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Twistedthistle Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Posessive + similar to + posessive?
Hi everyone, i was hoping to get a second perspective on this sentence:
The whale shark's feeding habits, which are similar to some whales, set it apart from other sharks.
Is the "similar to some whales" here OK? I know it should technically be "similar to some whales' feeding habits" or "similar to those of some whales" or something similar. But do you think the meaning is clear enough that this ellipses is OK?
Swan has it that "We can leave out words after "as" and "than", if the meaning is clear. e.g., I found more blackberries than you (found).(177.7)
Do you think it's acceptable to do a similar thing with the phrase "similar to". Obviously in sentences like "My father's car is similar to John's car," it would be wrong to phrase it as "My father's car is similar to John," as this could be misunderstood as meaning something different. But in the first sentence i quoted there's little danger of such confusion, right?
Thanks in advance,
TT
The whale shark's feeding habits, which are similar to some whales, set it apart from other sharks.
Is the "similar to some whales" here OK? I know it should technically be "similar to some whales' feeding habits" or "similar to those of some whales" or something similar. But do you think the meaning is clear enough that this ellipses is OK?
Swan has it that "We can leave out words after "as" and "than", if the meaning is clear. e.g., I found more blackberries than you (found).(177.7)
Do you think it's acceptable to do a similar thing with the phrase "similar to". Obviously in sentences like "My father's car is similar to John's car," it would be wrong to phrase it as "My father's car is similar to John," as this could be misunderstood as meaning something different. But in the first sentence i quoted there's little danger of such confusion, right?
Thanks in advance,
TT
Top answer
twistedthistle But in the first sentence I quoted there's little danger of such confusion, right? Probably, but it’s clumsy writing. I would go with similar to those of some whales .
- twistedthistle But in the first sentence I quoted there's little danger of such confusion, right?
- Probably, but it’s clumsy writing.
- I would go with similar to those of some whales .
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1 Answers
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twistedthistleBut in the first sentence I quoted there's little danger of such confusion, right?Probably, but it’s clumsy writing. I would go with similar to those of some whales.
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