Monday, June 4, 2012

coordinating conjunctions - How to remove ambiguity due to having both an `and` and an `or` in a sentence

I have two questions related to the following sentence.




I have an apple or an orange and a banana



First I would like to confirm that the sentence is ambiguous because it could mean one of the following




  • I have (i) an apple or (ii) an orange and a banana.


  • I have (i) an apple and a banana or (ii) an orange and a banana.





Second, I would like to remove the ambiguity by making it mean the former. What are some ways to do this?

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