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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Ellipsis

Hi Teachers/friends,

I have a question on ellipsis in dialogue.

Example:

James said, "I would kill . . ."
"What?"
". . . to get that job."

Can we use it in this manner?

Thanks,
  

Top answer

It depends. " is a sentence with a subject, and a verb with some sort of suspension rather, and without ellipsis. If it is used transitively and you mean 'somebody to be killed by you' then the sentence could be named as an elliptical one with a subject, a verb, and implied (unsaid) object, hence an ellipsis.

— Anonymous

  • It depends.
  • " is a sentence with a subject, and a verb with some sort of suspension rather, and without ellipsis.
  • If it is used transitively and you mean 'somebody to be killed by you' then the sentence could be named as an elliptical one with a subject, a verb, and implied (unsaid) object, hence an ellipsis.
  • ", so no ellipsis here.
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1 Answers
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It depends. If the verb 'kill' is an intransitive one, then the "I would kill..." is a sentence with a subject, and a verb with some sort of suspension rather, and without ellipsis. If it is used transitively and you mean 'somebody to be killed by you' then the sentence could be named as an elliptical one with a subject, a verb, and implied (unsaid) object, hence an ellipsis. T
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