英国莎士比亚在他的名著《哈姆雷特》里写过这么一句名言：Brevity is the soul of wit.（言以简洁为贵。），这句话的'意思告诉我们，不管写文章也好，说话也好，都要求生动活泼，简单明了，因此，“简洁”乃是一篇好文章的基本要求之一。文章要做到简洁，省略法是必用的。例如：
(1) He may be busy. If he’s busy, I’ll call later. If he is not busy, can I see him now?
→ He may be busy. If so, I’ll call later. If not, can I see him now?
他可能很忙，要是这样，我以后再来拜访。要是不忙，我现在可以见他吗?
(2) If the weather is fine, we’ll go. If it is not fine, we’ll not go.
→ If the weather is fine, we’ll go. If not, not.
如果天气好，我们就去;如果天气不好，我们就不去了。
(3) She could have applied for that job, but she didn’t do so.
→ She could have applied for that job, but she didn’t.
她本可申请这份工作的，但她没有。
(4) It is a beautiful day, isn’t it?
→ Beautiful day, isn’t it?
今天天气真好。
(5) It is a pity we live so far from the sea.
→ Pity we live so far from the sea.
多么可惜，我们住的离海那么远。
(6) 有时也可省略整个句子的主语和谓语,只保留次要成分.
She was poor but (she was) honest.
--Did you know anything about the accident?
--Not until you told me. (= I didn’t know anything about it until you told me.)
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