Jane bought a pink blouse, skirt, and tophat ...

Ken

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Does this, clearly, imply the skirt and tophat are also pink ?

Apologies for asking something I should know :-(

ps If you insert an article does that make a difference?

Jane bought a pink blouse, skirt, and a tophat.

It'd be convenient if it did: the blouse and skirt, pink; the tophat, not.
 
alleycat

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You could put the blouse and skirt at the end.

Jane bought a top hat and a pink blouse and skirt.
 
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mrsmig

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As written, it sounds to me as if the blouse is the only pink item. If you want to show that the skirt and blouse are pink and the top hat is not, you could try:

Jane bought a top hat and a pink skirt and blouse.

(P.S. "Top hat" is always two words.)
 
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King Neptune

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Ken said:
Does this, clearly, imply the skirt and tophat are also pink ?

Apologies for asking something I should know :-(

ps If you insert an article does that make a difference?

Jane bought a pink blouse, skirt, and a tophat.

It'd be convenient if it did: the blouse and skirt, pink; the tophat, not.
Click to expand...

It could be misinterpreted, so adding articles before each item to eliminate that might be a good idea.

Jane bought a pink blouse, a skirt, and a top hat.

and, as someone pointed out, moving the pink item to the en also eliminates the problem.
 
mrsmig

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King Neptune said:
and, as someone pointed out, moving the pink item to the en also eliminates the problem.
Click to expand...

That was me. :D

But I edited it out when I realized the OP wants the blouse and skirt to be pink, but not the top hat.

(At least I think that's what Ken meant.)
 
Maryn

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I'd have her buy a top hat and matching/coordinating pink skirt and blouse.

Maryn, bowing out
 

BethS

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Ken said:
Does this, clearly, imply the skirt and tophat are also pink ?

Apologies for asking something I should know :-(

ps If you insert an article does that make a difference?

Jane bought a pink blouse, skirt, and a tophat.

It'd be convenient if it did: the blouse and skirt, pink; the tophat, not.
Click to expand...

Jane bought a pink blouse and skirt, and a top hat. (Or, ...as well as a top hat.)

Jane bought a top hat, along with a pink blouse and skirt.
 
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guttersquid

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Just say what you mean.

Jane bought a pink blouse, a pink skirt, and a top hat.

Or if you wish to work your way from the bottom up:

Jane bought a pink shirt, a pink blouse, and a top hat.
 
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Ken

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Thnx everyone. Helpful advice. Rearranging the sentence never occurred to me with this type of sentence. Pairing off the blouse and skirt is neat. Spelling it all out too: stating what is and what isn't and using articles. Lots of options. The more the better. Glad I asked :)
 
Ken

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mrsmig said:
(P.S. "Top hat" is always two words.)
Click to expand...

It's funny. Google Chrome spell checks when I type on this site. And it doesn't highlight tophat as wrong. OK. Weird. It does for a second and then it undoes the highlighting or wavy line beneath the word as if it is not sure itself. LOL :-D

Will take your word for it: top hat.
 

blacbird

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Ken said:
Rearranging the sentence never occurred to me with this type of sentence.
Click to expand...

Rearranging the order of a list of nouns, or a number of phrases or clauses is often the first thing you should look at in a troublesome sentence. Keeping clear the relationship of modifiers to objects can get tricky. Punctuation plays a significant role, too.

caw
 

King Neptune

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Ken said:
Thnx everyone. Helpful advice. Rearranging the sentence never occurred to me with this type of sentence. Pairing off the blouse and skirt is neat. Spelling it all out too: stating what is and what isn't and using articles. Lots of options. The more the better. Glad I asked :)
Click to expand...

Maryn had the best answer.
 

Gringa

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I saw a pink blouse.
A skirt of any color.
And a top hat, probably black.
 
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