Ellipsis, coordination and compound sentence

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

I deeply appreciates advices on the following questions re:subject.

  1. ‘To accomplish this, we can rely on the Constitution to protect human rights, uphold law and order, make justice independent and impartial, and breathe new life into civil society.’

Question: can we consider ‘to protect human rights…civil society’ as 4 coordinated to-infinitive clauses formed by ellipsis? or are they just phrases functioning as compliments?

  1. ‘The people have chosen clean politics, an open economy, ethnic harmony, and peaceful cross-strait relations to open their arms to the future.’

Question: do we consider ‘clean politics…future’ as the Object or should this be read as a compound sentence formed by ellipsis (the people have chosen clean politics + the people have chosen an open economy + …)? What are the criteria to tell the difference?

  1. ‘During that difficult time,…’

Question: considering the existence of ‘that’ - does it consitute a subordinating clause?

Thank you very much.

Faith Tam

2

Hi Faith Tam

To me this seems to be four coordinated to-infinitive phrases.

I see the sentence as having a compound object.

No, the word “that” is used as a demonstrative adjective in this case.
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3

Dear Amy,

Thank you very much. I am just wondering if you have any good resources to recommend on further reading to understand more about the working on ellipsis.

Tam

4

Hi Faith Tam

If you’re looking for information that is available online, you could start here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptical_construction

You might also find this and this useful.
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