Ellipsis

Ellipsis often takes place in speech when we leave out words to avoid repetition or when the meaning is clear without them.


 * "How are you?" – "(I’m) Fine, thanks."
 * "What’s your name?" – "(My name is) John."

Examples

 * We often use ellipsis when replying to questions, as in the following examples:


 * 'Who did you go with?' 'Sally' (It would seem unnatural to answer 'I went with Sally')
 * 'When's the next meeting?' 'Monday' (Instead of: 'The next meeting is on Monday')


 * We can also use ellipsis when asking questions in informal speech:
 * 'Ready?' (Instead of 'Are you ready?')
 * 'Tired?'
 * 'Want help?' (Instead of 'Do you want help?')
 * 'Finished?' (Instead of 'Have you finished?')


 * If the meaning is clear without them, words including articles, possessives, personal pronouns and auxiliary verbs can also be left out at the beginning of sentences:
 * The Kids are upstairs.
 * The Dinner's ready!
 * This is Delicious!


 * By extension, we also use it to leave out the relative pronoun (who/that/which) in zero identifying clauses:
 * Men only have two faults: everything [that] they say and everything [that] they do, i.e. when it is the object in the clause.