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Remove the screws securing the boards running from the right side of the crate to the left side.
I read this from a manual, and this is about how to unpack a package. Does "running from" refer to the boards? Does this mean that boards are surrounding the crate from the right side to left side? Or does this mean that I should remove screws from right side to left side?
It's ambiguous. Either interpretation may be correct. The sentence could be talking about the screws that run from left to right, or about the boards that run from left to right.
In the end, though, it probably doesn't matter. If the screws are securing the boards, then both the screws and the boards are running along from one side of the crate to the other. Take out those screws and keep unpacking.
"Running from ... to ..." in this case means the screws between and including the left and right side of the crate.
The phrase just means "from ... to ..., including the 'from' and 'to' ". "Running from 1 to 10" means the numbers "from 1 to 10, including 1 and 10" (1, 2, ..., 9, 10)
