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6. To avoid disagreeable repetitions, and to express our ideas in few words, an ellipsis, or omission of some words, is frequently admitted. Instead of saying, He was a learned man, he was a wise man, he was a good man, we make use of the ellipsis, and say, He was a learned, wise, and good man.

When the omission of words would obscure the sentence, weaken its force, or be attended with an impropriety, they must be expressed. In the sentence, We are apt to love who love us, the word those should be supplied. Abeautiful field and trees, is not proper language. It should be, Beautiful fields and trees; or, A beautiful field, and fine trees.

Almost all compounded sentences are more or less elliptical; some examples of which may be seen under the different parts of speech.

The ellipsis of the article is thus used; A man, woman, and child; that is, a man, a woman, and a child: A house and garden; that is, a house and a garden: The sun and moon; that is, the sun and the moon: The day and hour that is, the day and the hour. In all these instances, the article being once expressed, the repetition of it becomes unnecessary. There is, however, an exception to this observation, when some peculiar emphasis requires a repetition; as, in the following sentence Not only the year, but the day, and the hour. In this case, the ellipsis of the last article would be improper. When a different form of the article is requisite, the article is also prop

erly repeated; as, A house and an orchard; instead of, a house and orchard.

The noun is frequently omitted in the following manner : The laws of God and man ; that is, the laws of God, and the laws of man. In some very emphatical expressions the ellipsis should not be used; as, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God; which is more emphatical than, Christ the power and wisdom of God.

The ellipsis of the adjective is used in the following manner: A delightful garden and or chard: A little man and woman; that is, a little man and a little woman. In such elliptical expressions as these, the adjective ought to have exactly the same signification, and to be quite as proper, when joined to the latter substantive as to the former; otherwise the ellipsis should not be admitted.

Sometimes the ellipsis is improperly applied to nouns of different numbers; as, a magnificent house and gardens. In this case it is better to use another adjective; as, A magnificent house and fine gardens.

The following is the ellipsis of the pronoun: I love and fear him'; that is, I love him, and I fear him: My house and lands; that is, my house and my lands.

In these instances the ellipsis may take place with propriety; but if we would be more express and emphatical, it must not be used; as, His friends and his foes; My sons and my daughters.

In some of the common forms of speech, the relative pronoun is usually omitted; as, This is the man they love; instead of, This is the man whom they love.

These are the goods they bought; for, These are the goods which they bought.

In complex sentences, it is much better to have the relative pronoun expressed; as, it is more proper to say, The posture in which I lay; than, In the posture I lay; The horse on which I rode fell down; than, The horse, I rode, fell down.

The antecedent and relative connect the parts of a sentence together, and, to prevent obscurity and confusion, should answer to each other with great exactness. We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen. Here the ellipsis is manifestly improper, and ought to be supplied; as, We speak that which we do know, and testify that which we have seen.

The ellipsis of the verb is used in the following instances: The man was old and crafty; that is, the man was old, and the man was crafty: Thou art poor, and wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked. If we would fill up the ellipsis in the last sentence, thou art ought to be repeated before each of the adjectives.

If in such enumerations, we choose to point out one property above the rest, that property must be placed last, and the ellipsis supplied; as, She is young and beautiful, and she is good.

that is, I went

In this instance

I went to see and hear him; to see and I went to hear him. there is not only an ellipsis of the governing word went, but likewise of the sign of the infinitive mood.

Do, did, have, had, shall, will, may, might, and the rest of the auxiliaries of the compound tenses, are frequently used alone, to spare the repetition of the verb; as, He regards his word, but thou dost not; i. e. dost not regard it: We succeeded, but they did not; did not succeed I have learned my task, but thou hast not; hast not learned. They must and they shall be punished; that is, they must be puinshed.

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The ellipsis of the adverb is used in the following manner: He spoke and acted wisely; that is, He spoke wisely, and he acted wisely.

Thrice I went and offered my service; that is, Thrice I went, and thrice I offered my service.

The ellipsis of the preposition, as well as of the verb, is seen in the following instances: He went into the abbeys, halls, and public buildings; that is, he went into the abbeys, he went into the halls, and he went into the public buildings. He also went through all the streets and lanes of the city; that is, Through all the streets, and through all the lanes,&c. He spoke to every man and woman there; that is, to every man and to every woman.

The ellipsis of the conjunction is as follows: They confess the power, wisdom, goodness,

and love of their Creator; i. e. the power and wisdom, and goodness, and love of, &c Though I love him, I do not flatter him; that is, Though I love him, yet I do not flatter him The ellipsis of the interjection is not ver common; it, however, is sometimes used; as O the soft enmity! endearing strife! that is O the soft enmity! O the endearing strife!

SPECIMEN OF PARSING.

To parse a word, is to tell its properties and grammatical relations. To parse a sentence is to describe the properties of all the parts speech of which it is composed, and show the mutual relations and dependencies; as in th following example:

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Henry's hand trembles."

Henry's, is a proper noun, of the masculin gender, third person, singular number, possess ive case, and governed by hand, agreeably t Rule VI. (repeat it.) Hand, is a common noun of the neuter gender, third person, singular number, nominative case to trembles. Rule (repeat it.) Trembles, is a regular, intransi tive verb, indicative mood, present tense, thir person, singular number, and agrees with hand Rule II. (repeat it.)

Why is Henry's a noun ? Because it is the name of something. Why a proper noun ? I is appropriated to an individual. Why of the masculine gender? It denotes a person of the male kind. Why third person? It is the per

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