EnglishClub ESL Forums

Hi everyone! I just joined the forum today and this is my first post. I have a quick question a friend had asked me and I was not 100% sure of the answer I gave her, so I told her I would look it up.
If you were to see the following sentence: A Canadian history teacher.
Which of the following would be correct:
1. The teacher is Canadian (from Canada) and teaches history.
or
2. The teacher teaches Canadian history (the subject).

I think it might be the first one, but would anyone know as to why? Thank you very much for your help!

You're right, there is a danger of confusion, though often it will be clear from the context.

[It's the same with a simple thing like "English teacher". Is that a teacher who is English or a teacher of English?]

To avoid any possible misunderstanding you can rephrase it as:

- a Canadian teacher of history
- a teacher of Canadian history