Ellipsis is the omission of one or more words from a sentence, where they are unnecessary because they have already been mentioned. Meaning can be understood without these words. Ellipsis is one of the aspects of language that gives text cohesion.

Example An example of nominal ellipsis, where a noun phrase is omitted, is; 'as it has the last three ( )' and of verbal ellipsis; 'Yes, I have ( )'.

In the classroom Analysis of tape scripts of native speakers is one way of raising learners' awareness of ellipsis. This can then be continued as a controlled practice exercise by asking learners to fill in the gaps by replacing the missing words.