1

What is the role of the phrase "may lead to weight gain" in the following sentence? Is this sentence grammatically correct?

Long hours spent reading and writing are not conducive to good posture, may lead to weight gain, and may result in anxiety and stress via overwork.

5
  • While the sentence appears grammatically correct to me, I am unsure how to answer the question otherwise. I will GUESS that "may lead to weight gain" is an adverb clause. Haven't time to research atm, but this might help someone answer.
    – Mark G B
    May 30, 2021 at 22:29
  • 3
    @CorvusB No: it's not an adverb clause but a verb phrase. "Long hours spent reading and writing are [not conducive to good posture], [not conducive to good posture], [may lead to weight gain], and [may result in anxiety and stress via overwork]. The bracketed expressions form a coordination of VPs.
    – BillJ
    May 31, 2021 at 5:25
  • @BillJ OP asked about the role of the VP. What is its function? I know it's part of a predicate - [[VP1], [VP2] and [VP3]] = PREDICATE? May 31, 2021 at 13:01
  • 1
    @Man_From_India Yes: the coordination of VPs functions as the predicate of the whole sentence, with "long hours spent reading and writing" as subject.
    – BillJ
    May 31, 2021 at 13:49
  • 1
    Thank you @BillJ May 31, 2021 at 13:52

1 Answer 1

2

Yes, it's correct. It's the second item in a list. Only the last item in a list requires a conjunction. Any part of speech, including verb phrases, can be in a list.

A more clear-cut example:

Most evenings, I play hockey, ride my bike, and walk the dog.

2
  • So, as per BillJ's comments previously, we have a list of verb phrases.
    – Mark G B
    Jun 1, 2021 at 10:42
  • 1
    @CorvusB Ah, true. There's an error in BillJ's comment: the implication of "... are may lead to weight gain ... and are may result" by how he bracketed the list items. It looks like it's likely due to cut-n-pasting while composing it, but I stopped reading when I saw it
    – gotube
    Jun 2, 2021 at 4:46

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .