Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner12]

Hello, teachers!!

(1) Try to read as many books as you can.
(2) Try to read as many as you can.

Which is better, (1) or (2)?
In my opinion, (1) is better than (2). However, is (2) acceptable?

Thank you in advance.

[Suzanne]

You are correct, #1 is better, because it has all the information needed to understand the sentence.

However, if two people had already been talking about reading books, then it would be quite acceptable for one of them to say, "Try to read as many as you can." In most conversations, once the topic has been introduced, it doesn't have to be included in every sentence.

[niigatablue]

I agree with Suzanne. You can leave out the object when it has already been established in the conversation.