Ambiguity is the use of a word, phrase, or sentence that can have more than one meaning. When a word, phrase, or sentence can have more than one meaning, the reader is left to guess. And guessing results in confusion and misunderstanding. Neither is conducive to effective communication.
In many situations, the context will make the meaning of an otherwise ambiguous statement clear. For example, if you write, “Mike saw the dog with one eye,” several meanings are possible. It could mean that Mike was using one eye to look at the dog. It could mean that the dog has only one eye. Or it could mean that the dog found an eye and was hoping to present it as a trophy to Mike. However, if you write, “Mike was wearing an eye patch. He saw the dog with one eye,” the ambiguity is removed and the meaning is clear.
Ambiguity is often the result improper punctuation or improperly placed modifiers. As examples:
He swung the bat with one arm. As written, “with one arm” modifies bat. The sentence could be written as: With one arm, he swung the bat.
Tina finds pleasure in cooking her family and her dog. As written without commas, Tina enjoys preparing family members and her pet for eating. The sentence should be written: Tina finds pleasure in cooking, her family, and her dog.
As a writer, we know what we intend when we put words on paper. But what appears on paper isn’t always what we intend. Ambiguity is often the result.
Longer sentences are more prone to ambiguity than short sentences. The longer the sentence, the easier it is to misplace clauses and modifiers. This doesn’t mean that we should avoid long sentences. It simply means that additional care should be exercised when writing longer sentences or using many clauses.
A helpful tool to detect ambiguity is to read our written words out loud (this is also a useful tool for detecting other writing errors). When we read silently, we tend to “see” what we intended rather than what is actually written. Reading aloud gives us another sense–hearing–to detect errors, omissions, and ambiguity.
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