[Grammar] Mercedes cars are thought of as very strong and well-built

[kadioguy]

In the LDOCE6, it says:

Mercedes trademark
a type of car made by the German company Daimler-Benz. Mercedes cars are thought of as very strong and well-built, bought especially by rich people, successful business people, and political leaders. In the UK, a Mercedes is informally called a ‘Merc’, and in the US it is informally called a ‘Benz’.
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Does the sentence mean a. or b.?

a. Mercedes cars are thought of as very strong and well-built, (which is) bought especially by rich people, successful business people, and political leaders.

b. Mercedes cars are thought of as very strong and well-built, (and are) bought especially by rich people, successful business people, and political leaders.

I don't understand the grammar in the sentence. Why Mercedes cars are thought..., bought...? (Is there not any conjunction between thought and bought?)

Would you please help me?
Thanks!

PS I also posted the same question on this, but all of your answers are unique to me. Hope we can discuss with each other. Thank you.

 

[bhaisahab]

b. is correct with 'and are'.

 

[kadioguy]

1.
Is the original sentence grammatically wrong?

2.
Would you please tell me the reason that the answer is b., not a.?

Thanks!

 

[bhaisahab]

1. Not grammatically wrong but not good writing.
2. Is wrong with 'which is'. What, in your opinion, does 'which is' refer to?

 

[Raymott]

Do you mean the paragraph below "Mercedes trademark"? It's not a sentence, and doesn't pretend to be a sentence. The first phrase in the paragraph is not a sentence. "and are" is ellipsed out of the first sentence, as bhaisahab has mentioned.
It can't mean a. because, for a start, "which is" refers to either a singular referent, or to the whole previous clause. Neither of these applies. And since we can infer that "and are" is ellipsed out, that is further evidence for b.

Crossposted.

 

[kadioguy]

Thanks for your help!

1.
The sentence I mean is Mercedes cars are thought of as very strong and well-built, bought especially by rich people, successful business people, and political leaders.

2.
"and are" is omitted, and thus there is no conjunction between the two verbs thought and bought. Isn't this grammatically wrong?

3.
Which can refer not only to a noun, but also to the whole of a previous clause.
So, isn't Mercedes cars are thought of as very strong and well-built a 'previous clause' in my case?

 

[Raymott]

1. Ah, I see.

2. I agree that it's not a good sentence. I would not have written it. In fact, it's not certain whether they mean that Mercedes cars are bought by these people, or are thought to be bought by these people. But you gave us two choices; it can't mean b., but it can mean a. Therefore, it means a. You'd have to make more changes to the grammar for it to mean b.

3. Yes it is a previous phrase, but the phrase can't be bought by rich people. Compare with the following:
"People need to be over 18 to buy alcohol, which I think is a good rule." In this case, I can think that the previous phrase describes a good rule.

 

[Polyester]

Raymott,

Can both sentences seem not same?

 

[emsr2d2]

Can both sentences seem not same?

Come on, Polyester! You know that's not grammatically correct, don't you? Please try again.