"我对他的观点提出抗议。and " 我对他的态度变了" both sentences use "我对他的," but seemingly in a different way

Question

"我对他的观点提出抗议。and " 我对他的态度变了"

When I first encountered this sentence ("我对他的态度变了"), I see it as "My towards-him attitude has changed," which in proper English would be, "My attitude towards him has changed."

The grammar is confusing me a bit because this sentence (我对他的观点提出抗议。) doesn't make sense using that same way of looking at "我对他的..." In fact, if I used the same way of understanding, the sentence would say, "My towards-him viewpoint raised protest/objections" or in more normal English, "My viewpoint towards him raised protest/objections." But that's not nearly what it means because the translation says, "I raised objections to his view/point of view."

So my question is, what is the correct way to bridge my English brain into understanding how the same basic structure ("我对他的" + noun + verb/verbphrase) somehow used "我对他的" in two seemingly different ways. Could someone help me understand what I'm missing here?

Thanks so much!!!

Answer 1

You need to identify the adjective and the object from the context

1. [我对他的]态度变了 = [My] attitude [toward him] have changed (I can change my attitude, but not his)

2. 我对[他的]态度提出抗议 = I object [his] attitude (I can object his attitude, but not mine)

3. [我对他的]观点变了 = [My] viewpoint [toward him] have changed (I can change my viewpoint, but not his)

4. 我对[他的]观点提出抗议 = I object [his] viewpoint (I can object his viewpoint, but not mine)

Sometimes, limited context can create ambiguity. For example, 我对他的仇恨無法理解 can mean 'I don't understand why I hate him' or 'I don't understand his hate'

More context can clear things up. For example, 我对他对我的仇恨無法理解 clearly means 'I don't understand his hate toward me'

Of course, rewrite it as '我無法理解他的仇恨' (I can't understand his hate) would make the sentence much smoother

Answer 2

It can read as either [我对他的]观点 or 我对[他的观点] depending on context. We will decide this according to logic, tone, etc. If one interpretation can make sense, we ignore the other. Sometimes, both can make sense. Then we have to rely on other context to determine.

Answer 3

#1 -- 我对他的观点提出抗议

#2 -- 我对他的态度变了

First of all the way to parse them is:-

(我对他的观点), (提出抗议)

(我对他的态度), (变了)

The question then is in each case what does 我对他的... refers to ?

In #1 the 观点 is the 观点 of the Second Person, the 他.

In #2 the 态度 is the 态度 of the First Person, the 我.

Thus in #1, the 抗议, "objection / protest", is towards the 观点 of the Second Person --- i.e. 他. Meaning, in plain English, "I object to his point of view"

Whereas, in #2, the 变了, "the change", refers to the change in "attitude", 态度, of the First Person --- i.e. 我. Meaning, in plain English, "My attitude towards him has changed"

In my view, #1 is pretty clear because 我对他的观点 obviously refers to the 观点 of 他.

Whereas in #2, there is uncertainty as to whether 我对他的态度 refers to the 态度 of 他 or the 态度 of 我. However, a proper reading of 我对他的态度 should be "My attitude towards him...."

Perhaps #2 could be better written as 我改变了对他的态度

Answer 4

Let's play a puzzle game using this sentence,

我对他的态度变了 = 我 对他 的 态度 变了 = 我(I) 对他(towards him) 的(?) 态度(attitude) 变了(has changed)

Now put the English together - "I towards him ? attitude has changed", which does not make sense per English Grammar, so we need to modify the sentence.

Grammatically, 的(?) can be a possessive pronoun or a possessive noun. Let's try "his" - "I towards his attitude has changed", sounds better now but still incorrect, so what can be a possessive noun here? The only available choice will be "my attitude" as we recognize the first personal pronoun "I" is illogical in this sentence, thus, finally, let's replace I...? with "my attitude" we got -

My attitude towards him has changed. Done!

The important lesson here is that every language/culture has its own rule (grammar) governing how people speak and write, it is often wrong in making word to word translation, rather we shall rearrange the words/phrases as playing the puzzle, to reshape the sentence in according to one's own language, and the result has to make perfect sense. Otherwise, either the source contains mistakes, or we just haven't get there (be correct) yet.

The work of translation is an art, not mechanics. But we can sometimes take it as a game, and have fun with it:)