Kilo Lingo

Ch 52 · Lesson 8

Avoiding repetition: este, dicho, lo and ellipsis

Name it once, then point back: a dropped subject, a pronoun, or , the neuter and for a whole idea, and ellipsis ( , ).

The short version

Name it once, then point back at it

1998.

The aforementioned author died in 1998.
Why?

Spanish avoids repeating a noun. After the first mention, drop the subject (the verb ending says who), use a pronoun ( ), a demonstrative ( , or the formal ) or a synonym ( ). Writing three times in a paragraph reads as beginner prose.

Drop the word the reader can already supply

; , .

Some prefer the sea; others, the mountains.
Why?

Spanish leaves out anything the context refills and usually marks the gap with a comma. , . Repeating the verb sounds clumsy. Pair that with the dropped subject, which the verb ending already names, and a paragraph stops clattering.

Cohesion is what makes one sentence lean on the last. The same facts, written twice:

first mentionpoints back to itWhat do the colours mean?
  • Madrid. . 1998. - The writer was born in Madrid. The writer wrote a lot. The writer died in 1998.
  • Madrid, . 1998. - The writer was born in Madrid, where he wrote a lot. The aforementioned author died in 1998.

The first is correct and clatters. The second names the writer once and points back at him.

Cohesion at a glance

The whole toolkit on one screen. The sections below take each tool in turn.

ToolExampleEnglish
dropped subject .She was born in and was a teacher.
object pronoun .I read it in two days.
demonstrative 1998.The aforementioned author died in 1998.
synonym Nobel.The poet won the Nobel.
neuter , .I didn't know (that).
ellipsis , .I want coffee and she, tea.
signpost , .In short, it isn't worth it.
nominalisation growth (from )

Reference: never repeat a noun

Once a noun is on the table, Spanish points back at it rather than saying it again. A short biography of the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral uses every tool and names her once:

ToolSpanishEnglish
first mentionGabriela Mistral 1889.Gabriela Mistral was born in in 1889.
dropped subject .She was a teacher before she was famous.
synonym 1945, Nobel.In 1945, the poet won the Nobel Prize.
object pronoun .Many people still read her today.
demonstrativeDicha autora 1957.The aforementioned author died in 1957.

The dropped subject does the most work. The verb ending already says who, so Spanish needs no "she" at all:

  • . . Nobel. - She was born in . She was a teacher. She won the Nobel.

The tools run from light to heavy. and dicha (the said, the aforementioned) belong to essays, reports and the law; in conversation, is enough:

LightFormal
  1. (no word): escribió
  2. a pronoun: la leí
  3. este autor
  4. dicho autor

Lo and ello: pointing back at a whole idea

Sometimes what you point back at is not a noun but a whole fact. Then Spanish uses the neuter: as an object, or as a subject, and after a preposition in formal writing.

Points back withSpanishEnglish
(object) , .He/she said he/she was getting married, but I knew.
(subject) .He/she arrived late and that annoyed me.
, , .It was raining, so we didn't go out.
a ; , .It was raining; despite that, we went out.

is the formal, written twin of . works in writing too, and in speech it does the job almost everywhere.

Ellipsis: leaving out what the reader knows

If the reader can refill a word, Spanish leaves it out. When the missing word is a verb, a comma usually marks the gap (in a short sentence that cannot be misread, the RAE lets you leave it out):

The second quiere goes, and a comma marks where it was.
What goesSpanishEnglish
the verb ; , .Some prefer the sea; others, the mountains.
the verb ; , .I arrived at eight; you, at nine.
the noun , .I want the red car, not the blue one.
the noun Ana.My house is bigger than Ana's.

English needs "one" or "'s" where Spanish keeps just the article: (the blue one), Ana (Ana's).

Going further: Signposting: telling the reader where they are and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.

Read the full guide (optional) · 6 min read

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Lesson 8 of 33 in this chapter

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