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Modifiers position in sentence structure

4 Apr 2014
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If i reshape a "この学校には数人の外国人が在籍している。" into "この学校には外国人が数人在籍している。", would that make any difference in meaning? Also would it sound any less "correct"? Can i shift modifiers around a sentence arbitrary?
 
If i reshape a "この学校には数人の外国人が在籍している。" into "この学校には外国人が数人在籍している。", would that make any difference in meaning? Also would it sound any less "correct"? Can i shift modifiers around a sentence arbitrary?
There is no difference between those examples, but the two structures/word orders are not always interchangeable. For instance, in a sentence 外国人が数人連れてきた, 数人 can be interpreted as the object of 連れてきた, unlike 数人の外国人が連れてきた.
 
Thanks for your addition, Toritoribe. Gotta pay attention when doing such changes, lest the meaning gets distorted i guess.
 
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