Linking verbs

8.152 When you are talking about two actions performed by the same person, thing, or group, you can use a coordinating conjunction to link two verbs.

intransitive verbs 8.153 Coordinating conjunctions can be used to link intransitive verbs.

Mostly, they just sat and chatted.

We both shrugged and laughed.

transitive verbs 8.154 When you are describing actions involving the same subject and object, you can link two transitive verbs. You put the object after the second verb only.

For example, instead of saying 'He swept the floor and polished the floor', you say 'He swept and polished the floor'.

Wash and trim the leeks.

Similarly, instead of saying 'They walk to work or cycle to work', you can say 'They walk or cycle to work'.

I shouted and hooted at them.

omitting the auxiliary 8.155 When you are linking verb groups which contain the same auxiliary, you do not need to repeat the auxiliary in the second clause.

Someone may be killed or seriously injured.

...a solid form of the drug that is smoked, not inhaled.

We are blessed by having known and loved a man of such goodness and wisdom.

emphasizing repetition or duration 8.156 If you want to say that someone does something repeatedly or for a long time, you can use 'and' to link two identical verbs.

They laughed and laughed.

Isaacs didn't give up. He tried and tried, but he kept getting unhelpful replies.

8.157 In informal speech, 'and' is often used between 'try' and another verb. For example, someone might say 'I'll try and get a newspaper'. However, this means the same as 'I'll try to get a newspaper', and it refers to one action, not two.

For more information about this use see paragraph 3.201.

8.158 For information on how to coordinate more than two verbs, see paragraph 8.188.

Linking noun groups

8.159 When you are talking about two people or things, you can use a coordinating conjunction to fink two noun groups.

8.160 In simple statements about two people or things, you use 'and'.

There were men and women working in the fields.

I'll give you a nice cup of tea and a ginger biscuit.

...a friendship between a boy and a girl.

Instead of 'and not', you use 'not' with a comma in front of it.

Each finger ends with a sharp claw, not a flat blunt nail.

If both people or things are the object of the verb in a negative sentence, you use 'or'.

We didn't play cricket or football.

8.161 When you are giving alternatives, you use 'or'.

Serve fruit or cheese afterwards.

...a letter saying that a brother or sister has a new bike.

8.162 When you refer to two people of things using 'and' or 'or', you usually repeat the determiner.

He was holding a suitcase and a birdcage.

However, if the people or things are closely associated in some way, you do not need to repeat the determiner.

My mother and father worked hard.

The jacket and skirt were skilfully designed.

...a boy in a jacket and tie.

Sometimes both determiners are omitted.

Mother and daughter stared at each other.

All this had of course been discussed between husband and wife.

The legal position for both worker and employer is now as fair as the law can make it.

8.163 You can sometimes use noun groups linked by 'and' to refer to just one person or thing.

He's a racist and a sexist.

...the novelist and playwright, Somerset Maugham.

8.164 When you are linking two nouns, an adjective in front of the first noun is normally interpreted as applying to both nouns.

...the young men and women of England.

...a house crammed with beautiful furniture and china.

verb agreement 8.165 When the subject of a clause consists of two or more nouns linked by 'and', you use a plural verb.

My mother and father are ill.

Time, money anti effort were needed.

However, you do not use a plural verb if the nouns refer to the same person or thing.

The writer and filmmaker Masanori Hata disagrees.

You also do not use a plural verb with uncount nouns preceded by 'all', or with singular count nouns preceded by 'each' or 'every'.

All this effort and sacrifice has not helped to alleviate poverty.

It became necessary to involve every man, woman and child who was willing to help.

When you link two or more nouns with 'or', you use a plural verb after plural nouns, and a singular verb after singular nouns or uncount nouns.

One generation's problems of successes are passed to the next.

Can you say 'No' to a friend or relative who wants to insist?

linking pronouns 8.166 You can put 'and', 'or', or 'not' between a pronoun and a noun group, or between two pronouns.

Howard and I are planning a party.

She and I have a very good relationship.

If you or your husband have paid enough contributions, you are entitled to a grant.

I felt that the new plant should bear his name, for he, not I, had done the work.

When you say something about yourself and someone else, you usually put the pronoun or noun group referring to the other person first, and the pronoun referring to yourself second.

My sister and I lived totally different kinds of lives.

You and I must have a talk together.

...a difference of opinion between John and me.

The first people to hear were the Foreign Secretary and myself.

8.167 For information on how to coordinate more than two noun groups, see paragraph 8.188.