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That the left brain is analytical and the right creative is false.

In order to avoid repetition, I omitted "brain is" after "right." Is it incorrect to do so?

tchrist
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  • It might be grammatical but it doesn't read smoothly. This is a time that I would use commas to slow the reader down. That the left brain is analytical and the right, creative, is false. This breaks up right creative, which can sound like an (attempted) phrase. Still I'd prefer to rewrite it to something like It is false that the left brain is analytical and the right creative. – Arm the good guys in America Dec 26 '16 at 05:00
  • @Clare - I like your commas, I’m not so crazy about your rewrite. – Jim Dec 26 '16 at 05:50
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    Yes, it's okay. Syntactically, it exhibits both "gapped coordination" and 'fusion'. That the left brain is analytical and the right __ creative is false. Gap has the predicator (verb) of the first clause as antecedent, and hence can be filled with "is". Second, the adjective "right" is a fused modifier-head meaning "right brain". – BillJ Dec 26 '16 at 12:09

2 Answers2

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You've written three garden paths that together lead your hapless reader toward a syntactic dead end. The first arises from the dual use of right as a noun and an adjective, the former taking the definite article: People can be in the right or on the right. But you mean this as modifier of the brain, to talk about the righthand side of that organ.

Secondly, that omission of brain, the noun that right is intended to modify even in its absence, will suggest a pattern like

The left brain will make the right decision.

Even when your readers find an adjective (creative), they may be misled:

That's the right ethical decision
May I present the right honorable Mr. Jones?

Lastly, your subject, the singular that (meaning the fact that) is a long way from its verb (is), with a compound complement intervening. You're one word from the nonsensical, but parallel parse:

[T]he left brain is analytical, and the right creative is false.

Have mercy on your readers and rephrase:

It is false to conclude that the left brain is analytical and the right, creative.

deadrat
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In a comment, BillJ answered:

Yes, it's okay. Syntactically, it exhibits both "gapped coordination" and 'fusion'. That the left brain is analytical and the right __ creative is false. Gap has the predicator (verb) of the first clause as antecedent, and hence can be filled with "is". Second, the adjective "right" is a fused modifier-head meaning "right brain".

tchrist
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