"Been there, done that." (ya he pasado por eso" o "ya lo he vivido". Eso no es nada nuevo para mi).
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." (Plato)
"Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater."
"Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends." (Virginia Woolf)
I wouldn't like you to be treated as I have been treated and as others have.
Using Ellipsis Effectively
"Ellipsis
can be an artful and arresting means of securing economy of expression.
We must see to it, however, that the understood words are grammatically
compatible.
What is ellipsis?
Ellipsis (or elliptical construction ) is the omission of a word or words. It refers to constructions in which words are left out of a sentence but the sentence can still be understood.
Ellipsis helps us avoid a lot of redundancy. In fact there is a lot of redundancy in language and it can be surprising how much can be left out without losing much meaning, particularly when there are contextual clues as to the real meaning.Examples
Some examples of ellipsis are listed below:
The words between parentheses can be omitted and the sentences can still be meaningful.
- Lacy can do something about the problem, but I don’t know what (she can do.)
- She can help with the housework; Nancy can (help with the housework), too.
- John can speak seven languages, but Ron can speak only two (languages.)
“stay home” vs. “stay at home”
Consider the following:
Both are correct. There are instances where they mean the same thing and some instances where they don't.I'll probably stay at home.Is the second sentence still grammatically correct? Is there any difference at all?
I'll probably stay home.
If you were telling someone that you didn't intend to go out tonight, you could use either.
"Do you want to go with us to a restaurant tonight?"However, if someone were asking where you were staying, where the answer might be "a hotel" or "a friend's house", you would definitely say "at home".
"No, I think I'll stay home."
"No, I think I'll stay at home."
"Are you going to get a hotel room for the conference?"(Note that if you did say the struck-through version, that would tend to imply that you weren't going to go to the conference at all.)
"No, I'm going to stay at home."
"No, I'm going to stay home."
However, that "home" is uncommon in that it also functions as an adverb. You can never leave the preposition out with other similar nouns. For example, this is clearly wrong:
"I'll probably stay work."
COLLOQUIAL OMISSIONS
- Can't stop, I've got a train to catch.
- Need a hand with the washing-up?
- Been anywhere interesting lately?
- Seen Sandy recently?
- Can't hear you! You'll have to speak up
- Not a thing in the fridge! I'll have to do some shopping.
- Better go or I'll miss my bus.
- Done your homework yet?
Ellipsis
from English Grammar Today
Ellipsis happens when we
leave out (in other words, when we don’t use) items which we would
normally expect to use in a sentence if we followed the grammatical
rules. The following examples show ellipsis. The items left out are in
brackets [ ]:
I am absolutely sure [that] I have met her somewhere before.
A:[Have you] Seen my gloves anywhere?B:They’re in the kitchen.
She sang and [she] played the violin at the same time.
A:[Are] You ready yet?B:Yes. [I’m] Ready now. [I’m] Sorry to keep you waiting.
In
fact, when we use ellipsis appropriately, no one thinks we have ‘left
out’ anything, and ellipsis is normal and very common, especially in
informal conversation.
Textual ellipsis
When
we can easily understand everything in the sentence because of the
surrounding text, we use textual ellipsis. For example, we know that
certain verbs and adjectives can be followed by a that-clause, so if we see a clause without that after such verbs and adjectives, we assume that the writer or speaker wants us to understand the same meaning as a that-clause:
I knew [that] something terrible had happened.
Maureen was glad [that] we had called in to see her.
Are you afraid [that] you won’t get a job when you leave college?
The same happens when we do not repeat words in clauses connected with and, but and or (coordinated clauses). We understand what the ‘missing’ items are:
We went for a walk and [we] took some lovely photographs.
He wrote to [everyone he could think of who might help] and [he] phoned everyone he could think of who might help.
I can remember his face but [I] can’t remember his name.
Do you want to stay in or [do you want to] go out tonight?
We can also leave out the complement of a verb when it is obvious what the complement is:
A:Why don’t they move to a bigger place?B:They don’t want to [move to a bigger place]. They’re happy where they are.
A:Have more coffee.B:I’d better not [have more coffee]. I won’t be able to sleep later.
Situational ellipsis
Subject pronouns
When
we do not need to mention someone or something because it is obvious
from the immediate situation, we use situational ellipsis. Situational
ellipsis often means we do not need to use the subject pronoun I, especially at the beginning of a clause. This is quite informal:
[I] Wonder where Joe Healey is these days?
Bye! [I] Hope you have a nice holiday.
We can also omit a third person pronoun (he, she, it, they) at the beginning of a clause in informal conversation when it is obvious who or what we are referring to:
A:I saw Janice in town. [She] Said she’s getting married next year.B:Really?A:Yeah. [She] Met some guy and got engaged to him after only a couple of weeks, apparently.
There’s something wrong with the car. [It] Started making a funny noise on the way home.
Subjects and auxiliary verbs
In informal conversation, we can leave out both a subject pronoun such as I or you and an accompanying auxiliary verb at the beginning of a clause when the meaning is obvious. This is most common in questions:
[Have you] Finished with the newspaper?
[I’ve] Lost my car keys again. Have you seen them?
A:[Do you] Want some coffee?B:Is there any?A:Yeah. [I’ve] Just made some.
Auxiliary verbs
In questions in informal conversation, with the second person pronoun you, we can leave out the auxiliary verb only:
[Have] You finished your essay yet?
[Are] You going to the match on Saturday?
We can also do the same in informal conversation in questions with third person noun subjects:
[Is] Richard coming tonight?
[Has] Claire bought a new car yet? She said she was going to.
We don’t normally do this with the first person pronoun I:
Am I making too much noise?
Not:I making too much noise?
Questions with question tags
In
questions in informal conversation, we can leave out a subject pronoun,
or a subject pronoun and an accompanying auxiliary verb, when we use a
question tag:
[He] Gave up his job, did he? I thought he would.
[You] Wrote to the local newspaper, did you? Good idea.
A:He was asked to leave the room.B:Yes. [He] Didn’t like it, did he?A:No. He wasn’t at all happy.
A:Pat and Cathy certainly had a long break from work.B:Yeah. [They] Went away for a month, didn’t they?
Articles
In informal conversation, we can sometimes omit articles (a/an, the) when they are obvious from the context and when we use them at the beginning of a sentence:
[The] Dog wants to go out. Can you open the door for him?
A:What are you looking for?B:[A] Pen. Can you see one anywhere?
[The] Postman’s just been. There’s a letter for you.
Fixed expressions
We
often leave out the first word of a fixed expression in informal
conversation because we know the listener will understand the
expression:
I’d love to go with you. [The] Trouble is, I’ve got to work on Saturday this week.
I can’t read that. I’m [as] blind as a bat without my glasses.
Substitution
Substitution
is similar to ellipsis in many ways, because both enable the speaker to
reduce what they are saying. Ellipsis is simply leaving something out
that is usually obvious. Substitution involves using words such as do and so and not instead of a clause.
Compare
ellipsis
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substitution
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