省 略 莎士比亚曾经说过:Brevity is the soul of wit
(言以简为贵)
为了使话说得简明扼要,英语句子中某个单词、短语甚至从句或主句都可以省去
这种省去句子某些成分而保持句子意思不变的现象,称为省略(ellipsis)
省略的目的 省略多见于非正式的文体,尤其在对话中,省略是一种十分普遍的现象
英语中的省略一般说来有三个目的:避免重复,减少累赘
省略的主要目的是避免重复,去掉不必要的累赘和繁琐
Mike said that he would come to school to see me the next day, but he didn't come to school to see me the next day
迈克说他第二 天要来学校看我,但是第二天他并没有来学校看我
-- Mike said that he would come to school to see me the next day, but he didn't
迈克说他第二天要来学校看我,但是他并没有来
(省掉最后九个词,句子简洁多了) — What did he want yesterday 他昨天要了什么
An apple
(如果回答时说出全文“He wanted an apple yesterday”,便显得别扭,不自然)连接紧密,结构紧凑
省略也是使上下文紧密连接的一种修辞手段
John was the winner in 1994 and Bob in 1998
约翰是 1994 年的获胜者,鲍勃是 1998 年的获胜者
(Bob 后省略了 was the winner,句子结构显得比较紧凑) In some places we stopped in tents for the night, in other pl