Do not omit words that are necessary for clarity.
a. Do not omit a necessary verb
They thought they could do what no one ever had before. (The main verb do cannot serve for both helping verbs.)
They thought they could do what no one had ever done before. (improved)
I have not and probably never will visit Europe. (The main verb visit cannot serve for both helping verbs.)
I have not visited and probably never will visit Europe. (improved)
b. Do not omit necessary articles {a, an, or the)
Our neighbor has a black and white dog. (not clear— our neighbor owns two different dogs)
Our neighbor has a black and a white dog. (clear— two dogs)
They built a field house and administration building, (not clear)
They built a field house and an administration building. (clear)
c. Do not omit necessary prepositions and conjunctions
We have great confidence and respect for our President. (not clear)
We have great confidence in and respect for our President. (clear)
Do not imagine things will automatically correct themselves. (The omission of the conjunction that may cause a misreading.)
Do not imagine that things will automatically correct themselves. (clear)
d. Do not omit words necessary to complete an alternate comparison
Your suggestion was as good, if not better, than mine. (The first part of the comparison is not complete. The sentence reads “. . . was as good . . . than mine.”)
Your suggestion was as good as, if not better than, mine. OR
Your suggestion was as good as mine, if not better.
Ed is one of the tallest if not the tallest man in college basketball, (incomplete)
Ed is one of the tallest men in college basketball, if not the tallest, (correct)
Do not write non sequiturs. The expression non sequitur is a Latin phrase that means “it does not follow.”
Within a sentence a non sequitur is a statement that has no logical connection with the rest of the sentence.
Born in Milan, Ohio, in 1847, Thomas Edison became a famous inventor. (It does not logically follow that if one is born in Milan, Ohio, he will become a
famous inventor.)
A handsome young man and well liked by all his friends, Greg Brown was fatally injured in an automobile accident today. (It does not follow that if one is handsome and well liked, he will have a fatal accident.)
► Note. Correct a non sequitur by putting it with information to which it is logically related or by removing it altogether.
