Should I include “as a” for every item in a list of jobs, or just the first item?
I have a doubt: should I write:
- I worked as a teacher, as housekeeper manager, as a Rep, etc.
or
- I worked as a teacher, housekeeper manager, Rep, etc.
ellipsis parallelism lists
edited Jan 17 at 17:48
ColleenV♦
10.4k53260
asked Jan 17 at 17:27
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I have a doubt: should I write:
- I worked as a teacher, as housekeeper manager, as a Rep, etc.
or
- I worked as a teacher, housekeeper manager, Rep, etc.
ellipsis parallelism lists
edited Jan 17 at 17:48
ColleenV♦
10.4k53260
asked Jan 17 at 17:27
islaisla
411
New contributor
isla is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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2
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
Jan 17 at 17:40
@Jasper: Good point. For bonus points, can you think of any context where a "deleted" term could "validly" be *re-introduced" in a subsequent element within such a list? Offhand, I can't.
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 17:55
4
@FumbleFingers: "JQ Adams served as a Senator, as President, and as a Representative." Sounds correct to me to drop the article in front of President, even in a list, but perhaps technically incorrect.
– Matthew W
Jan 17 at 18:06
1
@MatthewW: I'm not sure "technically incorrect" means anything here. But your example sounds fine to me, so you get the bonus points (or at least, a comment upvote, which is the best I can offer! :)
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 18:35
add a comment |
I have a doubt: should I write:
- I worked as a teacher, as housekeeper manager, as a Rep, etc.
or
- I worked as a teacher, housekeeper manager, Rep, etc.
ellipsis parallelism lists
edited Jan 17 at 17:48
ColleenV♦
10.4k53260
asked Jan 17 at 17:27
islaisla
411
New contributor
isla is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I have a doubt: should I write:
- I worked as a teacher, as housekeeper manager, as a Rep, etc.
or
- I worked as a teacher, housekeeper manager, Rep, etc.
ellipsis parallelism lists
ellipsis parallelism lists
edited Jan 17 at 17:48
ColleenV♦
10.4k53260
asked Jan 17 at 17:27
islaisla
411
New contributor
isla is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited Jan 17 at 17:48
ColleenV♦
10.4k53260
asked Jan 17 at 17:27
islaisla
411
New contributor
isla is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited Jan 17 at 17:48
ColleenV♦
10.4k53260
edited Jan 17 at 17:48
ColleenV♦
10.4k53260
edited Jan 17 at 17:48
ColleenV♦
10.4k53260
10.4k53260
asked Jan 17 at 17:27
islaisla
411
New contributor
isla is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked Jan 17 at 17:27
islaisla
411
asked Jan 17 at 17:27
islaisla
411
411
New contributor
isla is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
isla is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
isla is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
Jan 17 at 17:40
@Jasper: Good point. For bonus points, can you think of any context where a "deleted" term could "validly" be *re-introduced" in a subsequent element within such a list? Offhand, I can't.
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 17:55
4
@FumbleFingers: "JQ Adams served as a Senator, as President, and as a Representative." Sounds correct to me to drop the article in front of President, even in a list, but perhaps technically incorrect.
– Matthew W
Jan 17 at 18:06
1
@MatthewW: I'm not sure "technically incorrect" means anything here. But your example sounds fine to me, so you get the bonus points (or at least, a comment upvote, which is the best I can offer! :)
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 18:35
add a comment |
2
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
Jan 17 at 17:40
@Jasper: Good point. For bonus points, can you think of any context where a "deleted" term could "validly" be *re-introduced" in a subsequent element within such a list? Offhand, I can't.
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 17:55
4
@FumbleFingers: "JQ Adams served as a Senator, as President, and as a Representative." Sounds correct to me to drop the article in front of President, even in a list, but perhaps technically incorrect.
– Matthew W
Jan 17 at 18:06
1
@MatthewW: I'm not sure "technically incorrect" means anything here. But your example sounds fine to me, so you get the bonus points (or at least, a comment upvote, which is the best I can offer! :)
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 18:35
2
2
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
Jan 17 at 17:40
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
Jan 17 at 17:40
@Jasper: Good point. For bonus points, can you think of any context where a "deleted" term could "validly" be *re-introduced" in a subsequent element within such a list? Offhand, I can't.
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 17:55
@Jasper: Good point. For bonus points, can you think of any context where a "deleted" term could "validly" be *re-introduced" in a subsequent element within such a list? Offhand, I can't.
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 17:55
4
4
@FumbleFingers: "JQ Adams served as a Senator, as President, and as a Representative." Sounds correct to me to drop the article in front of President, even in a list, but perhaps technically incorrect.
– Matthew W
Jan 17 at 18:06
@FumbleFingers: "JQ Adams served as a Senator, as President, and as a Representative." Sounds correct to me to drop the article in front of President, even in a list, but perhaps technically incorrect.
– Matthew W
Jan 17 at 18:06
1
1
@MatthewW: I'm not sure "technically incorrect" means anything here. But your example sounds fine to me, so you get the bonus points (or at least, a comment upvote, which is the best I can offer! :)
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 18:35
@MatthewW: I'm not sure "technically incorrect" means anything here. But your example sounds fine to me, so you get the bonus points (or at least, a comment upvote, which is the best I can offer! :)
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 18:35
add a comment |
1 Answer
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Both versions are syntactically fine, but idiomatically native speakers would tend to "delete" all "highly predictable" repetitions of as a in such contexts (or at the very least, delete repeated as).
There's a slightly greater chance that the more verbose version would be understood as meaning I've had several different jobs - for example [blah blah], where the shorter version could be interpreted as My job involved covering several different roles - for example [blah blah]. But that might be because we always tend to look for a more "unusual" interpretation if someone uses less common phrasing, not because of anything inherent in the words themselves.
Per the comment to the question (OP's current text omits a from the second item in the list, in case that gets edited out later), I should point out that it's very unusual (some might say "invalid") to delete any repeated element from such a "list" and then re-introduce it in a subsequent element. You should probably assume you never want to do that.
edited Jan 17 at 18:02
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered Jan 17 at 17:46
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.5k154119
add a comment |
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Both versions are syntactically fine, but idiomatically native speakers would tend to "delete" all "highly predictable" repetitions of as a in such contexts (or at the very least, delete repeated as).
There's a slightly greater chance that the more verbose version would be understood as meaning I've had several different jobs - for example [blah blah], where the shorter version could be interpreted as My job involved covering several different roles - for example [blah blah]. But that might be because we always tend to look for a more "unusual" interpretation if someone uses less common phrasing, not because of anything inherent in the words themselves.
Per the comment to the question (OP's current text omits a from the second item in the list, in case that gets edited out later), I should point out that it's very unusual (some might say "invalid") to delete any repeated element from such a "list" and then re-introduce it in a subsequent element. You should probably assume you never want to do that.
edited Jan 17 at 18:02
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered Jan 17 at 17:46
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.5k154119
add a comment |
Both versions are syntactically fine, but idiomatically native speakers would tend to "delete" all "highly predictable" repetitions of as a in such contexts (or at the very least, delete repeated as).
There's a slightly greater chance that the more verbose version would be understood as meaning I've had several different jobs - for example [blah blah], where the shorter version could be interpreted as My job involved covering several different roles - for example [blah blah]. But that might be because we always tend to look for a more "unusual" interpretation if someone uses less common phrasing, not because of anything inherent in the words themselves.
Per the comment to the question (OP's current text omits a from the second item in the list, in case that gets edited out later), I should point out that it's very unusual (some might say "invalid") to delete any repeated element from such a "list" and then re-introduce it in a subsequent element. You should probably assume you never want to do that.
edited Jan 17 at 18:02
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered Jan 17 at 17:46
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.5k154119
add a comment |
Both versions are syntactically fine, but idiomatically native speakers would tend to "delete" all "highly predictable" repetitions of as a in such contexts (or at the very least, delete repeated as).
There's a slightly greater chance that the more verbose version would be understood as meaning I've had several different jobs - for example [blah blah], where the shorter version could be interpreted as My job involved covering several different roles - for example [blah blah]. But that might be because we always tend to look for a more "unusual" interpretation if someone uses less common phrasing, not because of anything inherent in the words themselves.
Per the comment to the question (OP's current text omits a from the second item in the list, in case that gets edited out later), I should point out that it's very unusual (some might say "invalid") to delete any repeated element from such a "list" and then re-introduce it in a subsequent element. You should probably assume you never want to do that.
edited Jan 17 at 18:02
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered Jan 17 at 17:46
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.5k154119
Both versions are syntactically fine, but idiomatically native speakers would tend to "delete" all "highly predictable" repetitions of as a in such contexts (or at the very least, delete repeated as).
There's a slightly greater chance that the more verbose version would be understood as meaning I've had several different jobs - for example [blah blah], where the shorter version could be interpreted as My job involved covering several different roles - for example [blah blah]. But that might be because we always tend to look for a more "unusual" interpretation if someone uses less common phrasing, not because of anything inherent in the words themselves.
Per the comment to the question (OP's current text omits a from the second item in the list, in case that gets edited out later), I should point out that it's very unusual (some might say "invalid") to delete any repeated element from such a "list" and then re-introduce it in a subsequent element. You should probably assume you never want to do that.
edited Jan 17 at 18:02
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered Jan 17 at 17:46
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.5k154119
edited Jan 17 at 18:02
Jasper
17.5k43366
edited Jan 17 at 18:02
Jasper
17.5k43366
edited Jan 17 at 18:02
Jasper
17.5k43366
17.5k43366
answered Jan 17 at 17:46
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.5k154119
answered Jan 17 at 17:46
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.5k154119
answered Jan 17 at 17:46
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.5k154119
44.5k154119
add a comment |
add a comment |
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2
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
Jan 17 at 17:40
@Jasper: Good point. For bonus points, can you think of any context where a "deleted" term could "validly" be *re-introduced" in a subsequent element within such a list? Offhand, I can't.
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 17:55
4
@FumbleFingers: "JQ Adams served as a Senator, as President, and as a Representative." Sounds correct to me to drop the article in front of President, even in a list, but perhaps technically incorrect.
– Matthew W
Jan 17 at 18:06
1
@MatthewW: I'm not sure "technically incorrect" means anything here. But your example sounds fine to me, so you get the bonus points (or at least, a comment upvote, which is the best I can offer! :)
– FumbleFingers
Jan 17 at 18:35