Ambiguous sentences

I found myself in trouble this morning, trying to explain ambiguity in sentences. It is tricky. First things first – What is ambiguity? – According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary:

1) The state of having more than one possible meaning.
2) A word or statement that can be understood in more than one way.

After defining what it is, let’s take a look at some examples:

a) Students hate annoying teachers.

The problem here is the word annoying. It could refer to both verb and adjective.

Possible solutions:
Students don’t like to annoy teachers (VERB).
Students don’t like teachers that are annoying (ADJECTIVE).


b) Students arrive late and teachers complain about it. It’s not correct.

The ambiguous sentence here is "It’s not correct". "It" is referring to both "students arriving late" or to "teachers complaining about it".

Possible solution:
Teachers complain about students arriving late. It’s not correct.

Note: What do you think of this solution to letter "b"? Do let me know your opinion about it!

Here is what I found on EnglishClub.com about ambiguity. Very good comment indeed!

Source: http://edition.englishclub.com/esl-magazine/q201006/

(…) Yes, it could confuse someone. Yes, it could cause someone to ask you to repeat what you said. Will you still get your point across? Yes. Most likely. Try to avoid ambiguity, but don’t beat yourself up over it. We all use poor construction from time to time. It is more important to avoid ambiguity in writing. Why? Because the writer is not always present to clarify the intended meaning. Reading your writing out loud is a good idea. You may detect your own vague and ambiguous sentences when you hear them. Rewrite the awkward sentence until it sounds perfectly clear (…).