this is the fifth lecture of structure in context course

1. ELLIPSIS
By Noraza Ahmad Zabidi

2.  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’)

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

4.  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

5.  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.

6.  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.

7.  "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.

8. 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

9. 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.

10.  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

11. 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 things
 Should we bring our bags or__ _leave
them here?
 We sat and _ talked.
 He came, but _left early.

12.  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.

13.  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)

14.  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 jewelry
 We usually boil _ _ or poach some eggs for
breakfast.

15. 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_ _

16.  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_

17.  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_.

18.  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_ _ _.

19.  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.g
A: There’s seven teams in front of them.
Yeah, I know.

20.  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)

21.  In formal situations, a repeated verb can
be left out of a second clause when both
clauses have the same structure.
 E.g
 The girls go first and the boys _ after
them.
 You can go if you want to_.
 Salmah chose UKM and Salmi _ UITM.

22.  Try and like are common with ellipted to-
clause
A: Keep him in line
B:I’ll try to_.
A: Did you use my jacket again?
B:Well, I would like to.

23.  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

24.  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.