Открытки отправила.
На харьковский адрес внимания не обращайте. По нему меня поймать практически невозможно.
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Про конструкцию the... the...
Мне для работы, но кому интересное подробное и аргументированное объяснение, почему там выпускается глагол иногда, welcome
читать дальшеDear citizen:
You are obviously a skilled writer and editor, and ask an interesting question.
The sentence is complete. The sentence is fine without any verb, even in formal writing. Actually, we think it's a concise, pithy sentence, packed with meaning, and pleasing to the mind's ear.
We guess that you are reluctant to accept it because you know that a clause normally contains a verb (and a subject) at minimum.
We can leave out otherwise necessary grammatical elements when such elements can be clearly understood as "being there" without, uh, being there. The names for such leaving out are ellipsis and substitution. Your problematic sentence is an example of ellipsis.
Here is a lovely definition from the American Heritage dictionary:
The omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction but not necessary for understanding.
The meaning of the sentence, The richer the community, the tighter the security is perfectly clear. In our opinion, it is also graceful and clean.
We further guess that your hesitation to accept this in academic writing probably comes from the fact that much ellipsis does occur in informal speech and writing:
A: Where's your sister? B: Don't know ([I] don't know). But she should be in sunny Puerto Vallarta!!!!*
The above is an example of what has been called situational ellipsis (e.g., in Grammar for English Language Teachers, Martin Parrott, Cambridge University Press, p. 319). Situational ellipsis occurs most often in informal speech. It often doesn't work in the formal register.
However, there is a second kind of ellipsis, textual ellipsis, which often occurs in even the most formal of writing. Textual ellipsis is the leaving out of words "in grammatically predictable sentence positions" (Parrott). By the way, I humbly submit that I have co-authored an article that was published in a "top-tier" scholarly journal in the social sciences. I suppose all of our sentences in that article have verbs, but if I ever write another one, I'll aim to include one or two that don't.
We find little online that narrowly addresses your issues after a moderate amount of searching. There is a hint of support here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_grammar#Ellipsis which says "Certain kinds of ellipsis indicate a more informal or familiar style of language while other types are neutral in the aspect."
The first few paragrahs on the following page praise ellipsis generally as a key to good style: yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=663&p=education&....
We might have more to say if you supplied the surrounding context. If you really want a verb in the sentence, we'd stylistically prefer something like:
Richer communities have tighter security [than poorer communities].
Our finding was that the richer the ...
It seems that the richer the ...
to the solutions you generated.
The bottom line: The sentence is a complete sentence.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This matter has been resolved at LEVEL FOUR, complete certainty.
Witness my hand, and the Great Seal of the High Council;
J. Reynolds
Supreme Leader of the High Council and Final Authority on Grammar, Style, and Usage of the English Language
The Hague, The Netherlands
"To educate, to enlighten, to illuminate, to try to avoid appearing superior even though we're afraid it's rather transparent that we consider ourselves such."
*FULL DISCLOSURE: The High Council and Final Authority on Grammar, Style, and Usage of the English Language occasionally mentions certain products, services, tourist destinations, etc. in its work pursuant to various contracts and agreements it has entered into with its several partners and affiliates. This post received funding from the Puerto Vallarta Board of Tourism, from the Institute Advancing Ellipsis in Academic Discourse, and from the Personal Computer Mouse Producers' Consortium. "Mice ... the right click!"
Отсюда
Открытки отправила.
На харьковский адрес внимания не обращайте. По нему меня поймать практически невозможно.
**
Про конструкцию the... the...
Мне для работы, но кому интересное подробное и аргументированное объяснение, почему там выпускается глагол иногда, welcome
читать дальше
На харьковский адрес внимания не обращайте. По нему меня поймать практически невозможно.
**
Про конструкцию the... the...
Мне для работы, но кому интересное подробное и аргументированное объяснение, почему там выпускается глагол иногда, welcome
читать дальше