How to know if a past participle form used in a sentence is the adjective for the next word or not?
I've read this sentence in a book:
Like most languages, C# lets you define local variables, which are named elements inside a method that each hold a piece of information.
I can see this sentence in two ways, I can't get to know which one is the correct one:
- named is the adjective of elements. So nothing is named "elements inside a method"! it is just saying that variables are named elements (each element has a name) which are declared inside a method and hold a piece of information.
- are named is a passive verb, and the whole sentence means that variables are named "elements inside a method"
I myself think that the first one is correct, however I have to persuade someone who thinks the second one is correct. I don't know how to prove it.
In theory, the sentence is ambiguous, and both readings 1) and 2) are possible. But the context makes it completely clear that 1) is the correct one here: local variables exist inside a method, and they are elements that have names.
To avoid this ambiguity, in case reading 2) was intended, the writer could have used quotation marks around elements: which are named 'elements'... This would have been advisable. But reading 2) was never intended, so it doesn't matter here.