We’ll often come across sentences with certain words evidently missing but they read right and sound right, like this one: “If you want more of those 1905-issue coins, my sister Irene can give you plenty
[...].” A noun, verb, or phrase clearly has been shed off somewhere, yet the statement looks and sounds okay despite the grammatical hole in it.
That grammatical hole, shown above by the three periods enclosed by brackets, is called an
ellipsis, and a sentence where it occurs is called an
elliptical sentence. The elliptical construction is simply a more concise form of this sentence: “If you want more of those 1905-issue coins, my sister Irene can give you plenty
of those 1905-issue coins.”[/i] The ellipsis quietly knocks off repetitive words and phrases, taking it for granted that the reader or listener would just mentally fill in the gaps with the missing elements. As a rule, elliptical sentences consist of two independent clauses, one of which is an abbreviated adverb clause stripped of its subject and verb.
Consider this sentence: “Although she is known for her ravishing beauty, Cornelia has an uncommonly vile temper.” Its adverb clause is “she is known for her ravishing beauty,” with “although” as subordinating marker; the independent clause is “Cornelia has an uncommonly vile temper.”
Now see what happens when we make the adverb clause elliptical: “Although
[…] known for her ravishing beauty, Cornelia has an uncommonly vile temper.” Even after shedding “she is,” the sentence works just fine—more concise and emphatic, in fact, than the scrupulously complete one.
Ellipses can streamline sentences in many ways. Here are some of their most common forms:
(1) The routine omission of “that” in modifying clauses in spoken English. This example shows the most familiar use of the ellipsis: “They knew
[…] two years would be the shortest time
[…] they would need to subdue the enemy forces.” Its normal construction requires two “thats”: “They knew
that two years would be the shortest time
that they would need to subdue the enemy forces.”
(2) Elliptical noun phrases. Example: “Jennifer asked for the pink blouse but the salesclerk gave her the red
[…].” Its normal form: “Jennifer asked for the pink blouse but the salesclerk gave her the red
blouse.”
(3) Ellipsis of the verb and its objects or complements. Example: “The beleaguered Supreme Court chief justice would fight it to the very end if he could
[…].” Its normal form: “The beleaguered Supreme Court chief justice would fight it to the very end if he could
fight it to the very end.”
(4) Medial (middle) ellipsis. Example: “Arlene will take care of the girls and Eduardo
[…], the boys.” Its normal form: “Arlene will take care of the girls and Eduardo
will take care of the boys.”)
(5) Ellipsis of clause. Example: “They can leave now if they want
[…].” Its normal form: “They can leave now if they want
to leave now.”)
Isn’t it nice that with the ellipsis, we can say things better in a quicker way?
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This is a condensation of an 852-word essay on elliptical sentences that I wrote sometime in 2005.This essay, 2106th of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the July 7, 2022 digital edition of The Manila Times
, ©2022 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.Read this essay online in
The Manila Times:
The virtue of elliptical constructions(Next week:
The grammar of indirect questions) July 14, 2022
Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.
