"I was...and I was..." and/or "I was...and was..."?

Asked Jan 28 '15 at 03:24

Active Jan 28 '15 at 03:24

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Take for example the two sentences:

"I was at the park and I was wondering about the future."

"I was at the park and was wondering about the future."

I hear the two being used interchangeably in spoken English all the time. However, are they both grammatically correct?

asked Jan 28 '15 at 03:24

Lucas Alanis

2

Yes, they are both grammatically correct. You need to learn about Conjunction Reduction, which deletes repeated parts of conjoined clauses. In this case, I is deleted in the second clause. Conjunction Reduction could also delete the repeated was: "I was at the park and wondering about the future". It's an iterative optional rule. – John Lawler Jan 28 '15 at 03:30
The second 'was' (after 'and') can be avoided. – Raghuraman R Jan 28 '15 at 03:59
You could also elide and: I was at the park, wondering about the future, although there are slight differences in nuance. – Barmar Jan 28 '15 at 17:04

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