It is useful to know the kinds of word that can be left out of a sentence to save time
THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF ABBREVIATED SENTENCES
“Abbreviated” here means written in the shortest way possible, without regard for grammar rules. It is the kind of writing that might be found in student notes or in newspaper headlines. It is not to be confused with “concise” writing, which aims at maximum brevity without breaking grammar rules (see 205. Paraphrasing Prepositions with Words of Other Kinds).
Abbreviation can be of both words and sentences. While abbreviated words lack some of their letters (see 130. Formal Abbreviations), abbreviated sentences lack some of their words. In the following imaginary newspaper headline, three small words are missing:
(a) Queen to visit leading car manufacturer.
The rules of English grammar would normally require this sentence to begin with a word like the, to include is or is going alongside to visit (because in full sentences a lone verb with to usually needs another verb with it – see 30. When to Write a Full Stop), and to add the or a before leading.
The reason for leaving out words that English grammar normally requires is to save either space or time. Newspaper headlines are nearly always space-restricted. Historically, telegram writing was too, a result of each word costing a sum of money (I once sent my parents the message girl Emily born 22 June 01.30). In technical writing, space-saving tends to keep wording on diagrams to the minimum. Saving time is of course the aim of students writing notes, whether to keep up with what lecturers say, or to facilitate oral presentations (see 186. Language in Oral Presentations), or to prepare text content for a paraphrase (see 80. How to Paraphrase).
Speakers whose mother tongue is not English are likely to find abbreviated sentences problematic in both reading and writing. Readers need to recognise not just that a word is absent, but also what it is. Writers need to know which words can be left out and which cannot – to in (a) above, for example, is not normally omissible. It is on these two questions that the present post offers guidelines.
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WORDS COMMONLY OMITTED FROM ABBREVIATED SENTENCES
In general, any word can be omitted whose meaning can be understood without it. In a few cases, dropping such a word will leave a sentence that would still be acceptable in ordinary English. However, most of the time it will leave a sentence that would not be correct in ordinary English usage and should only be used where abbreviated language is expected. The following types of omissible words can be identified.
1. Words whose Omission is always Grammatical
Word omission that is grammatical in ordinary English tends to be of the kind technically called “ellipsis”. The following example is from the Guinlist post 68. How Computers Get Grammar Wrong 1:
(b) One of these housed the chapel, another (housed) a library.
As with most ellipsis, the dropped word housed here is easily recognised (except by computers) as a repetition of a word used nearby. For other examples of ellipsis, see 36. Words Left Out to Avoid Repetition.
Note that, although most words representing a repeated idea can be omitted in abbreviated writing, a few are not omissible in ordinary English. Verb objects are a major group in this category (see 8. Object-Dropping Errors). In the following, him is only omissible in abbreviated writing:
(c) However bad a man may be, his relatives will not completely reject him.
Similarly, one after an adjective describing a repeated noun, e.g. the easy one, is not grammatically omissible, even though it is if the adjective is in the comparative or superlative form (see 102. Adjectives with no Noun 2).
Another kind of word that can be omitted even in ordinary English is more related to the grammar of sentences than their meaning. One of the most common is that (pronounced with /ә/ rather than /æ/), which can be either a conjunction or a relative pronoun (see 153. Conjunction Uses of “that”). Readers will be familiar with the possibility of leaving out this word when it either introduces indirect speech or represents the object of a so-called “defining” relative clause, as in this example from 34. Relative Pronouns and Commas:
(d) Reforms (that) Napoleon introduced were long lasting.
Other words of this kind include in order before to, BE in various constructions (see 192. When BE can be Omitted), and as before the object complement of a few verbs like ELECT (see 92. Verbs with an Object + “As”).
Also worth mentioning are preposition phrases that can be paraphrased with a shorter structure, such as an adverb (e.g. with ease/easily – see 85. Preposition Phrases and Corresponding Adverbs), two nouns together (e.g. demand management for management of demand – see 136. Types of Description by Nouns), or a position-showing verb (e.g. inhabits for lives in – see 205. Paraphrasing Prepositions with Words of Other Kinds).
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2. Articles
The and a(n) are routinely absent from abbreviated sentences. The can be dropped even from people-naming adjective expressions like the poor (see 6. Adjectives with no Noun 1) and from “proper” nouns that normally have it, such as The West Indies or The Eiffel Tower (see 47. Article Errors with Proper Nouns).
A possible exception might be where the article influences the meaning of the noun, as in the people (= the non-governing citizens) versus people (= human beings), went to the prison (= visited) versus went to prison (= was imprisoned), and in the future (= predicting) versus in future (= warning). For more examples, see 235. Special Uses of “the”.
Articles are also commonly absent from labels on diagrams. This can give a special problem when the labels need to be mentioned in an accompanying text (see 104. Naming Data Sources with “As”), since the articles then need to be restored, which necessitates knowing where they are absent.
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3. Possessive Adjectives
Words like my, our, your and her are alternatives to the before a noun (all belong to the wider class of so-called “determiners” – see 110. Nouns without “the” or “a”). They are equally omissible:
(e) Hannibal walked (his) elephants across (the) Pyrenees.
It is obvious that the elephants here belong to Hannibal, even when his is dropped. Possessive adjectives should only be kept in abbreviated sentences when ownership is unclear.
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4. The Verb BE
It is common to drop the normally compulsory uses of this verb, whether as a main verb or an “auxiliary” (see 3. Multi-Use Words). In (a) above, it is a main verb helping to express an arrangement (see 119. BE before a “to” Verb, #4). In the following, it is an absent auxiliary:
(f) “Alien” airship (is) seen by thousands.
When BE is combined with a forward-looking it at the start of a sentence (see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “It”), the it is normally dropped as well:
(g) (It is) rare to find (an) adjective without (a) noun.
The same happens with there sentences (see 161. Special Uses of “There” Sentences), where BE is also typically present near the start:
(h) (There are) numerous ways to learn a language.
The a is not dropped here before language because language and a language mean different things (see 23. Noun Countability Clues 3).
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5. Prepositions
If a preposition cannot be avoided by using a shorter alternative structure (see above), it might simply be omissible, like this:
(i) Ancient Egyptians wrote (on) papyrus.
Without on here, we would still probably understand that papyrus was where Ancient Egyptians wrote rather than what. In general, prepositions seem omissible if their meaning is obvious from the context. On many occasions, however, they will need to be kept. The preposition of is perhaps one of the most omissible (see 160. Uses of “of”).
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6. Personal Pronouns
These comprise I, you, he, she, it and their related forms. Again, there is not 100% omissibility. It seems most likely when the pronoun is repeating an earlier mention of the same idea, in either the same or an earlier sentence, like this:
(j) When hydrogen nuclei (are) fused together, (they) form helium.
(k) Caesar conquered (the) Britons. Then (he) returned (to) Rome.
Note that the above pronouns could not be left out in ordinary writing – the verbs after them need a grammatical “subject”. Some other languages allow a repeating pronoun to be left out of sentences like (j), where there is a conjunction (when), but English only allows this after a few conjunctions, excluding when. For details, see 36. Words Left Out to Avoid Repetition.
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PRACTICE EXERCISE: NOTE-FORM ENGLISH
To assist appreciation and memorization of the above points, readers are invited to put the following sentences into “note” form, using both sentence and word abbreviation. Suggested answers are given below.
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1. A microscope is an instrument that magnifies small objects.
2. There is a subject that communicates more by means of short symbols than through words: it is of course Mathematics.
3. If the price of a good increases, demand for it falls (except in the case of luxury items).
4. The ancient Athenians invented drama and it possessed great importance within their democratic system.
5. It is expected that vehicles able to function without a driver will not be able to go faster than the speed limit.
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Possible Answers
1. Microscope: instrum. magnifies small objects.
2. Subj. where symbols > words = maths.
3. Price increases ⇒ demand falls (except lux. items).
4. Ancient Athenians invented drama; v. important within their democracy. (Note the need for their)
5. Expected vehicles without driver can’t break speed limit.