Traditional grammarians speak of “ellipsis”; modern linguists discuss “reduction.” As the instructional material suggests, they are two different perspectives of the same thing — we simply leave out words, often connecting or repetitious words, if the context provides their meaning. Thus, when we say “Come in,” the context provides both the subject and the object of the preposition “in.” ("In" means whatever place the speaker is "in." We won't say "Come in," if we are outside.) 
     Ellipsis is a concept, not a construction, and you will find it used in various places in the analysis keys. But to help students understand the concept, we can provide examples of the ways in which ellipsis is typically used.
     As the explanation of semi-reduced clauses suggests, ellipsis is an extremely important concept. Indeed, most compounding, gerundives, appositives, post-positioned adjectives, and noun absolutes can be seen as the result of reduction/ellipsis.
     In instructional materials and analysis keys, KISS used asterisks to insert ellipsed words.

Exercises 1 a & b - Ellipsis in S/V/C Patterns

     Writers fairly frequently ellipse finite verbs in parallel patterns based on the same verb but with different subjects and complements: 

Her figure was majestic, her manners charming, her whole appearance beautiful beyond words.
Her figure was majestic, her manners *were* charming, her whole appearance *was* beautiful beyond words. 

Flatterers look like friends, as wolves like dogs. -- George Chapman
Flatterers look like friends, as wolves *look like* like dogs.

     After some words, especially "than" and "as," words are ellipsed in subordinate clauses:

He looked gloomier than ever.
     means
He looked gloomier [than *he had* ever *looked before*]."

He classified shirts and suits as expertly as birds and mammals.
     means
He classified shirts and suits as expertly [as *he classified* birds and mammals].

They worked as hard as possible.
     means
They worked as hard [as it is possible to work].

     Semi-reduced clauses are not very frequent, primarily because they derive mainly from those adverbial conjunctions that do not also function as prepositions. Compare the difference:

The reduction of a subordinate conjunction such as “after,” which can also function as a preposition, results in a prepositional phrase with a gerund as its object. But “when” is not considered a preposition, and thus to explain this case, we need to refer to ellipsis.
     Usually, the ellipsed subject is in the clause that the semi-reduced clause modifies. Thus, when in students' writing it is not, it is tempting to mark these as a form of dangling modifier. But in the work of professional writers, the ellipsed subject may be implicit in the context. Consider the following sentence from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter:

     While occupied with these reflections, a knock came at the door of the study, and the minister said, "Come in!"--not wholly devoid of an idea that he might behold an evil spirit. (The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings, ed. Leland S. Person. Norton Critical Edition, 2005,  142.)

But he seemed to stand apart, and eye this former self with scornful, pitying, but half-envious curiosity. That self was gone. Another man had returned out of the forest; a wiser one; with a knowledge of hidden mysteries which the simplicity of the former never could have reached. A bitter kind of knowledge that!

Exercise 4 - Semi-Reducing Clauses

     To reinforce the previous exercise, this one has students rewrite a sentence by semi-reducing a clause.

Exercise 5 - Prepositional Phrase or Ellipsed Clause?

    Consider:

In this type of sentence, the second "as" construction functions as an adverb to the first "as." But what is that construction? Some grammarians argue that it should be explained as an ellipsed subordinate clause:

KISS accepts this explanation, but it requires conscious knowledge of both subordinate clauses and ellipsis. In addition, it does not always work. Consider, for example, the following sentence from Black Beauty:

Clearly, "as yourself is suitable" would not be an acceptable subordinate clause. Thus "as yourself" is best explained as a prepositional phrase. In some cases, in other words, the subordinate clause explanation simply does not make sense -- the prepositional phrase explanation is superior. Because of this, and because of ease in explanation, we can also consider "as a much older boy" (in the first example) as a prepositional phrase.
     At some point in their instruction, students need to be taught that they must pay attention to meaning and therefore check to see that what might look like a prepositional phrase is, instead, an ellipsed clause. My favorite example of this is a sentence written by a young female student:

A superficial reader of my work criticized this example for being sexist and politically incorrect. It may be, but that only reinforces my point. The sentence can be read as meaning "No one can train a horse better than "they can train* me. Thus, in this case, which is relatively rare, the sentence should have been written as, "No one can train a horse better than I." The "I" forces the reader to see "I" as a subject, and not an object.
     The sentences in this section explore the question of ellipsis and words that can function as comparative prepositions.

Exercise 6 - A Passage for Analysis

     Like many of the passages for analysis, these may include only one example or type of ellipsis. Finding several examples within a single paragraph or poem will take some time.

Suggested Directions for Analytical Exercises First, write in (above the line) any ellipsed words. Then, 1. Place parentheses ( ) around each prepositional phrase. 2. Underline verbs twice, their subjects once, and label complements (“PA,” “PN,” “IO,” or “DO”). 3. Place brackets [ ] around each subordinate clause. If the clause functions as a noun, label its function. If it functions as an adjective or adverb, draw an arrow from the opening bracket to the word that the clause modifies. 4. Place a vertical line after each main clause.

Probable Time Required      If students have learned to analyze sentences by thinking about what they mean, and if students have a fair mastery of subordinate clauses, two or three exercises should give them a good command of ellipsis so that they can recognize it in selections from this point onward.

Exercises in KISS Level 3.2.1

From Vredenburg's "Snow-White and Rose-Red"

Text

AK

ToC

G6