• zweieuro@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    4 months ago

    Non native so maybe it just gets lost, but I don’t get it?

    Is the error that the possessive ‘s is missing at ‘dogs’ ? If so, then its plural… I don’t get it ^^’

    • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      Yes, they forgot the apostrophe, so the Dad took “Have you seen the dogs bowl?” to mean “Have you seen the dogs go bowling?”

    • Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Have you seen the bowl belonging to the dog? (The intended question of the asker. You’re right, it’s missing the possessive.)

      vs.

      Have you seen the dogs bowling? (The dad’s perfect misinterpretation.)

    • Tyoda@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      Yep, that’s it. This way “bowl” becomes a verb and the sentence means “Have you seen the dogs play bowling?”.

    • lugal@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      You’re on the right track. The possessive 's is missing which would make it the bowl of the dog (as intended). The way it is written, “bowl” could be a verb as in “have you seen the dogs when they bowl”. Hope that makes sense and I’m a non native myself so not 100% sure myself