Exercise 5. Make one sentence, incorporating the extra information into the base sentence.

1. A lady was sitting in her garden. Grey-haired/ shawl around her shoulders/ she watched the sun/ the sun was setting.

2. Peter has a house. He works in London/ he works for a company/ the company sells computers/ three-bedrooms/ the house overlooks the river Thames.

3. A man walked along the road. Elderly/ a wrinkled face/ an old raincoat/ slowly/ dusty/ tree-lined.

4. Ann Cross was seen in a restaurant. The actress/ she won an Oscar for a film/ the film was made last year/ she was having dinner with a man/ his company recently went bankrupt.

5. A boy was sitting at the table in the corner. Thin/ dark-haired/ gray flannel jacket/ the sleeves were too short/ a glass of coffee in front of him.

Exercise 6. Proofread the following sentences.

6. A man to whom I was talking to recently told me a joke, which was very funny, but that I have unfortunately forgotten.

7. Our director for who’s job I applied when the previous director left, has announced that the pay rise, which we asked for, has had to be postponed, that really upset us.

8. The actress Joan Kelly whose most famous film was ‘One for the Road’ for that she won an Oscar award, has died at the age of 77 at her home in California, in which she had lived for the last 25 years.

9. This morning, I got a cheque in the post that I wasn’t expecting, for some work, which I did a long time ago, translating business texts.

10. Lord Brown on whom many people look as the best prime minister of the century and who’s memoirs that were published last year caused a scandal, got married to a woman, who he first met 55 years ago, when they were at school together.

1.2. Compressing ideas: ellipses

Exercise 7. Rewrite the following sentences omitting whatever can be ellipted without change of meaning.

A:

1. When you are in Rome, do as Rome does.

2. When he was pressed to take part in politics, he firmly declined.

3. There were no stores of boots that were readily available.

4. He threw himself from the horse and lay still as if he had been shot.

5. Any foreigner, however innocent he might be, was attacked.

6. If you were left alone on a desert island, what would you do first?

7. If other people are willing to make and use machines for my benefit, I am not less willing to let them make and use machines for my benefit.

8. I do not wish to take part in this protest, and I do not intend to take part in it.

9. Unless you are travelling by the couch, please let the Secretary know when you expect to arrive.

10. The castle, which was built in the 12 century, has dominated the valley ever since.

11. Much of the earth’s surface is formed by sedimentary rocks – that is to say, rocks which were formed by the deposition of sand, silt and clay.

B:

1. Ellipsis is possible in noun phrases and prepositional phrases.

2. Ellipsis can be used to shorten long sentences and cumbersome sentences.

3. Sentences in legal documents and sentences in students’ essays are often too long.

4. For these reasons and other reasons it’s worth considering how to make sentences shorter.

5. Your experience and my experience are equally useful.

6. Your experience and your common sense are a great asset to us.

7. He has worked to the full extent of his obligations and beyond his obligations.

8. I do not write to a pre-arranged plot, and have never written to a pre-arranged plot.