Ellipsis and substitution
Leaving words out after an auxiliary or to, and replacing clauses and nouns with so, not, one, do and neither, so that English sounds natural, not translated.
When you use it
Ellipsis leaves words out when the listener can supply them: Are you coming? — I might. Substitution replaces them with a small word such as so, not, one or do: Is it far? — I think so. Both are the reason natural English is short. A speaker who repeats the full clause every time sounds as if they are reading a translation. Ukrainian and Russian also shorten sentences, but they drop different things. They drop the subject pronoun and the present tense of be; English keeps those and drops the verb phrase after an auxiliary instead. That mismatch is where most of the errors below come from.
How it is formed
Ellipsis: what can be left out.
| Type | What is omitted | Example |
|---|---|---|
| after an auxiliary or modal | the verb phrase | Tom can swim, and Anna can too. |
| after to | the infinitive verb | I didn't want to go, but I had to. |
| in coordinated clauses | the repeated subject or verb | Anna washed the car and (she) cleaned the windows. |
| in comparisons | the repeated clause | Tom works harder than I do. |
| in short questions and answers | everything except subject and auxiliary | Coming? — I am. |
Substitution: what replaces a longer piece.
| Form | Replaces | Example |
|---|---|---|
| do / do so / do it | a verb phrase | He asked me to leave, and I did. |
| so / not | a that-clause after think, hope, expect, suppose, guess, be afraid | Is it raining? — I think so. / I hope not. |
| one / ones | a countable noun | The blue cup or the red one? |
| so / neither / nor + auxiliary + subject | agreement with a statement | I'm tired. — So am I. / I can't cook. — Neither can I. |
| the same | a whole predicate | Anna ordered fish, and Tom did the same. |
The negative of so has two shapes. With think, expect, suppose, believe you can say I don't think so (usual) or I think not (formal). With hope, be afraid, guess only the second shape exists: I hope not, I'm afraid not.
Examples
- Anna didn't finish the book, but Tom did.
- You can borrow the car if you want to.
- I'd love a coffee, a small one.
- Will the shop be open on Sunday? — I think so.
- Is Tom coming? — I'm afraid not.
- I've never tried sushi. — Neither have I.
- Tom asked me to call the bank, and I did so this morning.
- Anna runs faster than I do.
Common mistakes
- Dropping the subject and auxiliary in a short answer.
✗ Can you drive? — Yes, can. / Yes, drive.
✓ Can you drive? — Yes, I can.
Russian Да, могу and Ukrainian Так, можу drop the pronoun and keep the verb. English does the opposite: it keeps the subject and the auxiliary and drops the verb. - Repeating the whole clause instead of so or not.
✗ Is it going to rain? — I think that it is going to rain.
✓ Is it going to rain? — I think so.
The long version is grammatical but sounds mechanical. Думаю, да maps onto I think so, and Думаю, нет onto I don't think so. - Negating hope.
✗ Will she be late? — I don't hope so. / I hope it doesn't.
✓ Will she be late? — I hope not.
Надеюсь, нет and Сподіваюся, ні put the negation on the answer, and so does English, but English does it with not after the verb, never by negating hope. - A default do in agreement replies.
✗ I'm tired. — So do I.
✓ I'm tired. — So am I.
The auxiliary must copy the first speaker's verb: am for am, have for have, did for a past simple. Я тоже and Я теж contain no verb at all, which is why learners reach for do every time. - It where one is needed.
✗ I lost my umbrella, so I bought it.
✓ I lost my umbrella, so I bought a new one.
It points to the same object; one points to another object of the same kind. Russian купил новый simply drops the noun, so the choice between it and one has no equivalent to lean on.
Try it
- Tom hasn't seen the film. — ___ have I.
- Will Anna be late? — I hope ___.
- You don't have to come if you don't want ___.
- Which bag is yours? — The black ___.
- Anna finished early, and Tom ___ too.