(e) We find cases of ellipsis after than which it is difficult to supply, and some of them are familiar everyday expressions current everywhere and therefore invaluable in the communication of thought; as, “Naturally the coming of the Marques de Valdeflores at this critical juncture was regarded by the colonel as nothing less than providential.”—Janvier. Shall we make a clause here reading than a providential thing is?
Another difficult ellipsis is found in the sentence,—“He may look up to a tower of rock and see its broken edges, softened by more than three-fourths of a mile of distance, directly above his eyes.”—King. It seems best here not to attempt to supply anything, but to take the italicized words as a unit, as if the one word mile had been in their place. This sentence could, however, be expanded to read—softened by more of distance than three fourths of a mile is.
Another common instance is found in the sentence,—“He was more than venerated in his day.”—Lord. This passive construction comes from the active—“We more than venerated him,” which in turn comes from the sentence,—“We did more than venerate him.” It is possible to supply the ellipsis in the last sentence, making it,—“We did more than to venerate him (is much),” but the other two sentences must be considered idiomatic.
An idiom similar to the last is found in the sentence,—“In very marked contrast with this younger man is the something more than middle-aged Register of Deeds.”—Holmes. The italicized words are a group signifying one idea, for which we have no single word. The base-word of the group is more, but this alone is not a modifier of Register of Deeds. So far as the group of words modifies the noun phrase Register of Deeds, it cannot be separated.
We come now to ellipses in clauses of degree after the conjunction as.
(a) The subject may be omitted; as, “These are by no means so nearly connected as might be thought at first sight.”—Bagehot. Here we may supply it after as, or we may make the clause read “as they might be thought to be at first sight.”
(b) The subject and auxiliary of the verb may be omitted when they can easily be supplied from the principal proposition; as, “His fellow-conspirators were hanged nearly as fast as taken.”—Howells. The clause expanded is “as they were taken.”
(c) As after than, so after as we have some idiomatic expressions arising by ellipsis which it seems best not to fill out; as, “He knew that into the world where Ramona really lived he did not so much as enter.”—H. H. This predicate may be expanded to read did not do so much as to enter is much, but this is very awkward. Besides, so much as has to us an adverbial force, being almost equivalent to the adverb even.
An extension of this construction is found in the following sentence from Hawthorne,—“It was doubtful whether the poor lady had so much as closed her eyes during the brief night of midsummer.” The ellipsis could be supplied if the predicate were had done so much as close, but as it stands it must be considered an idiom and left as it is. This construction has even gone over into the passive voice; as, “Parliament is not so much as mentioned in the whole instrument.”—Webster.
Another familiar elliptical construction is found in the sentence,—“But you think you may as well have the right thing for your money.”—Ruskin. If one wishes he may expand this sentence so that it will read,—“you may have the right thing for your money as well as you may not have it.” Here the entire clause is to be supplied. Sometimes a portion of it is expressed, as in the sentence,—“You may as well go as not.”