Silepsis is a writing resource in which the agreement does not occur according to the terms of the sentence, but to the idea that you want to pass. As in "the violent São Paulo", where the word violent is in the feminine because it agrees with the occult term "the city of".
Silepsis can be characterized as a construction language figure, in which the word or expression used has the agreement associated with the sentence's connotation. It doesn't mean it's wrong, in grammatical terms, it's just a stylistic device.
Learn more about speech figures.
Silepses can be divided into three types, depending on the agreement:
person silepsis
Person silepsis occurs when the verb in the sentence does not agree with the expressed subject, but with a subject hidden in the sentence.
Example of person silepsis:
"In the 1980s, Brazilians were afraid to invest in the market."
The “we” is in the first person plural, agreeing with the idea of a hidden "we", framing the author of the phrase between "we, the Brazilians". While the standard spelling would be "had", in the third person plural.
Gender Silepsis
Gender silence occurs when there is a difference between the use of female and male adjectives related to the subject.
Example of gender silence:
"He counted the days to get to his beloved Belo Horizonte".
Your beloved is in the feminine and agrees with "the city of Belo Horizonte", while it could be "your beloved Belo Horizonte", since the term "Belo Horizonte" would be masculine.
number silepsis
Number Silepsis occurs when the verb agrees with the hidden subject in the singular or plural, but which is different from the subject in the sentence.
Example of person silepsis:
"Hunger came to the group and they immediately attacked the buffet."
The group is singular and the agreement would be "the group attacked", but as it is a collectivity it could have the term "all", which requires the use of the plural "we attacked".
See too:
- Anacoluto
- Asyndeton
- polysyndeton
- Zeugma
- Ellipse
