How would one remove ambiguity from these sentences containing "just"

[Eclair_de_XII]

and "since"?

"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left."
"He just told me he got tired of dealing with this."

For the first sentence, is the speaker is saying that his brother leaving is the reason why the former must do all these chores? Or is the speaker is saying that he has had to deal with extra chores after the departure of his brother? I mean, both of these inferred meanings are correct. But would you be able to tell which the speaker meant?

As for the second sentence, is the speaker saying his brother explained, just a few moments prior, why he left? Or is the speaker saying that that vague, minimal statement was all the explanation that he could get from his brother, and that the latter, much to the former's chagrin, did not care to say anything more on the subject?

 

[pinball1970]

and "since"?

"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left."
"He just told me he got tired of dealing with this."

For the first sentence, is the speaker is saying that his brother leaving is the reason why the former must do all these chores? Or is the speaker is saying that he has had to deal with extra chores after the departure of his brother? I mean, both of these inferred meanings are correct. But would you be able to tell which the speaker meant?

As for the second sentence, is the speaker saying his brother explained, just a few moments prior, why he left? Or is the speaker saying that that vague, minimal statement was all the explanation that he could get from his brother, and that the latter, much to the former's chagrin, did not care to say anything more on the subject?

Yes, the order of the sentences makes a little confusing. Plus how did he tell him if he has already left?

The brother left, the other brother did not know why and got with the chores.
Some unspecified time later brother who left, got in touch and told the other brother he got tired of dealing with 'this.'

'This' could mean chores or something else.

 

[hmmm27]

"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left."

hmmm...
"... since he had left" moves the temporal aspect away from "since".

"because he left" is straight forward... but I'm not sure if your query requires the original words, or not.

"He just told me he got tired of dealing with this."

"He simply told me that he had gotten tired..." vs.
"He only just told me..." or "He just now told me..." (both colloquially acceptable ; not sure if technically proper, though)

 

[Eclair_de_XII]

'This' could mean chores or something else.

I purposely left it vague. But if I were to designate an object that "this" refers to, I'd likely just have the departing brother refer to the dysfunction of his family.

I'm not sure if your query requires the original words

It doesn't. It is alright as long as the original meaning is preserved. Thank you for taking the time to respond, besides.

 

[PeroK]

and "since"?

"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left."
"He just told me he got tired of dealing with this."

For the first sentence, is the speaker is saying that his brother leaving is the reason why the former must do all these chores? Or is the speaker is saying that he has had to deal with extra chores after the departure of his brother? I mean, both of these inferred meanings are correct. But would you be able to tell which the speaker meant?

As for the second sentence, is the speaker saying his brother explained, just a few moments prior, why he left? Or is the speaker saying that that vague, minimal statement was all the explanation that he could get from his brother, and that the latter, much to the former's chagrin, did not care to say anything more on the subject?

Why does it matter? That's the way people speak and we work out from the context what is more precisely meant. And, any remaning ambiguity is not necessarily problematic.

 

[Eclair_de_XII]

Why does it matter?

My apologies. I have been reading books on English grammar recently, and I've taken to the habit of scrutinizing everything I say and write, in order to confirm that it conforms to the rules of clarity and correctness that I am reading about. As a result, I've been second-guessing my words to the point that I feel like I am trying to figure out how to cross a field of grammatical land-mines, or else risk sounding silly. It has made me feel a bit more self-conscious about the way that I talk.

 

[berkeman]

My apologies. I have been reading books on English grammar recently, and I've taken to the habit of scrutinizing everything I say and write, in order to confirm that it conforms to the rules of clarity and correctness that I am reading about. As a result, I've been second-guessing my words to the point that I feel like I am trying to figure out how to cross a field of grammatical land-mines, or else risk sounding silly. It has made me feel a bit more self-conscious about the way that I talk.

No need to apologize. I find that I have to proofread what I write at least once or twice to catch any typos and think about any ambiguous wordings that I may have used (this is true for me at work and at discussion forums like PF). I also spend a lot of time tuning up PF thread titles that are ambiguous, to help make them be more readable and clickable (I try to always notify the OP of my thread edits).

So to your questions:

"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left."

To fix it up for one interpretation:
"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left just now."
"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left last week."

To fixt it up for the other interpretation:
"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he just up and left."

"He just told me he got tired of dealing with this."

To fix it up for one interpretation:
"He just now told me he got tired of dealing with this."

To fixt it up for the other interpretation:
"He just got frustrated and told me he got tired of dealing with this."

 

[Mark44]

"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left."
"He just told me he got tired of dealing with this."

For the first sentence, is the speaker is saying that his brother leaving is the reason why the former must do all these chores? Or is the speaker is saying that he has had to deal with extra chores after the departure of his brother? I mean, both of these inferred meanings are correct. But would you be able to tell which the speaker meant?

"Since" is a word that can be used ambiguously if you treat it as a synonym for "because." When I worked as a programming writer at a large software company, the style we adhered to was to use "since" only to mean "from that time," and not as a replacement for "because."
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary lists definitions for "since" as a conjunction, with the first and second definitions referring to time. The "because" sense comes in third.

Regarding the second sentence, the position of "just" indicates to me that he told me shortly before now. Your second interpretation of "just" would be conflating "just" with "only." would change the meaning to something akin to "The only thing he told me was that he was tired of dealing with this." Personally, if this were the idea I wanted to convey, I wouldn't write it as "He just told me ..."

To fix it up for one interpretation:
"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left just now."
"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left last week."

The original sentence -- "I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left." -- doesn't seem ambiguous to me. If you took a poll, I would guess that at least 80% of responders would interpret "since he left" to mean "from the time he left" rather than "because he left."

 

[symbolipoint]

"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left."
"He just told me he got tired of dealing with this."

"This" needs to be stated PLAINLY, not as pronoun.

 

[symbolipoint]

My apologies. I have been reading books on English grammar recently, and I've taken to the habit of scrutinizing everything I say and write, in order to confirm that it conforms to the rules of clarity and correctness that I am reading about. As a result, I've been second-guessing my words to the point that I feel like I am trying to figure out how to cross a field of grammatical land-mines, or else risk sounding silly. It has made me feel a bit more self-conscious about the way that I talk.

That's good. I suggest do not overload yourself with too many books on English Grammar, but find one or two of them which you can use well.

 

[symbolipoint]

Regarding the second sentence, the position of "just" indicates to me that he told me shortly before now. Your second interpretation of "just" would be conflating "just" with "only." would change the meaning to something akin to "The only thing he told me was that he was tired of dealing with this." Personally, if this were the idea I wanted to convey, I wouldn't write it as "He just told me ..."

"Just" could be in use in the example, as a filler word. Or, "Just could be in use in the example just as a filler word. Or, it truly is in use there as an indication of a short-time reference modifier.

 

[Eclair_de_XII]

I find that I have to proofread what I write at least once or twice to catch any typos and think about any ambiguous wordings that I may have used (this is true for me at work and at discussion forums like PF).

I find myself editing any messages I send over social media so many times, it's ridiculous. Sometimes I find myself catching typographical errors or grammatical mistakes I had made months prior, and worry about how many people have caught them without my knowing.

I feel like being on the computer too often has made me careless in writing messages, and has made me lose precious sleep also, exacerbating the problem. My eyes often hurt too much from using the computer over-often. It has gotten to the point that it would be preferable to assume that what I'd typed was sound, as opposed to subjecting myself to more blue-light. I find it difficult to read material on the computer and in general, nowadays, as a result. I want to fix this problem, but the allure of social media combined with my lack of social contact makes it a bit difficult to do so.

Thank you for your suggestions, besides.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary lists definitions for "since" as a conjunction, with the first and second definitions referring to time. The "because" sense comes in third.

Thanks. That is helpful to know.

The original sentence -- "I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left." -- doesn't seem ambiguous to me. If you took a poll, I would guess that at least 80% of responders would interpret "since he left" to mean "from the time he left" rather than "because he left."

This insight is much appreciated, also.

"This" needs to be stated PLAINLY, not as pronoun.

In my haste to make my sentences as vague as ambiguous as possible, I might have made some parts of the sample sentences ambiguous, when they do not need to be. Let's say the brother is saying that he is tired of dealing with his dysfunctional family and their lack of respect toward him.

I suggest do not overload yourself with too many books on English Grammar, but find one or two of them which you can use well.

Thank you.

 

[symbolipoint]

Eclair_de_XII
If it makes you feel any better, I too often pick at what I write, rewrite it for clarity, and finally when I have expressed the way I want, I then post or send what I wrote. I took some time several years ago, more than just once, reviewing English Grammar And Usage from a favorite-found book.

 

[Mark44]

My eyes often hurt too much from using the computer over-often.

Reminds me of this old saw, an exchange between a doctor and a patient.
Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I do this..."
Doctor: "Well, don't do that."

I want to fix this problem, but the allure of social media combined with my lack of social contact makes it a bit difficult to do so.

Seems a bit like a chicken-and-egg proposition. More social media leads to minimal social contact, and minimal social contact leads to more time spent on social media.

My advice would be to break this cycle by doing something unrelated to computers: doing something physical outside, doing something where there is contact with other people, whatever -- anything other than sitting at a keyboard or doing stuff on a phone.

 

[N1206]

"I have had to do all my brother's chores since he left."
Most English speakers would find no ambiguity in this sentence.
To nitpick you could rearrange it
'Since my brother left I have had to do all his chores'
Either/or -- but the sentence is clear that the brother leaving increased your workload.
While 'since' can be used as a synonym for 'because', that is becoming rarer as 'since' implies a change in time and circumstances to most listeners, where 'because' only implies causality.

"He just told me he got tired of dealing with this."
Here you have ambiguity that would need other sentences to provide context.
'Just' can have the sense partiality of a whole that would be better reflected with
'All he told me was he got tired of dealing with this'
'Just' can also have the sense of recent occurrence.
'I just spoke to him recently and he told me he got tired of dealing with this'

No getting around the fact that 'just' leaves ambiguity in its wake.
It ALWAYS needs context to sort partiality from recent occurrence definitively.
Most English speakers would take this
'I just spoke to him and he told me he got tired of dealing with this'
as being recent occurrence--unless it was proceed with something like
'I didn't try texting, asking others or trying to read his body language, I just spoke to him and he told me he got tired of dealing with this'

That's my take, anyway

 

[gleem]

Wordsmiths have issues with "since" and "just" in part because of their overuse and possible ambiguity. But the example sentences given in this post would not have been stated as stand a lone as they were here. There would have been a context to clarify them.

The general advice seems to be, to use "since" with a temporal interpretation. "Just" on the other hand as an adverb, has many meanings and occurs very often, and is overused. Many other words can be used instead which are unambiguous. However "just" is useful to diminish a word as in "it costs just one dollar".