Ellipsis in text types – Page 2

Answer to Exercise 1

1.Types of words omitted: – Articles (a, an & the), it, it is, and other non-key words are omitted.

Tasty minced beef recipe

Ingredients:

1 teaspoons honey
1 kilo minced meat
3 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes

2 teaspoons cumin seed
Fresh Coriander to taste
1 teasp. tamarind juice
Brown rice

Salt
1 tablespoon oil 1 Spanish Onion, diced

On the day before, fry meat in vegetable oil with a pinch of salt until tender. Separate minced beef into small pieces, crushing with a fork. Store overnight in refrigerator.

Next, mix together garlic, honey, coriander, tamarind juice and salt. Then add mixture to meat and stir well.

Following that, heat oil in heavy fry pan and fry meat and spice mix until deep brown. After this, fry onion until brown, then mix chopped tomatoes and cumin. Finally, mix with meat and serve with rice.

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Ellipsis is often used in text types where there is limited space and it is necessary to get the attention of the reader with large text. Look at the list of text types in the box below. Which ones often have omitted words?

Newspaper and magazine headlines
Short stories
Fiction novels
Public notices and signs
Newspaper articles

Documentary texts
Advertisements
Poetry
Instructional texts such as manuals and recipes
Scientific journals

Fairy tales and children’s stories
Bulleted points, lists and notes
Emails
Informal spoken English
Mystery and adventure novels

Newspaper and magazine headlines often omit non-key words, especially articles and pronouns. Public notices and signs also usually omit non-key words. – (e.g. “Do not jump tracks.” = “Do not jump on to the tracks.
Advertisements: “Feeling Hungry? Try a Megaburger.” = “Are you feeling hungry? Try a Megaburger.”
Instructional texts such as manuals and recipes also often use ellipsis to make instructions clear and concise.
Ellipsis is often used in bulleted points, lists and notes for brevity and clarity.
Writers of emails often make use of ellipsis to save time and to make instructions clear and concise. They often do this by using numbered lists of instructions or main points.
Non-key words are also frequently omitted in informal spoken English: “Cup of coffee?” = “Would you like a cup of coffee?” “Good day?” = “Did you have a good day?”

Why is knowing about ellipsis important?

Firstly, ellipsis breaks many of the rules of grammar you are taught, particularly the rules of article use. Understanding that the rules are different in different text types helps you avoid confusion.

Users of English need to use the language for a variety of purposes and use of ellipsis is important in some text types. For example, Business English frequently uses ellipsis and is a very important text type for many learners.