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What's the difference between the following sentences? Do the different positions of the boldfaced phrase make any difference in meaning?

He admitted that, with the benefit of hindsight, the original launch had not been large enough.

He admitted, with the benefit of hindsight, that the original launch had not been large enough.

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  • My take on it is that the second version means that his own change of opinion was based on hindsight, while the first could refer to the general opinion of those responsible for 'the launch'.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Mar 19, 2022 at 10:51

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This is an embedded clause structure. [He admitted [that.....]].

The first sentence [He admitted [that, with the benefit of hindsight, the original....]], the prepositional phrase modifies the embedded clause. I think the meaning is strange here: the original launch had not been large enough with the benefit of hindsight.

The second sentence [He admitted, with the benefit of hindsight, [that ....]] makes more sense. The prepositional phrase modifies the finite verb "admitted".

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  • Thank you. Are you a native speaker of Chinese or Cantonese?
    – Apollyon
    Commented Mar 20, 2022 at 2:41
  • Yeah. You can tell from my writing?
    – Chan Tony Y
    Commented Mar 20, 2022 at 4:42

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