Friday, August 23, 2013

Donkey Sentences

I had another small piece published this week -- on Donkey Sentences. The original donkey sentence is: "Every farmer who owns a donkey beats it." So what is remarkable about this sentence? In school one was taught that "it" should refer back to the donkey. But here we have farmers in the mix -- and several donkeys it seems -- all referred to as "it". Therefore, there is a problem with classical grammar. There isn't a problem with the sentence. It is snags like this that sometimes reveal a lot.

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