John hit Jane harder than Tom.

[Shinya Maki]

Hello, everyone.

Which, #1 or #2, are you more likely to interpret the following sentence as, if it is out of context?

John hit Jane harder than Tom.
1. John hit Jane harder than Tom hit Jane.
2. John hit Jane harder than John hit Tom.

Any comment would be appreciated.


Best regards,
Shinya Maki

[Temico]

1. John hit Jane harder than Tom hit Jane.= John hit Jane harder than Tom did.
2. John hit Jane harder than John hit Tom.= John hit Jane harder than he hit Tom.

You can read it both ways which will depend on what was written in the previous context.