"unfinished" sentences ending in particles like を, に and が


This is something I've always wondered about, but can't find any info about.

When native speakers come across a sentence that ends `...を。`, `...と。` or
`...が！`*, how do their brains parse it? Is it just a case of being able to
guess what word would follow based on their past exposure to collocations
(words that go together with other words) and situations?

I found [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1209/does-the-
particle-%E3%82%92-wo-have-a-special-use-when-at-the-end-of-a-sentence) to
which the answers say it's verb ellipsis, which I get, but I'd like to know if
there's any way of knowing exactly _which_ verb – if there is indeed only one
particular possibility — or whether the hidden verb belongs to a small group
of verbs which are often omitted. For example, on TV an announcer said
something like `次の日はすごい状態に！` I asked a Japanese friend what the verb would be
and they immediately said `なった`. Is it likely they knew this from
collocational knowledge, the same way an English speaker could finish the
sentence `running around like a chicken with...`? And could `なった` have just as
easily been a different verb it was a different situation, or is `状態に`
_always_ followed by `なる` if the verb is dropped?

*(not the が that means "but"; the other one. I have _no idea_ how to interpret sentences that end with が – it's the most difficult one for me.)

More examples:
[Here](http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/koyamaclinic/imgs/1/6/160a9169.jpg) and
[here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binb%C5%8D-gami_ga!)




In my experience, there is usually some other context that was previously
given, or is _completely_ obvious even though it's omitted. I refer to the
former as a kind of "back reference" to whatever was said before.

>   * A: めっちゃ難しい... → It's so hard/difficult
>   * B: 何 **が** ？ → What is? (Since you would say Ｘが難しい)  
>  
> or
>   * A: 明日母に送るわ。 → I'll send it/this to my mother tomorrow. (Perhaps person B
> is out of the room and cannot see what A is talking about)
>   * B: 何 **を** ？ → What (will you send)? (Since you say Ｘを送る)
>

or

>   * ルールに書いてあります。キーパー以外の選手がボールに手を触れないように **と** → It's written in the rules.
> "No player besides the goalie shall touch the ball with their hands". →
> Here, the と is the quotation marker, making the entire second sentence the
> "it" that's referenced in the first.
>

Some examples I often see of the implied-yet-omitted context are like

>   * 良い一日 **を** ！ → Have a good day → The "have" is omitted, but could/would
> be something like 過ごしてください
>

`ように` is **very** common to see at the end of a sentence to indicate "May
something happen" / "Let it be that 〜"

>   * 今年も祝福いっぱいの一年になりますよう **に** → (Said to someone on their birthday) "May
> this year (also) be one full of blessings" → The omission is clearly
> something like "I hope" (願っています) or "I pray" (祈っています)
>

* * *

For the book in your first example link, it's titled `夢に日付を！`. It even says in
English at the bottom "Date Your Dream", which, while grammatically correct,
would be better translated as "Set a date for your dream (to come true)". In
this case, the "Set" part is what is omitted, so the full Japanese could be
something like `夢に日付を入れる`. I can't really explain how, but leaving off the
`入れる` gives is more of an impact as a book title.

