A teachable pause
Uncertainty is information.
When a student marks two possible cases, meanings, or clause relationships, that is not failure. It shows exactly where the sentence still needs evidence.
The problem begins when uncertainty disappears without being resolved. A polished translation can look confident while the underlying grammar remains untested.
Keep open questions precise
- Is this ablative instrumental, locative, or part of a phrase?
- Does this participle describe time, cause, concession, or circumstance?
- Does this word belong with the noun before it or the noun after it?
- What later evidence would settle the choice?
Ambiguity is easier to teach while it is still visible.
Classroom valueWhen to close the question
Close uncertainty when a grammatical relationship, context, or idiom makes one reading stronger. Until then, preserve the alternatives. Students learn not only what the answer is, but why another answer became less likely.