Một adjective đứng trước nhiều noun: Adjective sẽ bổ nghĩa cho noun nào?

Một adjective trong câu bổ nghĩa cho nhiều noun trong trường hợp có chữ “and” ở giữa các noun này, và miễn là không có từ nào khác giữa chữ “and” và noun thứ hai.

Ví dụ 2 noun:

• The cheerful boys and girls run towards the playground. (Both the boys and the girls are cheerful.)
• The cheerful boys and the girls… (the boys are cheerful, but the girls may or may not be cheerful.)
• The tall man and his wife => makes only the man tall.
• The mischievous cat and dog => both the animals are mischievous.
• Place the red buttons and ribbons in the box => the buttons as well as the ribbons are red.
• Place the red buttons and the ribbons in the box => is different, as explained.

Ví dụ nhiều noun:

• Trash the rotten apples, oranges, tomatoes and eggs straightaway! => all rotten.
• Trash the rotten apples and oranges and retain the tomatoes and eggs. => only the apples and oranges are rotten.
• Put the new toys, pens and books on the table. (Toys, pens and books are all new.)
• Put the new toys and pens, and the books on the table. (The adjective ‘new’ qualifies only the toys and pens.)