: Re: Is it OK to omit the following "grammatical rules" in fiction? Okay, I'm not sure if they are "rules" or "grammatical", but here they go: After a while our necks began to ache, so we

These are both prepositional phrases. Number 1 should be included. Number 2 does not have to be. Below I explain why.

A prepositional phrase must consist of a preposition (behind, on, in, under, around, etc.) and an object (i.e. what the object of the sentence is behind, on, in, etc.)

Sentence number 1 omits the prepositional object 'us.' You need that object. If you read the sentence by itself, you'll see why. What are the chairs behind? Us? The house? The sunset? What?

Sentence number 2 omits the whole phrase, not just the object. "On it" certainly adds explanation, but you can get away without it.

Summary: You can omit an entire prepositional phrase. You cannot omit just the object of a prepositional phrase.

That being said, authors can and do take grammatical liberties sometimes. If you feel the sentence would sound better a different way, write it that way.

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More posts by @Looi5811334

: How political can an author's note be, would the following fly? "If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid

: One of my go-tos is "Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction" by Jonathan Culler. It's great for people who are new to literary theory, or for veterans that are looking to brush up on

: The best way to begin a book will differ from person to person. Some people, once they have a vague idea of what happens, jump right in and start writing. Some have to spend months developing

: How can I determine a genre's target audience? I am making this question with the assumption in mind that specific genres attract certain types of people. How can I determine the target audience

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