The term for the omission of words in speech or writing when they are not needed to convey meaning is called...

• A. Ellipsis
• B. Elision
• C. Omission
• D. Compression

Answer: (A)

Dropping words that aren’t needed to convey meaning is ellipsis. This happens in both speech and writing, and the missing material is clear from context, so the sentence still makes sense even with the omission. In writing, an ellipsis is often shown with three dots to indicate something left out. For example, in dialogue, the second clause might omit a verb that’s understood from the first clause, like “She can sing, and he can, too,” where the word “sing” is understood and not repeated. The other terms don’t fit as well: elision refers to the dropping of sounds or syllables in speech rather than the omission of words for meaning; omission is a generic label that doesn’t specify the linguistic device; compression isn’t the standard term used for this phenomenon.