A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Chapter 20 - Devices of connected speech
Sound symbols
Omission and substitution. English has ways of avoiding repeating certain parts of speech and groups of words in connected sentences. In many cases the language requires this. Sometimes repetition is avoided simply by omission; sometimes by substitution of one of a limited number of words; sometimes by a combination of substitution and omission.
When two verbs are governed by one subject, the subject is not repeated. The auxiliary is usually omitted also.
She dances and * sings. (*= an omitted item)
He had shaved and * * eaten breakfast.
Did they sell the house and * * buy a car?
Similarly, when several objects are governed by the same verb, the verb is not repeated.
She lost a pen and * * a comb.
Coordinate conjunctions often occur in the kind of structure being discussed here. The coordinate conjunctions are and, which connects similar sentence parts; or, which means that one of two structures is to be taken as true; both . . . and, which emphasizes a combination of two
elements; either ... or; neither . . . nor, which states that both members of a pair are negated; but, which contrasts two structures.
She both sings and dances.
We will either go or stay.
They could neither sing nor dance.
She was poor but happy.
Two or more infinitives in a coordinate structure do not require the participle to to be repeated:
She likes to dance and * sing.
The practice of omission in comparative structures was discussed in Chapter 18.
I wrote more letters today than * * yesterday.
Not is frequently used to mean “the negative of a preceding predicate, in the context of the new information provided”:
We found him in the hall, not in the kitchen. (Not means approximately “we did not find him” in this sentence.)
I asked for a fork, not a spoon. (Not means “I did not ask for.”)
Is she ready?—Probably not. (Not means “she is riot ready.”)
Substitutions. The most frequent substitutions are those of the personal pronouns for nouns: for example, he and him for John, they and them for the students, his for John’s, etc. Strictly speaking, I, me, my, you, etc., can not be called substitutions, since there is no noun that they take the place of (their referential meaning is determined by elements in the context, like who is the speaker and who is being addressed). The plural pronouns we, our, you, etc., can be considered substitutions for expressions like John and I, Johns and my, you and your brother, etc.
It, that, and this can stand for an entire proposition.
I spilled coffee on the tablecloth.—It doesn’t matter. (It = the fact that you spilled coffee on the tablecloth.)
John’s father died last week.—Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Please remember this: All students must. . .
Possessive nouns, and the possessive pronouns of the series called “second possessive” in Table 2-1 (mine, yours, etc.), are substitutes for a possessive and a following noun.
Is this your book?—Yes, it’s mine.
We’ll take our car, and the Smiths will take theirs.
Tom’s dog won a prize, but Shirley’s was disqualified.
As Chapter 13 showed, most of the noun determiners can function as substitute nouns, which take the place of a determiner and its noun. None is a special form substituting for no and a noun.
Did you read any of those articles?—Yes, I read several.
How many questions did you get right?—None, I’m sorry to say. How much money did you spend?—Not much.
After adjectives and some of the noun determiners, nouns are replaced by the substitute noun one or its plural form ones.
You sit in that chair and I’ll sit in this one.
That big animal is a giraffe; the smaller one is a llama.
He does all the easy jobs and leaves the hard ones for me.
Echo verbs. The use of echo verbs is an important substitution device, whereby the main verb and all its complements and modifiers are omitted from a phrase, leaving only the auxiliaries.
He’s studying French this term, but I’m not. (The echo verb ’m, which is here negated by the following not, is a substitute for the entire preceding predicate: is studying French this term.)
Did they miss the train?—They must have. (Must have is an echo predicate that expresses a whole new idea, based on the meaning of the modal and have, and the meaning of “miss the train” is supplied by the context.)
Infinitives can be echoed by the word to alone, which means that any of the characteristic verbs in patterns that use infinitives can be used as an echo verb.
Do you often go to the theater?
I used to, but I seldom do any more.
Yes, I like to very much.
Are you going to the lecture this afternoon?
I ought to, but I don’t want to.
There can be a subject pronoun before to.
He plans to buy that piece of land, even though his wife doesn’t want him to.
In patterns where a characteristic verb is followed by a base form, the verb can be omitted altogether, or it can be replaced by do it.
Charles wanted to go tc the movies, but his father wouldn’t let him.
The boy didn’t want to study, but his father made him (do it).
The use of SO. We have already seen how so can be used in echoes to state that one predication is true of two different subjects.
They like olives.—So do I.
There are other uses of this substitute word in which it stands for an entire proposition.
Did you know that they are moving to California?
Yes, Henry told me so yesterday.
Often so is put before the subject and verb. In this case it echoes a previous statement.
So I hear. So it seems. So I have been told.
So they have read. So we had heard. So they will learn.
So I notice.
With hope, so always follows: I hope so.
In answer to questions, so can follow a number of verbs to echo a previous predication:
Is he coming?—I hope so.
I’m afraid so.
I think so.
Other verbs used in this pattern are believe, suppose, guess, say, hear, and tell (someone).
An entire negative predication can be replaced by not after these verbs. In some cases n’t . . . so is equivalent to not after the verb.
Is the meeting over?
“He said not” is different in meaning from “He didn’t say so.” Hope, tell, and be afraid are not used in the negative with so.
Know is occasionally followed by so, more often by it. Know can also be used alone.
Do you think so?—I know so.
This is not correct.—I know it.—I know.
So after do refers to actions that have been mentioned in the context.
He stepped to the window to open it. As he was doing so, .. . The doctor told me to rest, and I am doing so.