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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Ellipsis and adverb

Dear Teachers,

Could you, please, help me with the following: there is the phenomenon what we call ellipsis if I remember well, for example, in ’’He thought he had learnt it all but in fact he hadn’t.’’

My question is, can I use an adverb after the verb of the ellipsis (here ’’hadn’t’’)? E.g.: ’’He thought he could prepare it but in fact he couldn’t well.’’

(My instinct says it would need ''he couldn't DO it well'', but…) Thank you!
  

Top answer

(X) He thought he could prepare it but in fact he couldn’t well . -- No, this is not possible, but some adverbs work, like: He thought he could do it, but he couldn't yet . You might like to explore this with a few more sentences to post here, where we can tell you if they are possible.

— Mister Micawber

  • (X) He thought he could prepare it but in fact he couldn’t well .
  • -- No, this is not possible, but some adverbs work, like: He thought he could do it, but he couldn't yet .
  • You might like to explore this with a few more sentences to post here, where we can tell you if they are possible.
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1 Answers
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(X) He thought he could prepare it but in fact he couldn’t well. -- No, this is not possible, but some adverbs work, like:

He thought he could do it, but he couldn't yet.

You might like to explore this with a few more sentences to post here, where we can tell you if they are possible.
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