[lit-ideas] Re: I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT

From: John Wager <john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:44:21 -0600

"Is lost" is not the same as "lost." The boy (who lost at some contest)left the premises. The boy (who IS lost) left before the police arrivedsearching for him.

And typically the term "has" would be used rather than "is," in eitherof the two contexts. The lost boy has left. The boy who lost thecontest has left.

As a "native" speaker, please PLEASE don' task me about why the pasttense of "leave" is "left." In my heart I know it's not right, but ifit's not right, it SHOULD be left, no?


Adriano Palma wrote:

Is the boy who
lost left
fails to have the following interpretation:
(is it the case that) the boy who is lost left?
Why does this string only mean:

Follow-Ups:
- [lit-ideas] The continued mistreatment of Karl Popper by academics
  - From: Donal McEvoy

References:
- [lit-ideas] I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT
  - From: Adriano Palma

Other related posts:

» [lit-ideas] I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT- Adriano Palma
» [lit-ideas] Re: I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT- John McCreery
» [lit-ideas] Re: I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT - John Wager
» [lit-ideas] Re: I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT- Judith Evans
» [lit-ideas] Re: I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT- Adriano Palma
» [lit-ideas] Re: I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT- Mike Geary
» [lit-ideas] Re: I shall appreciate the opinion of native speaker sof English on the correctness fo the judgment in the last line (to the effect that the sentence can mean and can only mean THE BOY WHO LOST IS LEFT- Donal McEvoy