5 exercises — practise concise comparative structures in performance reports and release notes.
0 / 20 completed
1 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses an elliptical comparative, omitting the understood second element of the comparison?
"Faster than before" is a correctly formed elliptical comparative: "before" stands in for the full clause "than [the algorithm ran] before", with the repeated subject and verb omitted because they are recoverable from context — this is a natural, concise pattern common in performance reports. Option A is grammatically complete but not elliptical (nothing is omitted); it is correct but does not illustrate ellipsis. Option C is illogical, comparing the algorithm to itself in the present ("than it runs") rather than to a past state, so no meaningful comparison is expressed. Option D is doubly redundant and ungrammatical, repeating "faster"/"was faster" inside the comparative clause itself.
2 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses an elliptical comparative to compare actual results to an expectation?
"Longer than expected" is a standard elliptical comparative: it omits the full passive clause "than [it was] expected [to take]", a highly idiomatic and extremely common pattern in status reports and postmortems for comparing an actual outcome to a prior estimate. Option B awkwardly and redundantly spells out the ellipsis with an extra, ungrammatical "it" at the end. Option C garbles the word order of the same idea. Option D changes the meaning entirely — "than it expected" would (illogically) suggest the migration itself held an expectation, rather than referring to a passive external expectation about the migration's duration.
3 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses an elliptical comparative with "than usual" to describe an anomaly in a monitoring dashboard?
"Higher than usual" is the correct, idiomatic elliptical comparative: "usual" functions as a noun/adjective standing in for the omitted full comparison "than [CPU usage] usually [is]", a very common and natural phrase in monitoring and alerting language. Option A redundantly spells out "usual usage was", which is grammatically awkward and unnecessary given how standard the elliptical form is. Option C incorrectly uses "usual" as a predicate adjective after "it is" in a way that doesn't match the idiomatic comparative pattern. Option D misuses the adverb "usually" in a garbled word order that is not standard English.
4 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses an elliptical comparative comparing two versions of a system without repeating the compared noun?
"Higher than version 1's" correctly uses an elliptical possessive: the noun "throughput" is omitted after "version 1's" because it is understood from the first half of the sentence, and the possessive apostrophe-s stands in for the full phrase "version 1's throughput" — a concise, idiomatic comparative pattern. Option B is fully spelled out and grammatically correct, but not elliptical (illustrating the non-reduced form). Option C is a common but technically imprecise comparison: "higher than version 1" compares throughput to the version itself, not to version 1's throughput, which is a subtly illogical comparison sometimes tolerated informally but avoided in careful technical writing. Option D omits the necessary possessive marker on "version 1", producing an ungrammatical noun sequence.
5 / 20
A release note says: "The updated build is more stable _____ ." Choose the correct elliptical ending implying comparison to the previous build.
"Than the last one" is the correctly formed elliptical comparative: it omits the repeated adjective "stable" from the second half of the comparison ("than the last one [was stable]"), which is understood from context — a natural, economical way to complete the sentence. Option B awkwardly inserts "it was" before "the last one", producing a redundant and ungrammatical double reference to the same subject. Option C spells out the ellipsis with "was stable", which is grammatically valid but unnecessarily wordy compared to the standard elliptical form, and not the best fit for concise release-note style. Option D scrambles the word order of the (unreduced) comparison into a non-grammatical sequence.
6 / 20
During a Slack discussion about the recent performance degradation of the new microservice, Sarah said: 'The latency is higher the usual.' Which phrase completes this sentence correctly using an elliptical comparative?
Sarah is using an elliptical comparative to suggest the current latency is greater than expected. The phrase 'higher than usual' omits the element being compared—'usual'—making it a correct use of the structure. Option A incorrectly uses 'faster,' while options B and C introduce unrelated comparisons.
7 / 20
'The API response time is slower the previous version. Can you investigate?' This comment utilizes an elliptical comparative. What does this comparison imply about the current state of the API compared to its prior performance?
An elliptical comparative like this implies that the current response time is *higher* than it was previously. The missing element – 'previous version' – creates this comparison. Option A is incorrect as it suggests improvement, while options B and C misinterpret the meaning of the omission.
8 / 20
'The new deployment has significantly reduced error rates the old release.' What is the intended meaning conveyed by this statement?
This sentence uses an elliptical comparative to say that the current error rate is *lower* than it was previously. The missing word 'old release' completes the comparison. Option A suggests a worsening, while options B and C are ambiguous without the explicit comparison.
9 / 20
'I've optimized the database query, which has improved response times the initial implementation.' What does this statement imply about the performance of the database query?
Here, 'improved response times' implies that the new query is *faster* than the initial implementation. The elliptical comparative omits the word 'initial,' creating a direct comparison of speed. Option B suggests no difference, and options C & D are not relevant to the comparison.
10 / 20
The documentation states: 'The new feature offers increased throughput the existing system.' What is the intended meaning of this statement?
This sentence utilizes an elliptical comparative to indicate that the new feature handles more data (throughput) than the existing system. The missing element – 'existing system' – completes this comparison. Options A, B, and C present alternative interpretations of performance.
11 / 20
During a Slack discussion about the recent performance degradation of the new microservice, Sarah said: 'The latency is higher the usual.' Which phrase completes this sentence correctly using an elliptical comparative?
Sarah is using an elliptical comparative to suggest the current latency is greater than expected. The phrase 'higher than usual' omits the element being compared—'usual'—making it a correct use of the structure. Option A incorrectly uses 'faster,' while options B and C introduce unrelated comparisons.
12 / 20
'The API response time is slower the previous version. Can you investigate?' This comment utilizes an elliptical comparative. What does this comparison imply about the current state of the API compared to its prior performance?
An elliptical comparative like this implies that the current response time is *higher* than it was previously. The missing element – 'previous version' – creates this comparison. Option A is incorrect as it suggests improvement, while options B and C misinterpret the meaning of the omission.
13 / 20
'The new deployment has significantly reduced error rates the old release.' What is the intended meaning conveyed by this statement?
This sentence uses an elliptical comparative to say that the current error rate is *lower* than it was previously. The missing word 'old release' completes the comparison. Option A suggests a worsening, while options B and C are ambiguous without the explicit comparison.
14 / 20
'I've optimized the database query, which has improved response times the initial implementation.' What does this statement imply about the performance of the database query?
Here, 'improved response times' implies that the new query is *faster* than the initial implementation. The elliptical comparative omits the word 'initial,' creating a direct comparison of speed. Option B suggests no difference, and options C & D are not relevant to the comparison.
15 / 20
The documentation states: 'The new feature offers increased throughput the existing system.' What is the intended meaning of this statement?
This sentence utilizes an elliptical comparative to indicate that the new feature handles more data (throughput) than the existing system. The missing element – 'existing system' – completes this comparison. Options A, B, and C present alternative interpretations of performance.
16 / 20
During a Slack discussion about the recent performance degradation of the new microservice, Sarah said: 'The latency is higher the usual.' Which phrase completes this sentence correctly using an elliptical comparative?
Sarah is using an elliptical comparative to suggest the current latency is greater than expected. The phrase 'higher than usual' omits the element being compared—'usual'—making it a correct use of the structure. Option A incorrectly uses 'faster,' while options B and C introduce unrelated comparisons.
17 / 20
'The API response time is slower the previous version. Can you investigate?' This comment utilizes an elliptical comparative. What does this comparison imply about the current state of the API compared to its prior performance?
An elliptical comparative like this implies that the current response time is *higher* than it was previously. The missing element – 'previous version' – creates this comparison. Option A is incorrect as it suggests improvement, while options B and C misinterpret the meaning of the omission.
18 / 20
'The new deployment has significantly reduced error rates the old release.' What is the intended meaning conveyed by this statement?
This sentence uses an elliptical comparative to say that the current error rate is *lower* than it was previously. The missing word 'old release' completes the comparison. Option A suggests a worsening, while options B and C are ambiguous without the explicit comparison.
19 / 20
'I've optimized the database query, which has improved response times the initial implementation.' What does this statement imply about the performance of the database query?
Here, 'improved response times' implies that the new query is *faster* than the initial implementation. The elliptical comparative omits the word 'initial,' creating a direct comparison of speed. Option B suggests no difference, and options C & D are not relevant to the comparison.
20 / 20
The documentation states: 'The new feature offers increased throughput the existing system.' What is the intended meaning of this statement?
This sentence utilizes an elliptical comparative to indicate that the new feature handles more data (throughput) than the existing system. The missing element – 'existing system' – completes this comparison. Options A, B, and C present alternative interpretations of performance.
What will I practise in "Elliptical Comparatives in Technical English — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise comparative structures with the second element omitted but understood, like faster than before and higher than expected, in performance reports
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 20 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.