105. Ellipsis.--The case (nominative or accusative) of words in Esperanto often depends upon the verb omitted when ellipsis occurs in a phrase, and unless we write the sentence in full, or think what the ellipsis is, we may not at first know what case to use to express our meaning. A glance at the following examples will show how easy it is to determine the case. The words in brackets show the ellipsis:--
_Mi konas lin pli bone, ol vi_ (_konas lin_) = I know him better than you (do, _or_ know him).
_Mi konas lin pli bone, ol vin_ (_ol mi konas vin_) = I know him better than you (than I know you).
_Petro amas Paŭlon tiom, kiom_ (_li amas_) _Johanon_ = Peter loves Paul as much as (he loves) John.
_Petro amas Paŭlon tiom, kiom Johano_ (_amas lin_) = Peter loves Paul as much as John (loves him).
N.B.--In the above sentences we cannot, in English, tell the meaning until the ellipsis is supplied, whereas, in Esperanto, the meaning is at once clear from the case of the noun or pronoun (par. 112).
_Li iris tien, kiel ankaŭ vi_ (_iris_) = He went there as well as you (went).
_Mi vidis lin tie, kiel ankaŭ_ (_mi vidis_) _vin_ = I saw him there as well as (I saw) you.
_Mi neniam vidis tian hundon, kia_ (_estas_) _via_ = I never saw such a dog as yours.
105 (_a_). Elision.--The final _O_ of a noun may be omitted (par. 57, and Rule 16, par. 94).
106. Possession is (_a_) expressed by help of the preposition de.
Examples.--_La domo de la patro_ = The father's house, _or_, the house of the father. _La libro de mia patrino_ = My mother's book, _or_, the book of my mother. _La tranĉilo de Georgo_ = George's knife. _Tio estas la domo de miaj fratoj_ = That is my brothers' house (the house of my brothers). (See par. 73.)
(_b_). Possession is also denoted by the correlative words ending in _ES_, viz.:--ies = _someone's_, _somebody's_, ĉies = _everyone's_, kies = _whose_, nenies = _nobody's_, ties = _that one's_, _of those_ (see par. 154).
Examples.--_Ĉies ideo estis diversa_ = Everyone's idea was different. _Kies domo estas tiu?_ = Whose house is that? _Ĝi estas nenies domo_ = It is nobody's house. _Ĉu ĉi tio estas ies tranĉilo?_ = Is this anyone's (someone's) knife? (see par. 154).
(_c_). An adjective is sometimes conveniently used when in English we employ an apostrophe.
