Alice eats Apples, Bob (eats) Oranges.
Always ok to omit the repeated verb in the second clause?
Also if the objects are longer constructs?
A question of language register?
Counterexamples where the ellipsis would not work well?
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2Always ok no verb in questions? – tchrist Mar 20 '24 at 09:57
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There will be cases when it's confusing especially with longer phrases, appositives, subordinate clauses, etc. The presence of the verb provides an immediate indication of structure. "Alice likes John, Jenny the captain Steve" vs "Alice likes John, Jenny the captain likes Steve" or "Alice likes John, Jenny likes the captain Steve". Why don't you provide a concrete example and ask us if it's ambiguous? – Stuart F Mar 20 '24 at 11:35
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2Where's your research? – BillJ Mar 20 '24 at 13:49
2 Answers
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Alice eats Apples, Bob ___ Oranges.
This is called gapping: a type of coordination construction where the middle part of a non-initial coordinate can be omitted if it is recoverable from the corresponding part of the initial coordinate.
In your example, the gap marked '___'is understood by reference to the first coordinate, i.e. "eats".
BillJ
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Special thanks for indicating the grammatical term "gapping" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gapping), very valuable as starting point for further reading. – Joachim W Mar 21 '24 at 07:57
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A native speaker is very unlikely to omit the second verb. The following is normal:
Alice eats apples but Bob eats oranges.
More likely is the use of a different verb, eg.
Alice eats apples but Bob prefers oranges.
chasly - supports Monica
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What about a native writer? Gapping is perfectly normal English, at least in speeches or literature. – tchrist Mar 21 '24 at 01:10