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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