Leaving Words Out - Noun Phrases.

You can often leave out parts of noun phrases. The main noun, for example, need not be repeated if the second noun phrase contains numerals, colour adjectives, or superlatives:
There’s your mouse, but where are my two? Just behind the green car I can see the white approaching. I’ve had some marvellous holidays, but this was the best ever.
Note that you can usually recover a singular from a plural (mice from mouse), and vice versa (holiday from holidays). What you cannot do is omit a noun after just any adjective.
?? There’s the fat mouse, but where’s the thin? ?? Behind the fast car I can see the slow approaching.
In each case, an extra word should be added at the end – either the original noun once again (mouse, car) or the pronoun one, as in Behind the fast car I can see the slow one approaching.
And you cannot recover a singular from a plural – or a plural from a singular – if they both occur within the same phrase:
X. The avoidance of tax was the sole or one of the main purposes of the transaction.
This should read: was the sole purpose or one of the main purposes. As it stands, the sentence reads: X. was the sole . . . purposes.
For Scientific english editing and Medical Writing Services visitwww.manuscriptedit.com