My sister arrives at three, but I arrive before (after). (Some purists might say I can't say it this way, but I just did Does it sound exotic? Maybe. But it works, and I'm a teacher, not language police. Actually, I like the sound of it. Oddly British, or maybe I heard it in Hawaii Pidgin. Jeff Glauner, Assoc. Prof. of English Park University Parkville MO 64152 Phone: 816-741-2000 Ext. 6352 E-Mail: [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Lemoine" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 12:19 PM Subject: Re: elliptical constructions > >I imagine the same thing is true for "after" when > it's >a subordinate conjunction and when it's a > preposition, >though I don't care to go there. Life's > too short. A >preposition is a preposition. And a > subordinate conjunction is a subordinate conjunction. > Why not leave >it at that? > > Max, > > Your point is well taken, but in English there are a > few words, "than" and "as", that aren't easily > classified in one category or another. They both seem > to function as prepositions and as conjunctions > depending on whether the speech/writing context > requires the use of formal language. Some people (my > colleagues at least) insist that "before" and "after" > function similarly. > > Is there anyone out there who feels that "before" and > "after" can permit full ellipsis of the predicate as > in the following example? > > (1) My sister arrived at the movie theater before I > [arrived at the theater]. > > Thanks, > > Kevin > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com/