The placement of commas, or simple words like that can change the meaning of the sentence.

What are the differences between these sentences?

1) a) My son, who lives in New York, is an engineer.
    b) My son who lives in New York is an engineer.

2) a) Politicians who tell lies are to be despised.
    b) Politicians, who tell lies, are to be despised.

3) a) I had a cocktail, which was very unusual.
    b) I had a cocktail that was very unusual.

4) a) I've met the man I want to marry.
    b) I've met the man that I want to marry.

5) a) I don't know where to park the car.
    b) I don't know where I parked the car.

6) a) If I phoned home every day, I'd run up huge phone bills.
    b) If I'd phoned home every day, I'd have run up huge phone bills.
    c) If I phone home every day, I'll run up huge phone bills.

7) a) The students said they'd try to work harder.
    b) The students said they were trying to work harder.
    c) The students said they'd tried to work harder.

8) a) The children who had attended nursery school settled down quickly in primary
    school.
b) The children, who had attended nursery school, settled down quickly in primary
    school.

9) a) How long did you live in France?
    b) How long have you lived in France?

10) a) I can't meet you for lunch tomoorrow. I'm visiting my aunt.
    b) I'm going to try and look in on my aunt. I haven't seen her for ages.
    c) I know! I'll visit my aunt tomorrow. I haven't seen her for ages!

11) a) I wish Kyle wouldn't tell lies.
    b) I wish Kyle weren't so rude.
    c) I wish Kyle hadn't moved in next door.

12) a) We saw the young dancer rehearse for the opening night.
    b) We saw the young dancer rehearsing for the opening night.

13) a) Paul remembered setting the alarm clock for six o'clock.
    b) Paul remembered to set the alarm clock for six o'clock.

14) a) I tried to talk to my boss to explain how I felt about the job.
    b) I tried talking to my boss to explain how I felt about the job.

15) a) John used to work in a bank.
    b) John was used to working in a bank.
    c) John got used to working in a bank.
    d) John was used for work with the bank.

16) a) A well-known artist painted my portrait.
    b) My portrait was painted by a well-known artist.
    c) I had my portrait painted by a well-known artist.

17) He has falsified records.

This sentence could mean:

a) He has records that have been falsified by someone else.
b) He is the falsifier of the records.

In the first meaning, falsified is a transitive verb. In the second sentence, falsified is an
adjective.

19) They are moving vans.

This sentence could mean:

a) The objects of the sentence, they, are moving vans.
b) The objects of the sentence are people who are taking vans to another place. The reasons for the ambiguities are the same as in the first statement.

20) He has graded papers.

This statement could mean:

a) He has given grades to papers.
b) He is in possession of papers that have been graded by someone else.
c) He has papers that are sitting at an angle.

In the first meaning, graded is a transitive verb. In the second meaning, graded is
an adjective.

21) They are shooting stars.

This statement could mean:

a) The subject of the sentence are the shooting stars, making it a S-AV-SC sentence.
b) The subject of the sentence are people who are shooting at either real stars, or fake
stars; making it a S-TV-DO sentence. The reasons for the ambiguities are the same as
in the first, third, and fourth sentence.

22) They have wrecked cars.

a) They have cars that are wrecked.
b) They are people who have, with their bare hands or with the use of tools, destroyed cars.

23) They were shooting stars.

a) The they that we are refering to, were real like asteroids that entered the
atmosphere.
b) They are people on earth who were very famous at that time, but may not be now.

24) He has stolen books.

a) He is in possesion of books that have been stolen, but he isn't necesarily the thief.
b) He has been a bad boy and taken other people's books without having permission or
paying the proper monetary amount.

25) Flying planes can be dangerous.

a) Planes that are flying can be dangerous to people on the ground, because they
can drop things on people.
b) Being the person who is flying a plane can be dangerous to the pilot, because the
plane could crash into the ground, a power line, a builting, a tree, another plane, or a
mountain, and kill the pilot because of the excess Gs created, causing arteries and
viens to burst and leak blood beyond repair.

26) She has plagairized papers.
a) She is in possesion of papers that have been plagerized by a person who is not
necessarily herself.
b) She is the culprit of the plagairized paper scandal.

27) Headline:

"Drunk gets nine months in violin case".

a) The drunk gets a violin case that contains nine objects that are commonly refered
to as months, perhaps pages to a calander.
b) The drunk stole a violin, and was sentenced to nine months in jail for the crime.

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