Ellipses

[FaysalT485]

Hi Instructors,

In MGMAT SC Guide 8 Page 99 a couple of CORRECT example are given for ellipses
1) I walk faster than Brian [walks]
2) I walk as fast now as [I walked] when i was younger

As i understand, the only criterion for being able to ellipse is having the exact same wording somewhere in the sentence. But in the examples the SC guide has given, there seem to be variations for the words (verbs in this case) and the ellipse is still acceptable
"walk" is ellipsed by "walks"
"walk" is ellipsed by "walked"

Can you please explain ?

Thanks.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

the only criterion for being able to ellipse is having the exact same wording somewhere in the sentence

That's not the case, as these examples show. It's very common for the form of omitted words to differ from those stated in the sentence. Remember that the point of good grammar is to provide clear meaning, and so long as the sentence does that, then ellipsis is okay. Clearly, that opens a controversy over what constitutes 'clear meaning'. I suggest that you keep this in mind as you solve and review problems from the Official Guide.

[FaysalT485]

Alright thanks!

Sticking to ellipses.

1) The mass of each black hole is proportional to its host galaxy
2) The mass of each black hole is proportional to that of its host galaxy

Sentence 1 is wrong because we are comparing "mass" to "galaxy" which is wrong, but can't we argue for the same sentence that "the mass of" is being ellipsed ? in which case the sentence would read
The mass of each black hole is proportional to [the mass of] its host galaxy

Thanks again.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Adding in "the mass of" would change the meaning of the sentence. It's important to understand that ellipsis is not just adding anything to a sentence in order to improve it. Have a look at these examples of ellipsis and say what words are being omitted.

My car is larger than Stephanie's.
I like dogs, but you cats.
Simon lives near the park, but Samit far away.
A shark's teeth are enormous; a crocodile's are smaller.