conjunctions - The subject of "and" in a compound statement


I'm wondering the subject of the second clause in a sentence like


You should tell him to get up and get back to work

The subject of get back to work is ambiguous to me. It could be interpreted as either


You should tell him to get up and [you] get back to work

or


You should tell him to get up and [him] get back to work

How should I form the sentence so that either option is explicit and unambiguous?



Answer



Most readers of the sentence "You should tell him to get up and get back to work" would interpret that to mean



You should tell him that he should get up and he should get back to work.



Your question supposes that the phrase get back to work is a clause that needs a subject. However the full phrase is actually to get back to work. The sentence as constructed is actually



You should tell him:




  • to get up and




  • [to] get back to work





Get back to work is an infinitive phrase used as a noun, one of the two direct objects of tell (him is the indirect object of tell).


I don't think most US English speakers would find it ambiguous. If you wish to be certain, merely make explicit the implied to.



You should tell him to get up and to get back to work.



If the intent of the sentence is to tell the listener that he or she should show diligence (unlikely based on the existing construction), you could simply say



You should tell him to get up, and you should get back to work.



Note the comma before and. In this construction, you have two independent clauses which call for separation.


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