grammar - Meaning of sentence. "He is not vigilant like you"



He is not vigilant like you.



Does it mean that



  1. you are vigilant.

  2. Or you are not vigilant like him.


I am really confused by the sentence whether it's a compliment or complaint?



Answer



It could actually go either way, but I think it mostly likely means you ARE vigilant, he is not. If it was phrased:



Like you, he is not vigilant.



That means neither person is vigilant.


If it was:



He is not vigilant, like you.



Then again, neither person is vigilant.


But because it is phrased:



He is not vigilant like you.



Then I'd treat "vigilant like you" as a single phrase, meaning you are vigilant and he is not like you. Therefore he is not vigilant. The other phrasings all specifically break "you" from "vigilant" with a comma.


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