Punctuation: Ellipsis (2024)

FAQs

Punctuation: Ellipsis? ›

An ellipsis ( ... ) consists of three evenly spaced periods and is used to indicate the omission of words or suggest an incomplete thought. In general, an ellipsis should be treated as a three-letter word, with a space, three periods and a space.

In linguistics, ellipsis means leaving out words rather than repeating them unnecessarily; for example, saying 'I want to go but I can't' instead of 'I want to go but I can't go'.

Using an ellipsis to omit words from the end of a sentence:

Notice that when using an ellipsis at the end of a sentence you must place a period after the ellipsis. When using a parenthetical notation at the end of a sentence, with an ellipsis, place a period after the citation.

An ellipse has an eccentricity less than one, and it represents the locus of points, the sum of whose distances from the two foci is a constant value. Simple examples of the ellipse in our daily life is the shape of an egg in a two-dimensional form, the running tracking in a sports stadium, etc.

The ellipsis mark indicates that you left some material out of a direct quote. It consists of three spaced periods with a space before and after each one ( . . . ) Example: The health reporter wrote that “obese children are ten times more likely to suffer from heart attacks . . . than non-obese children.”

You use ellipses like emoticons.

In a world that has an emoticon for every aspect of human life—from winky faces to eggplants—ellipses have evolved to indicate the conversation you don't want to end, the decisions you don't want to make, and, sometimes, the words you're just too lazy to type.

There is no need to put a comma before an ellipsis or a period after it because they aren't being used to show omitted words.

Following the ellipsis, you can use a capital letter to indicate the start of a new sentence, especially to signal a definite shift (as in the fourth example): “Will . . . will you help me?” It took all his courage to ask. “Don't try to help me . . . just don't.” Dylan wouldn't even look at us.

An ellipsis is always three dots. (Hands up if you're guilty of random dotting?!)

What is a verbal ellipsis? ›

In linguistics, verb phrase ellipsis (VP ellipsis or VPE) is a type of elliptical construction and a type of anaphora in which a verb phrase has been left out (elided) provided that its antecedent can be found within the same linguistic context.

An ellipsis can basically be used in two ways: As a replacement for an omitted word, sentence, or section. As a way to indicate hesitation, suspense, or trailing thoughts.

An ellipsis is a set of three periods ( . . . ) indicating an omission. Each period should have a single space on either side, except when adjacent to a quotation mark, in which case there should be no space. In informal writing, an ellipsis can be used to represent a trailing off of thought.

In general, it is not necessary to use an ellipsis at the beginning or end of a quotation, even if you are quoting from the middle of a sentence. An exception is that you should include an ellipsis if, to prevent misinterpretation, you need to emphasize that the quotation begins or ends in midsentence.

If an ellipsis is placed at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence, it means something has been removed, or it represents a silence or pause, as if the speaker trailed off. If an ellipsis comes at the end of a sentence, it suggests that there's more to the story.