English Scholars of PH quiz

[Road2Ruin]

My daughter was given some English homework....see below....

Read this sentence carefully. "I'd like to introduce you to my sister Clara, who lives in Madrid, to Benedict, my brother who doesn't, and to my only other sibling, Hilary."

One of theses is correct..


Hilary is a Man

Hilary is a woman

You cannot tell from the context.



I got it wrong but do know the answer what do you think?

PS if you do know don't tell why it is until a few have answered.

[boyse7en]

You can't tell, unless you tell me where Hilary lives. Then I will know.

[Gargamel]

I have read it a few times. My answer would be you cannot tell.

[Gargamel]

boyse7en said:

You can't tell, unless you tell me where Hilary lives. Then I will know.

Brighton or San Francisco ?

[williamp]

My understanding is that sibling can mean either brother or sister, so you cannot tell.

[Road2Ruin]

Let's see if we get a few more before I give the answer...and tell you why.

[alock]

Road2Ruin said:

Let's see if we get a few more before I give the answer...and tell you why.

Since it's English and not maths homework, I'm going to guess there is some subtle argument about why a confusing sentence with lots of commas should be interpreted in one way and not another.

[Road2Ruin]

alock said:

Since it's English and not maths homework, I'm going to guess there is some subtle argument about why a confusing sentence with lots of commas should be interpreted in one way and not another.

Indeed, but I struggled to work it out even knowing the answer!

[456GT]

Hilary is male. I think the clue is "...my brother who doesn't...".

No commas implies there is a brother who does.

[LordGrover]

As it's all about the English, what's a 'theses'?

Are you confident the spelling, punctuation and grammar is 100% accurate?

[Road2Ruin]

456GT said:

Hilary is male. I think the clue is "...my brother who doesn't...".

A bit of me thinks you looked it up ...but you are correct. It implies there is another brother. If there had been a comma after the word brother though, then you would not be able to tell.

And my daughter is twelve....what the hell are they teaching them.

[rhinochopig]

I'm going Hilary is a women...because it is a grammatical implication that Hilary lives Madrid.

Balls - misread the implication. 456gt is correct.

[Zod]

The commas are correctly placed. The sentence does not contain enough information to allow one to decide whether Hilary is a man or a woman.

He/she might be non-binary, in any case.

[Road2Ruin]

LordGrover said:

As it's all about the English, what's a 'theses'?

Are you confident the spelling, punctuation and grammar is 100% accurate?

Yes.

The theses bit is just me being stupid.

[sidicks]

Zod said:

The commas are correctly placed. The sentence does not contain enough information to allow one to decide whether Hilary is a man or a woman.

He/she might be non-binary, in any case.

Already explained above - it makes sense, but I wouldn't have picked up the clue!

[Road2Ruin]

Zod said:

The commas are correctly placed. The sentence does not contain enough information to allow one to decide whether Hilary is a man or a woman.

He/she might be non-binary, in any case.

Hilary is a man. See 456GT answer above for reasons.

[Zod]

sidicks said:

Zod said:

The commas are correctly placed. The sentence does not contain enough information to allow one to decide whether Hilary is a man or a woman.

He/she might be non-binary, in any case.

Already explained above - it makes sense, but I wouldn't have picked up the clue!

I don't agree with the explanation.

[456GT]

Road2Ruin said:

A bit of me thinks you looked it up ...but you are correct. It implies there is another brother. If there had been a comma after the word brother though, then you would not be able to tell.

And my daughter is twelve....what the hell are they teaching them.

I used to teach English. That is pretty tricky for someone who's twelve, I don't think I would've got it at that age.

[Road2Ruin]

sidicks said:

Already explained above - it makes sense, but I wouldn't have picked up the clue!

I'm with you. I said you couldn't tell.

[sidicks]

Road2Ruin said:

I'm with you. I said you couldn't tell.

However, I accept the explanation that you actually can tell!