In 1980 the United States exported
twice as much of its national output of goods as they had in 1970.
(A) twice as much of its national output of goods as they had - Pronoun issue "they" can't refer to the US
(B) double the amount of their national output of goods as they did - Pronoun issue "they" can't refer to the US ; double the amount is worse that twice as much
(C) twice as much of its national output of goods as it did
(D) double the amount of its national output of goods as it has - tense issue - it has ;
(E) twice as much of their national output of goods as they had - Pronoun issue "they" can't refer to the US
Answer C
As per ellipses, option C becomes as-
In 1980 the United States exported twice as much of its national output of goods as it did (export) in 1970.
But for ellipses, shouldn't the omitted words be present in the first part of the sentence in the same form ? Here, exported and export are not in the same form.
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Ellipsis-
This is a case of ellipsis in comparison. In this, some words omitted from the sentence to make it more concise. Both noun and verb can be omitted. The omitted words should be present in the first part of the sentence in the same form.
-"Siri's AI capabilities are better than Alexa's (AI capabilities). - Correct! ("AI capabilities" is implied)
- Siri is smarter than Alexa (is). - Correct! ("is" is implied)
Siri is smarter than Alexa and Cortana are --
Here we CANNOT omit "are" since the verb in the earlier part is "is"?
Q1-
For ellipsis, is it NECESSARY that the omitted words should be present in the first part of the sentence in the same form?
Q2-
Also, are there any other rules/exceptions for ellipses other than two listed below.
The omission of a noun for concision is straightforward. Just make sure that the 2 nouns in the sentence can be logically compared. But there are certain exceptions when you are deciding -
1.
Tense Shift-
If the verb tense changes from the first to the second half of the sentence, then the verb must not be omitted in the second half.
· You look more beautiful this year than last year. - Incorrect
· You look more beautiful this year than you did last year.- Correct
2.
Meaning Ambiguity-
Do not omit the verb if doing so will make the sentence’s meaning ambiguous.
I love my dog more than my friend. - Incorrect -- ambiguity
·I love my dog more than I love my friend.- Correct!
·I love my dog more than my friend does.- Correct!
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