Can you "help reconcile"? two verbs in a row?

Question

Hi,Would you explain the grammar in the sentence below? Why is it OK to use two verbs back to back?- Can you help reconcile those two different political parts o James Brown?Thank you,M

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

This is an example of ellipsis (words left out and understood from the context), which is very often encountered in the English language.  The complete sentence would be something like:  "Can you help me to reconcile those two different political parts of James Brown?"   Over hundreds of years of usage a sentence such as this has been shortened, for convenience, to:  "Can you help reconcile those two different political parts of James Brown?"

Mitsuo23 · Answer

Thank you. It made sense.
M

GPY · Answer

AnonymousThis is an example of ellipsis (words left out and understood from the context), which is very often encountered in the English language. The complete sentence would be something like: "Can you help me to reconcile those two different political parts of James Brown?" Over hundreds of years of usage a sentence such as this has been shortened, for convenience, to: "Can you help reconcile those two different political parts of James Brown?"

I wonder, then, why this particular shortening should have happened with "help" but not with other verbs. For example, we don't say "I won't allow go" instead of "I won't allow you to go", or "Do you plan visit London" instead of "Do you plan to visit London". Is there any explanation for this?

Anonymous · Answer

Various factors influence things like this: euphony, tradition, imagery, rhythm, etc. So one verb might get this treatment while another won't.

"I won't allow you to go." does have a shortened version: "I won't allow you." And "Do you plan to visit London?" is shortened to "Do you plan on London?"

Can you "help reconcile"? two verbs in a row?

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