Woman talking about her sister says she ...
You can see the problem. Is the sister talking about herself or the sister?
What the solution to this problem. I use names. 'Amanda, talking about her sister, (model/suicide) Julie, says Julie was dieting/self-harming...'
'Suicide Julie's sister, Amanda, says, "I was dieting/self-harming ..." '
I have taken this from a newspaper headline. To make it more cheerful for myself and you I'll make up another example:
Woman talking about her sister says she made bride's wedding dresses for dolls
Presumably the bride made her own wedding dress. Or was the dress made by the sister? Did they both make wedding dresses for dolls as children? Did the older sister, the bride, inspire the younger one? Or did the older sister inspire the younger bride?
Bride's sister says she
Same problem. We don't know who 'she' refers to, the bride or the sister.
The reader expects she to refer to the most recent noun, the sister. That's what most grammar books would teach, that the clause modifies the preceding and nearest noun.
But headline writers and others so often get the sentence structure wrong that the reader has to read back or on to check.
Angela Lansbury - author.
See books on lulu.com
You can see the problem. Is the sister talking about herself or the sister?
What the solution to this problem. I use names. 'Amanda, talking about her sister, (model/suicide) Julie, says Julie was dieting/self-harming...'
'Suicide Julie's sister, Amanda, says, "I was dieting/self-harming ..." '
I have taken this from a newspaper headline. To make it more cheerful for myself and you I'll make up another example:
Woman talking about her sister says she made bride's wedding dresses for dolls
Presumably the bride made her own wedding dress. Or was the dress made by the sister? Did they both make wedding dresses for dolls as children? Did the older sister, the bride, inspire the younger one? Or did the older sister inspire the younger bride?
Bride's sister says she
Same problem. We don't know who 'she' refers to, the bride or the sister.
The reader expects she to refer to the most recent noun, the sister. That's what most grammar books would teach, that the clause modifies the preceding and nearest noun.
But headline writers and others so often get the sentence structure wrong that the reader has to read back or on to check.
Angela Lansbury - author.
See books on lulu.com
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