Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[navi]

1-There are two men on either side of the door.

2-There may be two men on either side of the door.

In each case, how many men are there (or may there be) in all?

I think 1 means that there are 4 men in all and 2 is ambiguous (there may be two on each side (4 in all) or there may be two on one of the two sides). To me it seems that in 2 'either' could mean 'both' or 'either one or the other'.

[Lorikeet]

[bud]

Lorikeet and Navi, I'd say that #2 gives us no information at all. There could be any number of men standing by the door - one, four, a hundred, or none at all.

[navi]

Thanks Lorikeet and Bud,
This seems to be quite complicated, because native speakers give different answers to it!

It is true that #2 doesn't give us any information in the true sense, but then again, it does state a possibility, and like all statements that give us a possibility, it implies that other cases are possible too.

He might be home.
means 'He might not be home.' at the same time (or else we would say 'He is home.'), and yet it is not meaningless. It does say something (although it implies the opposite as well!). Unless, of-course, you want to attribute probabilities to 'may' 'might' 'could' can' etc. and say may is 70 percent and 'might' is 40 percent and...

[bud]

Yes, I think it's true that it's most likely that there are 4 or less men. The context would make the possibilities clearer.

The sentence reminds me of something you often hear in advertisements: "Save up to $200 or more!" To me, that's anywhere from zero to the full cost of the thing. But then, that's the nature of advertising: say nothing and make it sound enticing.

[Lorikeet]

[bud]

Thanks, Lori.

I think a lot of the sentences we are asked to comment on in here are tricky, as they rarely have a context. It's a natural tendency for us to put our own context around them, I'd say.