English class

[EscGeek]

Fun little grammar question that stumped a pair of native English speakers this morning:
"Emily Johnson will be walked down the aisle by her brother, Marcus Johnson."
"Marcus Johnson will walk his sister Emily Johnson down the aisle."
How many siblings are there in the Johnson family?
Follow-up question and hint: what are their genders?

EDIT: The original version of this post used real names that have been changed to fake ones for privacy purposes.

i don't get it:?

 

[lavieenrose]

i don't get it:?

I'll leave it up for another 24 hours then reveal the answer.

 

[Lupus]

i don't get it:?

There is nothing to get.

 

[lavieenrose]

There are at least three, but Marcus is the only man. Commas set off modifying phrases (even if that's a name) except when the modifier is necessary to clarify. Therefore, "his sister Emily" implies that he has other sisters besides Emily, but "her brother, Marcus" implies that Marcus is her only brother. Therefore, there are at least two sisters and only one brother.

 

[Lupus]

There are at least three, but Marcus is the only man. Commas set off modifying phrases (even if that's a name) except when the modifier is necessary to clarify. Therefore, "his sister Emily" implies that he has other sisters besides Emily, but "her brother, Marcus" implies that Marcus is her only brother. Therefore, there are at least two sisters and only one brother.

But the thing to remember is that so few people are aware of this rule, so I wouldn't recommend making the assumption that the presence of commas means that there is only brother in this case. Not saying that the rule is wrong, merely that it is useless!

 

[Ezio]

I figured out, I struggle a bit with composite tenses and "if sentences" after I took an English online test and the result was C1.

Can we use this thread for some grammar lessons by native speakers?