Dear Alan,
I found the below example sentence in a dictionary:
She remained silent, for her heart was heavy and her spirits low.
I understand that the verb were was omitted after spirits (The original sentence should be: She remained silent, for her heart was heavy and her spirits were low). But isn't it wrong to omit the verb 'were' here? I thought ellipsis could only be made when both her heart and her spirits shared the same verb (were), which is not the case here.
Thanks!
Lone
Ellipsis
Moderator: Alan
- Alan
- Teacher/Moderator
- Posts: 15257
- Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:56 pm
- Status: Teacher of English
- Location: Japan
Re: Ellipsis
No, that is not the case.
The number and person of an ellipted verb are determined by that of the subject.
The number and person of an ellipted verb are determined by that of the subject.