Verb Phrase Ellipsis with Auxiliaries in Technical English
5 exercises — practise eliding repeated verb phrases after auxiliaries in technical comparisons.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses verb phrase ellipsis to avoid repeating the main verb when contrasting two environments?
"...but the production server doesn't" is correct: the auxiliary "doesn't" alone stands in for the omitted repeated verb phrase "handle the load fine", which is standard verb phrase ellipsis triggered by contrast ("but"). Option A incorrectly retains the bare verb "handle" after "doesn't", which creates redundancy that ellipsis is meant to avoid — the auxiliary alone is sufficient. Option C spells out the full repeated phrase, which is grammatical but defeats the purpose of ellipsis and is needlessly repetitive. Option D omits the auxiliary "does" entirely, leaving an ungrammatical fragment ("the production server not") without a finite verb.
2 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses modal verb phrase ellipsis to compare what two services are capable of?
"The old one can't" is correct: the modal "can't" alone stands in for the elided repeated verb phrase "process messages in parallel", which is the standard, most natural way to avoid repetition after a modal. Option B redundantly retains the bare verb "process" after "can't", which is unnecessary since the modal alone completes the ellipsis. Option C has incorrect word order, placing "not" before "can" rather than using the contracted negative form "can't" after the subject. Option D incorrectly combines "doesn't" with "can", stacking two auxiliaries where only one modal auxiliary is needed and permitted.
3 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "has"/"hasn't" ellipsis to compare whether two teams have completed a migration?
"...but the frontend team hasn't yet" is correct: the auxiliary "hasn't" alone elides the repeated verb phrase "finished the migration", with "yet" naturally attaching after the auxiliary to indicate the action is still pending — this is the concise, idiomatic form. Option A spells out the full repeated phrase "finished it", which is grammatical but unnecessarily repetitive given that ellipsis is available and more natural here. Option C omits the auxiliary "hasn't" entirely, leaving an ungrammatical fragment without a finite verb. Option D incorrectly switches auxiliaries from "has" to "did", which does not match the present perfect aspect established by "has finished" in the first clause.
4 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "will"/"won't" ellipsis in a comparison of planned rollout behavior?
"Region B won't" is correct: the modal "won't" alone elides the repeated verb phrase "receive the update this week", which is the standard, concise way to express a contrasting future plan. Option A retains the bare verb "receive" without its object after "will not", creating an incomplete and redundant fragment rather than clean ellipsis. Option C has incorrect word order ("not will" instead of "will not"/"won't"). Option D incorrectly stacks "doesn't" with "will", combining two auxiliaries where only the single modal "won't" is grammatical.
5 / 5
A code review comment compares two functions' behavior. Choose the sentence with correctly formed verb phrase ellipsis using "did"/"didn't".
"The new one didn't" is correct: the auxiliary "didn't" alone elides the repeated verb phrase "validate input correctly", matching the past tense established by "validated" in the first clause and avoiding redundant repetition. Option A retains the bare verb "validate" after "didn't", which is unnecessary given that the auxiliary alone completes the ellipsis. Option C has incorrect word order, placing "not" before "did" instead of forming the standard contraction "didn't" after the subject. Option D incorrectly combines "hasn't" with "did", mixing present perfect and simple past auxiliaries, which is both redundant and grammatically inconsistent with the past-tense first clause.