341. Co-ordinate conjunctions are used, not only to connect words, but also to connect phrases.
Verb Phrases
342. Verb phrases may be connected by conjunctions. For example:
- The People's College is owned and controlled by the working class.
- We have made and are making a fierce struggle for a free press.
In this last sentence the two verb phrases, have made and are making are connected by the co-ordinate conjunction and. Often in using verb phrases, we use phrases in which the same helping verb occurs in both phrases. When this is the case the helping verb is quite often omitted in the second phrase and only the participle is connected by the conjunction. As, for example:
- The People's College is owned and controlled by the working class.
In this sentence the helping verb is belongs in both the phrases but is omitted in the second phrase in order to make a smoother sounding sentence. In the second phrase, only the past participle controlled is used. It is understood that we mean,
The People's College is owned and is controlled by the working class.
Exercise 8
Note the use of the conjunction in the following sentences to connect the verb phrases. Supply the helping verb where it is omitted.