Nov.+3+and+4+Sentence

COMPOUND SENTENCE WITH ELLIPTICAL CONSTRUCTION (comma indicates the omitted verb)

S V DO ; S, DO We like classical music; those guys , rock.

We leave out the verb in the second clause BECAUSE AND ONLY IF it would needlessly repeat the verb of the first clause. Notice also, you may have a direct object (DO), which receives the action of the verb; or you may have a subject complement describing the verb.

You need parallel wording in both clauses, and the verb must be exactly the same.

Examples: The mother and son each had a goal; hers, educational; his, recreational. For many of us, the new math teacher was a savior; for others, a pain.

"Thought is the blossom; language, the bud; action, the fruit." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson


 * Be sure that each sentence really has two independent clauses in it (even thought the second has an unexpressed verb).
 * Be sure that the verb omitted in the second clause matches exactly, in form and tense, the verb in the first clause.
 * Use a semicolon if there is no conjunction; if there is a conjunction, many writers use a comma. A semicolon does not go with a coordinating conjunction.

1. Which of the following doesn't work? Why. a. Bill played a musical number by Bach; Joan, Beethoven. b. Lou Williams was in for adultery; John Jones for gambling. c. His mother told him to rent a car; his sister, to pack the suitcases.

2. Write your own original example.

3. Find one from something you have read (this may take a couple of weeks).