Sentence Structure

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Hello everyone,Could you please tell me if the following sentence is correct without "were" after "passengers"?During the voyage the weather was good and the passengers relaxed.I think it is correct because "relaxed" has been used as a verb not as an adjective there.Regards,Joseph

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Joseph A
Hello everyone,
Could you please tell me if the following sentence is correct without "were" after "passengers"?
During the voyage the weather was good and the passengers relaxed.
All is going well up to here. The answer is "Yes, it's correct". 'were' is implied, and the sentence reads as "... the weather was good and the passengers were relaxed", even though 'were' is missing. (Of course, 'were' could be added.)
I think it is correct because "relaxed" has been used as a verb not as an adjective there.
But with this sentence, everything suddenly turns upside down. Now we have to reinterpret the sentence, changing 'relaxed' from an adjective to a verb, and reread the sentence.
This interpretation is also OK, but it's got nothing to do with omitting 'were'. To use 'relax' as a verb instead of as an adjective while including 'were', you need "and the passengers were relaxing".

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Joseph ADuring the voyage the weather was good and the passengers relaxed.

This is not a valid sentence. The absence of the mandatory comma before the conjunction makes it impossible to read. If you mean that they were relaxed, you need two commas, one to mark the omission: "During the voyage the weather was good, and the passengers, relaxed." If you mean that they began relaxing because the weather was good, it's "During the voyage the weather was good, and the passengers relaxed."

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