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Ellipsis - How to Omit Words

Hi everyone. I’m Jennifer from English with Jennifer. A common frustration students have is trying to find the right words when you’re having a conversation. But guess what? Sometimes sounding more natural is not about saying certain words, but rather omitting them.

“Omit” means to delete or leave something out. Have you ever seen this punctuation mark? It’s called an ellipsis. Writers use it to indicate that words have been left out. Words are left unsaid.

If you’d like, you can watch my writing skills playlist and review the ellipsis and other punctuation marks in English. Right now, we’re going to focus on ellipsis in spoken English, spoken American English.

I’ll take you through some patterns. You need to be aware of them, listen for them, and be sure you’re using them correctly and appropriately. Let’s start! Ellipsis can happen at the beginning, the middle, or the end of a sentence. Think about how we give short answers to yes-no questions.

We omit information at the end, from the predicate. Is he really 18? Yes, he is. Have you done this before? No, I haven’t. Of course, some speakers would simply answer “yeah” or “uh-uh” and leave it at that. The full answer is understood. Let’s talk for a moment about the word “that.” It has different uses.

When can we omit it? When “that” is part of a noun clause and the noun clause functions as the object of a verb. I think you should tell her the truth. He said they’d made a mistake. Here are two more that-clauses. I’m so happy you called. I was afraid you wouldn’t want to talk to me.

These noun clauses aren’t the object of a verb. See how they each follow an adjective? They define the adjectives. Why are you happy? Why were you afraid? These are adjectives complements, and again we can drop the word “that.” The sentences still make sense. The next few examples will be about informal English.

When we speak casually and in a very familiar tone, we tend to use abbreviated grammar. You’ve probably noticed the use of informal yes-no questions when the subject is “you.” You coming? Coming? You want a bite? Want a bite?

We can drop the helping verb or the verb be, and sometimes we drop the subject pronoun “you.” A word of caution: Don’t use these shortened questions with everyone you meet. They can sound really familiar. Questions like, “Ready to go?” “Coming?” are often heard within a family or between people with a very close relationship.

And to practice informal reduction like wanna and gonna, you can check out my Fast Speech playlist. I’ll put the link in the video description. Here’s another pattern. Informal statements made in the first person might omit the subject pronoun.

For example, someone says, “Hey! Did you hear Liam is dating Olivia?” The response: Don’t know. Don’t care. Notice how this is a negative response to something already said. “Don’t know. Don’t care.” expresses a complete lack of interest. Also in informal statements, we can drop the subject “it” or “there” and the verb “be.” Mmm. Delicious! Hello. Anybody home? Think of all the social niceties we say.

Many of them use ellipsis. So good to see you! My pleasure. My bad. See you later! Let’s see how well you understand the patterns I’ve shown you so far. Look at all these statements. Which words can be omitted? With ellipsis, here are the shorter versions. You done? Done? You need help? Need help?

I believe she deserves a second chance. Wow. So many to choose from! Nice to meet you. See you tomorrow! What’s your secret? Not telling! Okay. Let’s go on. When else can we omit words? After modal verbs, we can leave out words if the context makes everything clear. I’m not worried about it.

Well, you should be. I don’t think I can do that. Sure you can it’s easy I didn’t finish the report yet, but I will. He didn’t help, but he could have. Some modals and semi-modals use ellipsis in informal English.

You’ve probably heard or seen short forms of “had better” and “have got to.” For example, you better not tell anyone. You gotta try harder. An infinitive is TO + (base verb). Sometimes we omit the base verb when the full infinitive is understood from context. Why don’t you go outside and get some fresh air?

I don’t want to. Come visit us sometime! Thanks! I’d love to. I mentioned the pattern “that” as part of a noun clause, as in, I think that, I know that, I understand that. We can also use “that” in an adjective clause, and we can omit a relative pronoun in an identifying clause. That’s an adjective clause with information that’s necessary to identify a person or thing. Do you know the name of the woman Mike is talking to?

I have a copy of the report you wanted. I’ll email it to you. If you need to review adjective clauses, I’ll put the link in the video description to that playlist. In a series of items, we can use shorter phrases if the grammar structure is the same for all the items in that series. For example, Jeremy loves to play soccer, golf, and tennis.

Do you remember what conjunctions are? Words like “and,” “or,” “but.” They join ideas together, and often we can omit unnecessary words in the second clause or the second phrase. This is for you and your parents. We were tired, but hungry, so we ate before going to sleep. All right. Time for a second quiz.

Which words can be omitted? With ellipsis, here are the shorter versions. I really want to go, but I can’t. I don’t have time today, but maybe tomorrow I will. I’ve really gotta go now. You should join our club. I’d love to. I’ll give you the draft I just edited. You can boil, fry, or poach eggs.

I want to visit Alaska and see the glaciers. Here’s a bonus question. Can we omit words from this statement? We can, but we need to make a small change. Look. Sometimes dropping words leads to the use of a helping verb. Which helping verb? The same one you would need to form a question.

So generally speaking, any time the situation makes information clear, we can leave out words. Can you meet on Monday? Yeah, but after two would be best. I have a sweater just like Kate’s. Do you have two fives for a ten? If you want to review US currency, by the way, check out the video I have on that topic.

I’ll put the link in the video description. But back to omitting words. If you’re ever in doubt, then don’t leave words out. It’s better to be clear. Omitting too many words or omitting the wrong words can create miscommunication, and you don’t want that. So ,you’re becoming aware of all these different patterns.

Listen for them, and in time, as you become more familiar with them, your confidence will grow, and you’ll be able to use them correctly and appropriately. I bet there are other structures you’ve heard and seen and learned to understand, even though words are omitted. Let’s see if you’re familiar with these.

Can you find short substitutes for the words crossed out? Here are the shorter versions. Do you need my help? If not, then I’m gonna head home. It’s getting late. The doctor told me I can use this as needed. Ben works from home now. He only goes to the office if necessary.

Do you know the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed…?” How does it end? If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. The saying is so familiar that we often say just the first part, and we assume that everyone knows the rest, so we omit it. We use ellipsis.

Let’s try this pattern with other common proverbs and sayings. If one person, like a child, calls another a name or says something offensive, the second person can say, “Sticks and stones… .” What’s the full statement?

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. If one person is freely criticizing others for faults that they themselves have, you might offer some wisdom: You know what they say. People who live in glass houses… What’s the full statement? People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Do you know another well-known proverb or saying? Share it in the comments. Write the first part and see if anyone can finish it. We’ll end here.