Implicit subject in a dependent clause (or is it independent?)

Question

In the sentence

I can resend it or paste it here on WhatsApp

I am unsure if adding a comma before "or" is appropriate. The clause "paste it here on WhatsApp" seems to be, on its own, dependent. However, if we consider the preceding clause "I can resend it," it becomes obvious that the subject "I" and verb "can" come before "paste is here on WhatsApp."

How do I know whether I can consider a clause dependent or independent when there is no subject written in the clause itself, but it is implied nonetheless?

The sentence consists of a coordination of two verb phrases linked by "or", with "I" as subject of both. The absence of a subject in the second coordinate marks it as a VP, not a clause. A comma is not necessary. — BillJ, Jan 19 '23 at 09:00

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 19 '23 at 15:25

I [can resend it] or [paste it here on WhatsApp].

The sentence consists of a coordination of two verb phrases (bracketed) linked by "or", with "I" as subject of the whole coordination. The absence of a subject in the second coordinate marks it as a VP, not a clause.

A comma is not really necessary.

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 19 '23 at 11:57

Grammatically it's ambiguous about what the prepositional phrase "on WhatsApp" qualifies. It could be parsed as

I can [resend it or paste it] here on WhatsApp.

or

I can [resend it] or [paste it here on WhatsApp].

Adding the comma before "or" would make it clear that the second parse is intended.

However, this ambiguity is normally resolved by common sense understanding of the two actions, so the comma isn't needed in this case. There may be other sentences with similar structure where it's less clear, and the comma would be helpful.

Implicit subject in a dependent clause (or is it independent?)

2 Answers2