Use an ellipsis to show an omission, or leaving out, of a word or words in a quote.

Use ellipses to shorten

the quote without changing the meaning. For example: "After school I went to her house, which was a
few blocks away, and then came home."

An ellipsis (plural: ellipses) is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots. Use an ellipsis when omitting
a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage. Ellipses save space or remove material
that is less relevant. ... Although ellipses are used in many ways, the three-dot method is the simplest.

What is an ellipsis in English language?

An ellipsis is punctuation that is used to show where words have been left out. The ellipsis is usually
formed by three periods (four if the ellipsis comes at the end of a sentence). The word ellipsis comes to
English via a Greek word, elleipein, meaning to fall short or leave out. The plural of the noun is ellipses.

How do you use an ellipsis?

Using An Ellipsis to Show an Omission

In formal writing, the most common way to use an ellipsis is to show that you've omitted words. For
example, if you're quoting someone and you want to shorten the quote, you use ellipses to indicate
where you've dropped words or sentences

What is the purpose of an ellipsis?

The ellipsis is used to indicate the omission of words in the middle of a quoted sentence or the omission
of sentences within a quoted paragraph. In creative writing, the ellipsis functions to indicate that the
speaker has trailed off and left a sentence or thought unfinished.

What does 3 periods mean in texting?

Ellipses have... 3 periods. An ellipsis (plural: ellipses) is a series of - in our case and typically - 3 dots that
usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without
altering its original meaning. It may also imply an unstated meaning within the proper context.Feb 16,
2018

Are ellipses passive aggressive?

If you don't want to come off like a passive-aggressive prick, don't use ellipses to end your sentences.
They are not substitutes for periods. When used in place of periods, they cause confusion, frustration,
anger, hurt feelings, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Have respect for punctuation.Dec 23, 2013

Note:

Ellipsis is the singular form of the word, meaning one.

Ellipses is the plural form of the word, meaning more than one ellipsis.
The ellipsis is also known to some as dot-dot-dot because it consists of three periods, or dots, in a row.

The first part of this lesson will focus on when to use ellipses in writing.

The second part of this lesson will describe how to create ellipses on a word processor.

When to use ellipses

1. Use an ellipsis to show an omission, or leaving out, of a word or words in a quote. Use ellipses to
shorten the quote without changing the meaning.

For example:

"After school I went to her house, which was a few blocks away, and then came home."

Shorten the quote by replacing a few words with an ellipsis. Remember, the meaning of the quote
should not change.

"After school I went to her house … and then came home."

We removed the words "which was a few blocks away" and replaced them with an ellipsis without
changing the meaning of the original quote.

2. Use an ellipsis to show a pause in a thought or to create suspense. (Suspense is when a reader is
excited to know what is going to happen next.)

Examples:

She opened the door . . . and saw . . . a cake!

I was thinking . . . maybe we should call home.

This use of ellipses is very common in informal (friendly) letters and emails.

3. Use an ellipsis to show a break, or trailing off, of a thought.

Examples:

I know I saw my keys somewhere . . .

"I'm not sure what to do . . .," he said.

I never thought . . .

How to make an ellipsis

An ellipsis is made of three dots called ellipsis points. Ellipses are exactly three dots, not two or four.
1) On a word processor, type three periods with spaces in between.period-space-period-space-period-
space

This type of ellipsis is usually used to show a pause or a trailing thought as in the examples in rules 2 and
3 above.

Examples:

She opened the door . . . and saw . . . a cake!

I was thinking . . . maybe we should call home.

Examples:

I know I saw my keys somewhere . . .

I never thought . . .

"I'm not sure what to do . . .," he said.

2) Many word processing programs will automatically create ellipses if you type three periods in a row.
Just type a space, three periods, and a second space and move on to the next word. The ellipsis will look
smaller than three spaced out periods.

Correct: We went to the city … and arrived home after midnight.

The word processing program automatically created an ellipsis when I

typed three periods without spaces in between.

3) If the ellipsis is in the place of a word or part of a sentence, leave a space on each side of the ellipsis.

For example:

(Without an ellipsis)

We went to the city, shopped, ate lunch and arrived home after midnight.

(With an ellipsis, removing the words "shopped, ate lunch")

We went to the city … and arrived home after midnight.

4) If the ellipsis is used to replace words at the end of a sentence, it should be followed by a period (.),
question mark (?) or exclamation point (!) to end the sentence.

4. Use an ellipsis with a period to shorten a quote.

If the ellipsis is followed by a period, then you will have 4 dots.

For example:

She said, "I like apples, oranges and bananas because they are all fruits."

She said, "I like apples, oranges and bananas … ."

5. Use an ellipsis with a question mark after a trailing thought.

Examples:

Why would he do that . . . ?

Where is she . . . ?

6. Use an ellipsis with an exclamation point to show excitement after a pause.

Examples:

Wow . . .!

I cannot believe you did that . . .!

In summary, the ellipsis is a form of punctuation used in writing the English language. It can be used to
show an omission, to show a pause or create suspense, or to show a break in a thought. An ellipsis is
made by using three periods in a row.

These were the uses of the ellipsis. Now that you know them, it is time to practice! Read and do
exercises.