The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook - Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters 2002

13.5. Omission of information
Unit thirteen. Information, reality and belief

Sections 253-255

Information which is already obvious from the preceding context is often omitted, so that many responses lack the structure of a complete sentence.

The situation outside language may also make certain information unnecessary, giving rise to brief incomplete or formulaic utterances (short commands, questions, public notices, headings, etc.).

In casual speech, sentence-initial elements like pronoun subjects and/or auxiliaries are often omitted.

Task one ***

Respond to the following statements in an appropriate way by using sentences in which some of the information is omitted, taking into account the general feeling indicated in brackets. Do not use the same response twice.

Examples: Rita: “Most young kids need to be re-educated, I think.”

Steve: (surprise) → “What a strange thing to say!”

Rita: “And computers should be banned from primary schools.”

Steve: (strong disagreement) → “Rubbish.”

Andy: There’s too much crime on our streets these days.

Bill: (complete agreement)

Andy: So many burglars and robbers that aren’t caught any more, let alone big criminals.

Bill: (partial agreement)

Andy: Well, if I had my way, I’d even put petty thieves behind bars ... for years.

Bill: (disagreement)

Andy: I think the worst offenders should have their hands chopped off.

Bill: (indignation)

Andy: Sorry, I got carried away a bit. There’s this new thing, of course, electronic tagging.

Bill: (enthusiasm)

Andy: But the problem is that some of these convicts are experts in electronics.

Bill: (surprise)

Andy: The cleverest of the bad boys - and girls - could start tampering with the devices.

Bill: (reluctant agreement)

Andy: So I’m all for prisons and, as for overcrowding, there’s the alternative of using convict ships.

Bill: (scepticism)

Andy: And as soon as we’ve run out of ships, we can send our excess of prisoners to Australia …

Bill: (disbelief)

Andy: … or, better still, to the Antarctic.

Bill: (scorn)

Task two **

Use an incomplete sentence or formula to respond appropriately to the situation described by the sentence in brackets.

1. (you are sitting next to someone who is driving much too fast:)

2. (your guest might like another helping of pudding:)

3. (someone has just played a very dirty trick on you:)

4. (you want your colleague to join you for a drink in a nearby bar:)

5. (your partner has said something that doesn’t make sense at all:)

6. (your canoe has overturned and you cannot swim:)

7. (your best friend has won the first prize in a contest:)

8. (blood is suddenly trickling down the wall:)

9. (you want the Democrats to win the election:)

10. (you’ve just trodden on someone’s toes:)

11. (you didn’t quite catch what your interlocutor was saying:)

12. (you’re pushing people out of the way while heading for the exit:)