Ellipsis, Gapping and Deletion

How German omits recoverable material — and what structural rules govern each type.

Ellipsis is the omission of linguistic material that is recoverable from context. At C2 level, mastery of ellipsis means recognising and producing gaps that appear in sophisticated German discourse.

German permits a wider range of ellipsis than many learners expect. Finite verbs, entire verb phrases, and coreferential subjects can all be omitted under specific structural and discourse conditions.

Ellipsis signals economy of expression — a hallmark of fluent, native-like German at any register.

Core Ellipsis Types in German

Ellipsis Type	Example	What is Omitted
Gapping	Ich mag Tee, er Kaffee.	Finite verb in second conjunct
VP-ellipsis	Sie kann singen und er auch.	Full verb phrase after 'auch'
Subject ellipsis	Er kam und ging sofort.	Coreferential subject pronoun
Object gapping	Ich mag Brot, er Käse.	Verb with subject shift

Key principle: Ellipsis is only grammatical when the omitted material is fully recoverable from context, structure, or prior discourse.

German specificity: German gapping does not retain any stranded auxiliary — unlike English. The gap is complete.

C2 requirement: Recognise ellipsis types accurately and produce them correctly across formal and informal registers.