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An ellipses is a signal to the reader that something has been left out of a piece of writing, or that a deliberate pause should be allowed for.
An ellipses is a signal to the reader that something has been left out of a piece of writing, or that a deliberate pause should be allowed for.
Ellipsis - A punctuation mark written as a set of three full stops that indicates an omission or pause.
Introduction
Introduction
An ellipsis allows us to show our readers that something has been left out of a piece of writing. It also gives us some control over the flow and pacing of a sentence ... although it should not be overused.
Use Cases
Use Cases
To indicate an omission
To indicate an omission
When including a quotation in our writing we can use an ellipsis to indicate that certain material has been left out.
We do not need to do this at the beginning or end of a quotation, only in the middle.
Original text
Thunberg, G. (2019). No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference. Penguin Books.
Homo Sapiens have not yet failed. Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.
With omission
According to Thunberg (2019), "Homo Sapiens have not yet failed … We still have everything in our own hands."
To pace a sentence
To pace a sentence
In informal writing, an ellipsis can be used to reflect a trailing off of thought.
Example
If only we had told him the full details of the plan …
We can also use an ellipsis to represent hesitation.
Example
One must be … careful when discussing such … sensitive matters.
Avoid excessive use of the ellipsis in this way: as with the exclamation mark it can suffer from diminishing returns.
Formatting
Formatting
Spaces within space
Spaces within space
For most of us, typing an ellipsis means pressing the full stop key three times in succession.
However, while most style guides agree that an ellipsis should have a space on either side of the left and rightmost full stops (except when adjacent to a quotation mark), there is disagreement about the spacing within the ellipsis itself.
The Australian Government Style Guide necessitates a specific ellipsis character which can be inserted in one of the following ways:
the unicode character U+2026
the HTML code <…>
in many software applications, Alt+Ctrl+. or Option;.
US style guides, however, recommend using three full stops with a space between each of these.
Australian style
The report is well written, but it needs a thorough review … There is an obvious need for more work.
US Style
The report is well written, but it needs a thorough review . . . There is an obvious need for more work.
[Note that if we try to click and drag over the ellipsis in each sentence the first registers as one character, while the second is five (the three full stops plus the two spaces between them).
Check with your teacher to see which style they prefer ... if any.
Ending a sentence
Ending a sentence
In Australian English, there is no need to add a fourth full stop if an ellipsis is at the end of a sentence.
In US English, a fourth full stop is added.
Australian style
End of previous sentence … Next sentence.
US Style
End of previous sentence . . . . Next sentence.
We can choose to add a question mark at the end of an ellipsis to add emphasis if desired.
Examples
What does the team even do during work hours …?
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