Grammar Question
Ned Bedinger
doc at edwordsmith.com
Sun Jul 8 23:38:33 MDT 2007
> Example: He will draw a picture and write his name on it.
>
> Question: Does the second verb phrase imply the use of the helping or
> auxiliary verb "will?" Or, must one explicitly write in the word "will?" Is
> it necessary?
The addition of 'will' would not be required in common usage, But if
you are putting this under the microscope in pursuit of clearer tech
writing, then I think you might reasonably expect someone to misread
your example as a badly written description of two unrelated events.
IMHO, the addition of 'will' would give the example symmetry, and that
would more strongly imply a connection between the events. But the
addition of 'then' instead of will would establish the connection more
clearly as a sequence.
What is the context of your question? Are you studying English as a
second language, or Composition 101, or ...?
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