Features of Verb Phrase Ellipsis in English
In the types of VP-ellipsis considered here, which are features of English grammar, the elided VP must be a non-finite VP; it cannot be a finite VP. Further, the ellipsis must be introduced by an auxiliary verb (be, can, do, don't, could, have, may, might, shall, should, will, won't, would, etc.) or by the infinitive particle to. In the examples below, the elided material of VP-ellipsis is indicated using subscripts and a smaller font and the antecedent to the ellipsis is bolded:
-
- You might do it, but I won't .
-
- She won't laugh, but he will .
-
- Susan has been cheating, and Fred has too.
-
- Larry is not telling the truth, neither is Jim .
Attempts at VP-ellipsis that lack an auxiliary verb fail, unless the infinitive particle to is retained:
-
- a. *Sam wants to eat, and Fred wants as well. (* indicates that the sentence is ungrammatical)
- b. Sam wants to eat, and Fred wants to as well.
-
- a. *Josh likes to sleep late, and Hillary likes as well.
- b. Josh likes to sleep late, and Hillary likes to as well.
Apparent exceptions to this restriction on VP-ellipsis may be instances of null complement anaphora, e.g. ?Bill tried to leave, and Jim tried too.
A particularly frequent construction in which VP-ellipsis (obligatorily) occurs is the tag question:
-
- Jeremy likes beer, doesn't he ?
- Susan will write the paper, won't she .
Read more about this topic: Verb Phrase Ellipsis
Famous quotes containing the words features of, features, verb, phrase and/or english:
“It is a tribute to the peculiar horror of contemporary life that it makes the worst features of earlier times—the stupefaction of the masses, the obsessed and driven lives of the bourgeoisie—seem attractive by comparison.”
—Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)
“All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event—in the living act, the undoubted deed—there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask!”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“The word is the Verb, and the Verb is God.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“Those who marry God can become domesticated too—it’s just as hum-drum a marriage as all the others. The word “Love” means a formal touch of the lips as in the ceremony of the Mass, and “Ave Maria” like “dearest” is a phrase to open a letter.”
—Graham Greene (1904–1991)
“He had first discovered a propensity for savagery in the acrid lavatories of a minor English public school where he used to press the heads of the new boys into the ceramic bowl and pull the flush upon them to drown their gurgling protests.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)