant) is the priority. interior the 2nd section (after the and), he's the priority, subsequently HE refers back to the daddy. in the adventure that your student constantly has this difficulty, i'd refer her for a speech and language eval. yet in a different thank you to look at it: AND is used to function or evaluate suggestion (in assessment to yet). once you utilize AND, you're including suggestion related to the daddy, no longer the baby. stable success!

Answer 10

It is different for everyone, therefore, it does not make sense