ELLIPSISBy Noraza Ahmad Zabidi

Ellipsis or ellipses (plurals ‐ellipses), the omission from a sentence of a word or words that would be required for complete clarity but which can usually be understood from the context.

It is usually grouped together with substitution

(e.g. Shakespeare, ‘I will [go] to Ireland’)

the omission from a sentence or other construction of one or more words that would complete /clarify the construction.

b. the omission of one or more items from a construction in order to avoid repeating the identical or equivalent items that are in a preceding or following construction, as the omission of been to Paris  from the second clause e.g

I've been to Paris, but they haven't

By nine o’clock, they had washed their hands and they had eaten their lunch.

Can be abbreviated to

By nine o’clock, they had washed their hands and eaten lunch.

This can only be done if both clauses have the same subject. The second clause in the sentence

He had finished the work and his assistant had gone home

can not be abbreviated because it does not have the same subject as the first clause.

An ellipsis [ … ] proves to be a handy device when you're quoting material and you want to omit some words.

The ellipsis consists of three evenly spaced dots (periods) with spaces between the ellipsis and surrounding letters or other marks.

"The ceremony honored twelve brilliant athletes from the Caribbean who were visiting the U.S." and leave out "from the Caribbean who were":

The ceremony honored twelve brilliant athletes … visiting the U.S.

Leaving words out

Ellipsis means leaving words out. Instead of repeating a noun phrase(the

guard), we can use a pronoun or we can leave the pronoun out.

1. Instead of repeating a verb phrase(take), we can use a substitution form or leave the substitution form out as in 2

1. The guard looked over and he smiled The guard looked over and smiled

2.She could take the money, but she won’t do it

She could take the money, but she won’t.

You’ll need a pen or _ _ pencil

Ashley’s aunt and -uncle own property in France and _Italy

We can also use ellipsis after a comma in a list

E.g I’m afraid of bees,wasps and spiders

Leaving out subjects and objects

After and, but in compound sentences, we usually leave out a repeated subject, a repeated subject and auxiliary or a repeated subject and verb.E.gs

She was shouting and_ _ throwing thingsShould we bring our bags or__ _leave

them here?We sat and _ talked.He came, but _left early.

They ran or _walked the rest of the way.

He looked okay, but_ _tired.

I enjoy films_ _ going to the theatre, and _ _walks in the park.

We can also leave out repeated subjects in later clauses after then and yet.

We don’t usually leave out subjects (and auxiliaries) after subordinating conjunctions. e.g

We tidied up before we left.(Not We tidied up left)

He’s tired because he’s ill.(Not He’s tired because ill)

We usually leave out repeated objects or preposition phrases from the first clause.

We use an object pronoun rather than leave out the objects from second or later clauses

We gave food_ _ and water to everyone.I lived_ _ _ _and studied in Rome for a year.She makes_ and sells jewelryWe usually boil _ _ or poach some eggs for

breakfast.

Leaving verb phrases

After an auxiliary verb in the second or later clause, we usually leave out a repeated verb phrase.

We can leave out repeated adjectives and preposition phrases after be as a linking verb.e.g

We thought they would be late, but they weren’t_

I’m afraid he’s in love and she isn’t_ _

I’ve seen the film but Mike hasn’t_ _ _.

The boys weren’t feeling cold, but I wasn’t_ _

We would help you if we could_ _.

Sarah will eat broccoli, but Jessica won’t_

We can also leave out a repeated verb phrase after infinitive to or not to. After verbs such as agree and want, we can also leave out to.

She’ll leave unless he begs her not to_.Some boys kept talking after I told them not

to_.I don’t smoke now, but I used to _.We haven’t applied for the university but we

plan to_.

Thus, various ellipsis can be used with post-predicate complement clauses when the content is clear from the preceding discourse.

Ellipsis can occur with to-clauses and wh-clauses, where the complement clause is omitted but the complementizer(to or wh-word) is retained:

A Are we having that tonight too?B If you want to_ _ _.

With that-clauses, ellipsis involves the omission of the entire complement clause including the complementiser that. Such ellipsis is usually found with extreme common verbs like think, know.

E.gA: There’s seven teams in front of them.Yeah, I know.

After a negative, we include to e.g

He’d like me to stay but I don’t want to.(Not…..but I don’t want)

In formal situations, a repeated verb can be left out of a second clause when both clauses have the same structure.

E.gThe girls go first and the boys _ after

them.You can go if you want to_.Salmah chose UKM and Salmi _ UITM.

Try and like are common with ellipted to-clause

A: Keep him in lineB:I’ll try to_.

A: Did you use my jacket again?B:Well, I would like to.

We can leave out repeated words after questions when we ask or repeat questions. e.g

I have to leave now. Why?It will cost a lot of money to repair the

damage. How much?Siva said he will go overseas, but hasn’t

told us when_ yet

With wh-clause ellipsis,wonder and remember also also occur:

A : I took a shower early this morning and I feel like I didn’t shower.

B:I wonder why.