Asyndeton (UK: /æˈsɪndɪtən, ə-/, US: /əˈsɪndətɒn, ˌeɪ-/) is a writing technique where one or more connecting words are intentionally left out in a series of related sentences or phrases. An example is "I came, I saw, I conquered," which is a translation of the Latin phrase "veni, vidi, vici." This technique can make a sentence feel faster and help a message stay in the reader's mind. Asyndeton is different from syndeton and polysyndeton. Syndeton uses one connecting word, while polysyndeton uses multiple connecting words between parts of a sentence.

In grammar, asyndetic coordination happens when parts of a sentence are connected without using any linking words. For example, in the sentence "Quickly, resolutely, he strode into the bank," no linking words are used. However, the adverbs "quickly" and "resolutely" still work together to describe the same action, "strode." A version of the sentence that uses a linking word might be, "Quickly and resolutely, he strode into the bank."

Examples

Aristotle wrote in his Rhetoric that this technique was more useful in spoken speeches than in written ones:

• "In written speeches, long lists of unrelated words and repeated phrases are usually not allowed. But in spoken speeches, speakers often use these freely because they create a dramatic effect. When repeating words, the speaker should change the tone to prepare the audience for this dramatic effect. For example: 'This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely.' " — Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book III, Chapter 12 (trans. W. Rhys Roberts).

Aristotle also believed that asyndeton could be used effectively at the end of speeches. He used this technique himself in the final part of the Rhetoric:

• "At the end of a speech, using short, disconnected phrases is appropriate. This helps distinguish the main speech from the closing part. For example: 'I have done. You have heard me. The facts are before you. I ask for your judgment.' " — Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book III, Chapter 19 (trans. W. Rhys Roberts).

Examples of this technique appear in American political speeches:

• "…and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." — Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
• "…that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." — John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 20 January 1961.

Another common example is Winston Churchill’s speech, "We shall fight on the beaches":

• "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

An example that uses both asyndeton and polysyndeton appears in a passage by Cormac McCarthy:

• "A person or what looked like one was laboring over the crest of the hill and coming toward them with one hand raised in blessing, greeting, fending flies. He was dressed in a dusty frockcoat and carried a walking stick and he wore a pair of octagonal glasses on the one pane of which the late sun shone while a watery eye peered from the naked wire aperture of the other." — Cormac McCarthy, Outer Dark, 1968.