ELLIPTICAL CONTSRUCTIONS THEORY

Elliptical constructions are the use of some combinations of words in English to combine two ideas or more into one sentence. In the combinations, both clauses should be in the same tense but the form can be different since the elliptical constructions can combine the clauses as additional, contradictory, or choice. It is dependent on the clauses and the intention of the combinations.

In the sentences:

a.     China had signed the pact.

b.    Russia had signed the pact.

Both sentences above have some similar parts. Thus, we can combine them into one sentence by melting the similar parts in order to avoid redundancy. Both sentences are in affirmative (positive) form, thus, we should use the positive elliptical constructions. The possible combinations are:

a.     China had signed the pact and so had Russia.

b.     China had signed the pact and Russia had too.

c.     Both China and Russia had signed the pact.

d.     Not only China but also Russia had signed the pact.

In short, there are some possibilities can be drawn and several combinations of sentences can be created.

1.    TOO and SO

Both TOO and SO are used to combine two positive ideas into one sentence. The meaning of the combination is similar to ALSO.

The formulas are:

Clause + and + SO + Auxiliary (+) + Subject

and

Clause + and + Subject + Auxiliary (+) + TOO

Examples:

a.     The Prime Minister got a lot of support from the voters and so did his opponent.

b.     The Prime Minister got a lot of support from the voters and his opponent did too.

c.     William Shakespeare had written many great novels and Danielle Steel had too.

d.     William Shakespeare had written many great novels and so had Danielle Steel.

2.    NOT ONLY _____ BUT ALSO ______

This construction is used to express that one thing has double characterizations. The result of the combination will show that one subject is described in two descriptions or characterizations.

NOT ONLY +

Noun Adjective Phrase Clause

+ BUT ALSO +

Noun Adjective Phrase Clause

NOT ONLY +

(+) (- )

+ BUT ALSO +

(+) (- )

Examples:

a.     The smoke from the forest burning disturbs not only the citizen but also the neighbor countries.

b.     Not only the virus has been cleaned, but the spy wares are also detected.

c.     The governor election is not only important but also critical for the entire district.

d.     The poor needs not only food to eat but also work to occupy.

It is important to remember that the classification of the substance which follows the elliptical construction must be similar.

3.    NOT ______BUT ______

This construction is used to express that one subject is not in one character but in another one. It means that the subject in not in the first description. It shows the contradictive condition about the subject.

NOT  +

Noun Adjective Phrase Clause

+ BUT +

Noun Adjective Phrase Clause

NOT +

(+) (- )

+ BUT +

(- ) (+)

Examples:

a.     The fluctuation of dollars is not so high but significant enough to the global market.

b.     The new released machine was not expensive but bad in performance.

c.     The result of the research was not any bone but egg fossils.

d.     William Jones did not cut the budget for the education but reallocated it into another expense.

4.    BOTH ______ AND ______

This construction is used to parallelize two subjects or characters in one sentence. Both characters must be in the same level and class.

BOTH +

Noun Adjective Phrase Clause

+ AND +

Noun Adjective Phrase Clause

BOTH +

(+) (- )

+ AND +

(+) (- )

Examples:

a.     Producing more machines into the world will both destruct and pollute the earth.

b.     Both smokers and secondhand smokers have a high risk of both lung and mouth cancers.

c.     The Golden Bridge in San Francisco is both symbol and achievement of the United States history.

d.     Bacteria in the soil both decompose and consume the substances in the soil itself.

5.    EITHER ____ OR_____

Different from the use of TOO and SO which are used to combine two positive ideas, the construction of EITHER____OR ___ is used to combine two negative ideas. 

Clause (-) + and + Subject + Auxiliary + NOT +EITHER

OR

EITHER + Subject-1 + OR + Subject-2 + Auxiliary + NOT + …

Examples:

a.     The ruling party did not publish their opinion until the last round of the Parliament Election and the opposition party did not either.

b.     Either the ruling party or the opposition party did not publish their opinion until the last round of Parliament Election.

c.     Either smoking cigars or drinking alcohol cannot help a man clear his problems.

d.     Many private schools nowadays do not run the curriculum permanently for various reasons and some private schools do not either.

“EITHER ____ OR ____ as choice.”

This construction can also be used in positive sentence to indicate a choice between two. The meaning is that there is one of two options is positive and the other one is negative.

Examples:

a.     Either the farmers or criminals burned the forests in Kalimantan.

b.     Either glucose or sucrose has caused collateral damage to diabetic patients.

c.     Either alcohol or smoking can cause itch on the skin.

6.    NEITHER _____ NOR _____

This construction combines two negative ideas. The word NEITHER was taken from NOT EITHER and NOR from NOT OR. This results to the formula of this construction.

Clause (-) + and + NEITHER + Auxiliary + Subject 

OR

NEITHER + Subject-1 + NOR + Subject-2 + Auxiliary + …

Examples:

a.     Neither Israel nor Palestine has agreed the new resolution from the United Nations.

b.     Israel has not approved the resolution from the United Nations and neither has Palestine.

c.     Neither geologists nor biologists agreed that Pithecanthropus Erectus is the chain for the missing link of human origin.

d.     Fishermen in Japan did not want to stop the whale fishing and neither do Japan government.

THE TABLE OF ELLIPTICAL CONSTRUCTIONS

INITIAL	PAIR	IDEAS COMBINED
		(+)	(-)	(+) AND (-)
TOO	-	√
SO	-	√
NOT ONLY	BUT ALSO	√
NOT	BUT			√
EITHER	(OR)		√
NEITHER	(NOR)		√
BOTH	AND	√