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Nsfs2 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Ellipsis after 'and'

Hi,

'After the earthquake, the city was evacuated and inhabitants moved 3 km south where the city was rebuilt.'

In the previous sentence the writer uses 'moved', which confused me after looking at 'was rebuilt'.It made me wonder whether there is a 'were' missing ,or is it merely simple past,and why the writer used ellipsis with 'moved' and not with 'built'.

Thanks.
  

Top answer

No. To me, "were moved" might suggest that they were relocated against their will.

— Ivanhr

  • No.
  • To me, "were moved" might suggest that they were relocated against their will.
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4 Answers
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No. To me, "were moved" might suggest that they were relocated against their will.
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nsfs2After the earthquake, the city was evacuated and inhabitants moved 3 km south where the city was rebuilt
I would guess that the writer intended to suggest that the inhabitants were moved (passive), but it would have been much clearer if s/he had used the word. As it stands, it looks like, and could be, active.

I would have written 'the
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Thanks for your help.

May be the writer means 'not all inhabitants' by not using 'the',I guess.Is this a possibility?
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nsfs2Thanks for your help.May be the writer means 'not all inhabitants' by not using 'the',I guess.Is this a possibility?
Yes, that's how I see it. It's reasonable to assume that some of the inhabitans left the area right after the earthquake (and many of them didn't return).
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