9.68 ellipsis in agreement

You often use ellipsis when you want to show that you agree with something that has just been said, or to say that it also applies to someone or something else. One way of doing this is by using 'too' after an auxiliary or form of 'be'.

• 'I like baked beans.' --- 'Yes, I do too.'
• 'I've already talked to Santos.' --- 'I did too.'

The other way of doing this is to use 'so' followed by the auxiliary or form of 'be', followed by the subject.

• 'I find that amazing.' --- 'So do I.'
• 'How is he?' --- 'He's fine. So is your wife.'

Note that you can also use ellipsis like this within a sentence to indicate that someone or something is the same.

• He does half the cooking and so do I.

9.69

You can also use ellipsis when you want to show that you agree with something negative that has just been said, or to say that it also applies to someone or something else. One way of doing this is by using an auxiliary or form of 'be' followed by 'not' and 'either'.

• 'I don't know.' --- 'I don't either.
• 'I can't see how she thinks it's to be done.' --- 'I can't either.'

The other way is to use 'nor' or 'neither' followed by an auxiliary or form of 'be', followed by the subject.

• 'I don't like him.' --- 'Nor do I.'
• 'The demands will not disappear.' --- 'Nor should they.'
• 'I'm not joking, Philip.' --- 'Neither am I.'

Note that you can also use ellipsis in these ways within a sentence.

• I don't know what you're talking about, Miss Haynes, and I'm pretty sure you don't either.
• I will never know all that was in his head at the time, nor will anyone else.