Is she from Canada or from America?

[tzfujimino]

Please help me.

Is it possible to say "Is she from Canada or America?"
instead of "Is she from Canada or from America?":roll:

 

[Neillythere]

I'm not a teacher, but as a Brit, I personally would have no problem with missing out the 2nd "from", as it would be pre-assumed and avoids duplication.

I find sentences that repeat the same word(s) unnecessarily to be a real pain.

The fewer words you use, the easier it is to understand and the less chance of misinterpretation. I have particularly used this concept in the wording of major international contracts.

Regards

 

[tzfujimino]

Thank you very much, Neillythere!!

Is it grammatically correct?
I'm teaching English, actually.
How can I explain it to my students?

 

[Neillythere]

Hi

As a teacher, depending on the level of the students, probably your best course would be to say put both "from's" in , but advise there may be certain circumstances where they may be able to leave it out.

My immediate thoughts are that, if the 2 "from's" would be close together in the sentence (as in "is it A or B), it would probably be OK to leave the 2nd out but, if they were far distant, e.g. if there were any clauses in between, then I would have repeated the "from", for clarity.

Others (indigenous British English teachers) may be able to give more authoritive advice.

 

[David L.]

The full sentence would be:"Is she from Canada or is she from America?"
It terms of understanding the meaning,'is she from' is redundant; and colloquial speech in particular economizes on wordage eg 'See you!' for "Until I see you again!' etc
The use of 'or' indicates that there is a definite choice to be made. The nature of this choice is made clear at the start of the sentence: Is she from..X..or....Y
It is redundant to restate the nature of the choice - 'is she from or is she from..'

 

[BobK]

Incidentally, I know Canadians who would object to the "America", Canada being in North America. But they'll get over it. ;-)

b

 

[Neillythere]

Do you mean Canadians who object to:

a) not being classified as Americans (as in the continent) or
b) being classified as Americans (i.e. from USA)!

I've known Canadians on both sides of the fence.:-D

 

[Tdol]

Some people don't like the use of America for the USA as it is 'hijacking' the name of the continent. ;-)