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His mother died during his sophomore year, his father when he was a senior.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/29/the-lost-giant-of-american-literature

rahul sehrawat
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  • The omission of died in the second half may save it. – Henry Dec 01 '23 at 08:45
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    "His mother died during his sophomore year, his father ___ when he was a senior" is called a 'gapped coordination construction', i.e. one where the middle part of a non-initial coordinate can be omitted if it is recoverable from the corresponding part of the initial coordinate. The gap marked '____' is understood by reference to the first coordinate: in this case "died". – BillJ Dec 01 '23 at 09:22
  • The omission of "died" (father died) prevents a run-on sentence. If "died" is present, we have two independent clauses spliced together. Such sentences are commonly called run-ons or comma splices. – Shoe Dec 01 '23 at 09:58
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    Note that << 'run on sentence' error >> can come across as 'commas are always unacceptable between two independent clauses'. But few argue this nowadays. 'Veni, vidi, vici' is probably part of the lexicon nowadays, and looking at the sentence 'It's not a comet, it's a meteor,' according to Barbara Wallraff, 'punctuating this sentence with a semicolon would be like using a C-clamp to hold a sandwich together.' – Edwin Ashworth Dec 01 '23 at 11:23
  • There are lots of existing questions about run-on sentences and their acceptability: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/144845/how-can-a-run-on-sentence-be-valid-as-say-a-rhetorical-device https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/233348/is-it-ok-to-combine-two-independent-clauses-into-just-one-sentence https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/129280/how-is-this-not-a-run-on-sentence – Stuart F Dec 01 '23 at 16:31

1 Answers1

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His mother died during his sophomore year, his father __ when he was a senior.

This is called a 'gapped coordination construction', i.e. one where the middle part of a non-initial coordinate can be omitted if it is recoverable from the corresponding part of the initial coordinate (called the antecedent).

The gap marked '__' is understood by reference to the first coordinate: in this case "died".

The fact that this qualifies as a gapped coordination construction by virtue of a missing verb (died) means that the second coordinate is not regarded as a run-on sentence.

BillJ
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    Just to make it explicit: in a gapped coordination, the coordinator and is often omitted, which is why this isn't a comma splice. – alphabet Dec 01 '23 at 16:30
  • The comma marks the omission of and. Some stylists would call for a comma as well after father to mark an omission. – Tinfoil Hat Dec 01 '23 at 18:41