en_tm/translate/figs-ellipsis/01.md

Description

Ellipsis is the omission of words that would normally be needed to make a sentence complete, but they are understood either by convention or because they were already used in a previous phrase.

Here are two examples of elliptical sentences whose missing words are understood by convention. English speakers normally use the shorter forms.

• "Fire when ready" means "Fire when you are ready."
• "Back to the drawing board" means "We need to go back to the drawing board."

Here are three examples of elliptical sentences whose missing words were already used in a previous phrase.

• "I drank water, and Bob milk" means "I drank water, and Bob drank milk.
• "I drank water, not milk" means "I drank water; I did not drink milk.
• "I drank water, and Tom did, too" means "I drank water, and Tom drank water, too."

Reason this is a translation issue

Readers who see incomplete sentences or phrases may not know what the missing information is if they do not use ellipsis in their language.

Examples from the Bible

In all of these examples, the missing words are understood because they were in the first phrase.

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. (1 Timothy 2:13 ULB)

The underlined phrase above means, "then Eve was formed."

... his works were evil and his brother's righteous. (1 John 3:12 ULB)

The underlined phrase above means, "his brother's works were righteous."

So the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. (Psalm 1:5)

The underlind phrase above means "sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous."

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Sirion like a young ox. (Psalm 29:6 ULB)

The underlined phrase above means, "he makes Sirion skip like a young ox."

Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it. ..." But his armor bearer would not, for he was very afraid. (1 Samuel 31:4 ULB)

The underlined phrase above means, "But his armor bearer would not draw his sword and thrust Saul through with it."

Translation Strategies

If ellipsis would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider using it. If not, here is another option:

1. Add the missing words to the incomplete phrase or sentence.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

1. Add the missing words to the incomplete phrase or sentence.

• ... the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. (Psalm 1:5)
  • ... the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor will sinners stand in the assembly of the righteous.
  • ... the wicked will not stand in the judgment, and sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous.
• He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Sirion like a young ox. (Psalm 29:6)
  • He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and he makes Sirion skip like a young ox.