CLAUSE + CLAUSE, ELLIPTED SUBJECT – English Grammar Profiler

In English grammar, it’s common to omit the subject in a second main declarative clause when the subject is obvious or the same as the first clause. This is often done to avoid repetition and make sentences more concise.

For example, consider the sentence: “I went to the store and I bought some apples.” The subject “I” in the second clause is the same as in the first clause, so it can be omitted: “I went to the store and bought some apples.”

This rule applies when the two clauses are closely related and it’s clear that the subject of the second clause is the same as the first. However, if there’s any chance of confusion or ambiguity, it’s better to include the subject in both clauses. For example, in a sentence like “John talked to Mary and he left,” omitting “he” could lead to confusion about who left, so it’s better to keep it.

The point about sequencing in these examples is that the two clauses are connected by the word “and”, which implies that the actions happened in a specific order.

For example, in the sentence “I opened the door and stepped inside”, the action of opening the door happened before the action of stepping inside. This is because opening the door is a necessary precursor to stepping inside.

Similarly, in the sentence “She finished her homework and went to bed”, the action of finishing homework happened before the action of going to bed. This is because it is generally not possible to go to bed before finishing homework.

Expert example:

He moves to another state without telling me, 

he doesn’t write or call me for over a month,

 and basically has me disinherited.

listen to this sentence

The use of “or” between “write” and “call” in the above example implies that he doesn’t do either of these actions. In other words, he neither writes to nor calls the speaker for over a month. This usage adds to the speaker’s sense of abandonment and neglect, reinforcing the severity of his actions.

PELIC student example:

I watched TV and washed my clothes.

Korean, Female, Level 3, Writing Class.

However, two verbs can be connected with more complexity:

She always said

 we‘d have to wait and see 

how things went.

listen to this example

You were married?
Just for about a year, 

give or take a few days.

listen

You‘re telling me 

in this day and age,

 you‘re not going to let me use the bathroom

 or make a call, or give me a bus fare?

listen

A search in iWeb for:

and|or _VV

shows that “or” is a lot less common before an omitted subject:

1 AND MAKE 947288 2 AND GET 915860 3 AND SEE 672271 4 AND USE 569929 5 AND TAKE 511574 6 AND LET 444534 7 AND PUT 409189 8 AND KEEP 391772 9 AND GO 388592 10 AND GIVE 357897 11 AND SAID 345582 12 AND HELP 345435 13 AND MADE 326424 14 AND FIND 316841 15 AND WORK 313888 16 AND PROVIDE 308626 17 AND ENJOY 300029 18 AND SUPPORT 298568 19 AND TRY 297018 20 AND START 274483 21 AND ADD 274363 22 AND FOUND 273423 23 AND SET 268405 24 AND LOOK 260590 25 AND FEEL 238001 26 AND MAKING 237741 27 AND CLICK 236803 28 AND CREATE 231805 29 AND GOT 225847 30 AND LEARN 225223 31 AND ASK 216876 32 AND WENT 200121 33 AND GETTING 196845 34 AND SAY 196573 35 AND WANT 193703 36 AND USING 184578 37 AND MAKES 184052 38 AND PLAY 177964 39 AND TOOK 175701 40 AND PROVIDES 174767 41 AND LEAVE 172005 42 AND USED 170790 43 AND RUN 170401 44 AND WORKING 165988 45 AND ALLOW 165074 46 AND BRING 164198 47 AND IMPROVE 163976 48 AND MOVE 162913 49 AND SAVE 162389 50 AND PLACE 162388

51 OR USE 161678