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 1 hour ago
ColleenV♦
10.4k53259
asked 1 hour ago
islaisla
161
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.
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 1 hour ago
ColleenV♦
10.4k53259
asked 1 hour ago
islaisla
161
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.
1
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
1 hour ago
@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
1 hour ago
2
@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
1 hour ago
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
37 mins ago
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 1 hour ago
ColleenV♦
10.4k53259
asked 1 hour ago
islaisla
161
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 1 hour ago
ColleenV♦
10.4k53259
asked 1 hour ago
islaisla
161
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 1 hour ago
ColleenV♦
10.4k53259
asked 1 hour ago
islaisla
161
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 1 hour ago
ColleenV♦
10.4k53259
edited 1 hour ago
ColleenV♦
10.4k53259
edited 1 hour ago
ColleenV♦
10.4k53259
10.4k53259
asked 1 hour ago
islaisla
161
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 1 hour ago
islaisla
161
asked 1 hour ago
islaisla
161
161
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.
1
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
1 hour ago
@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
1 hour ago
2
@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
1 hour ago
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
37 mins ago
add a comment |
1
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
1 hour ago
@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
1 hour ago
2
@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
1 hour ago
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
37 mins ago
1
1
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
1 hour ago
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
1 hour ago
@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
1 hour ago
@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
1 hour ago
2
2
@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
1 hour ago
@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
1 hour ago
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
37 mins ago
@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
37 mins ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
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 1 hour ago
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered 1 hour ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.3k154118
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "481"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
isla is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f193302%2fshould-i-include-as-a-for-every-item-in-a-list-of-jobs-or-just-the-first-item%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
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 1 hour ago
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered 1 hour ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.3k154118
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 1 hour ago
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered 1 hour ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.3k154118
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 1 hour ago
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered 1 hour ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.3k154118
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 1 hour ago
Jasper
17.5k43366
answered 1 hour ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.3k154118
edited 1 hour ago
Jasper
17.5k43366
edited 1 hour ago
Jasper
17.5k43366
edited 1 hour ago
Jasper
17.5k43366
17.5k43366
answered 1 hour ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.3k154118
answered 1 hour ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.3k154118
answered 1 hour ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.3k154118
44.3k154118
add a comment |
add a comment |
isla is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
isla is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
isla is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
isla is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f193302%2fshould-i-include-as-a-for-every-item-in-a-list-of-jobs-or-just-the-first-item%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
1
Did you intentionally omit "a" before "housekeeper manager" in the first example?
– Jasper
1 hour ago
@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
1 hour ago
2
@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
1 hour ago
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
37 mins ago