Ellipses  

An ellipsis is a series of three consecutive periods known as ellipsis points ( . . . ) used to indicate where words have been omitted from quoted text, or (informally) to represent a pause, hesitation, or trailing-off in thought or speech.

There are two different styles for how an ellipsis is formed, and each is equally common. The more conventional way to form an ellipsis is to put a space between each of the three ellipsis points, as in: “There are many things . . . that you must learn.”

In modern writing, the spaces between these are often left out, leaving three ellipsis points right in a row: “There are many things … that you must learn.” The advantage of this form is that it can be hard-coded as a single symbol in most word processors, meaning it will not be broken if it hits the margin of the page.

To create this second form on a computer running Windows, hold Control + Alt and press the “period” key. To create it on a Mac computer, hold Option and press the “semicolon” key. Some word processors will also create the symbol automatically when you type three periods in a row.

This guide has opted to use the first of these two versions. If your school’s or employer’s style guide does not require one over the other, use whichever style you prefer, but be consistent.

Most style guides recommend using a space on either side of an ellipsis, except for when it is adjacent to a quotation mark. For instance:

However, it is very common to see no spaces on either side of an ellipsis, or a single space on one side but not the other. For example:

If you are writing formal, academic, or professional content, you should include a space on both side of the ellipsis; otherwise, use whichever style looks best to you, but be consistent. (In this guide, we’ll be adding spaces to both sides.)

The most formal way ellipses are used is to indicate that some text has been omitted from a quoted sentence or passage. This is done to simplify a quotation, eliminating information that is not necessary for or important to the writer’s purposes. This usually occurs in the middle of an in-text quotation; it is more uncommon for an ellipsis to be used at the beginning or end of a quotation.

Most commonly, the ellipsis is used to bridge two parts of the same sentence by omitting extraneous information in between. When this is the case, we simply put a space-ellipsis-space in place of the text we wish to leave out. Let’s look at an original sentence, and then see how it might be abridged using an ellipsis in a quotation.

Note that we also omit any punctuation that originally surrounded the text that is being removed unless it has grammatical importance to the structure of the shortened quoted sentence. For example:

Occasionally, an omission may span across two or more sentences. If the quotation is being presented as a single sentence, we simply use an ellipsis in the same way as above. If, however, the quotation divides into two complete sentences with omitted material in between, we use a period to terminate the first sentence (even if the original sentence has been shortened) followed by an ellipsis and the second quoted sentence. This is sometimes known as a four point ellipsis. If any letters need to be capitalized or made lowercase, or any words need to be changed to fit the subject-verb agreement of the newly abridged sentence, we use brackets to indicate that we’ve altered the original text. For instance:

Most style guides discourage the use of an ellipsis when an abridged quotation occurs at the end of a sentence, arguing that it is unnecessary to specify that there is more information beyond what you chose to quote. In this case, we simply end the quotation with a full stop and an end quotation mark. For example:

However, other style guides do recommend using an ellipsis after a quotation that ends a sentence. In this case, we end the sentence with a period, followed by a space, an ellipsis, and an end quotation mark. For example:

Note that if a quotation is being used within an overall question, we place a question mark outside the end quotation mark regardless of whether we use an ellipsis or not:

Generally speaking, it is not necessary to include an ellipsis if a quotation omits words from the beginning of a sentence—simply use an opening quotation mark:

If the middle of a quotation is used as the beginning of an overall sentence, we must be sure to capitalize the first letter of the first word quoted. In more formal, academic writing, we should indicate this change with brackets, but this is often not considered mandatory in less formal writing. Some writers also prefer to include an ellipsis before a change like this to make it absolutely clear that information was omitted, but it is not necessary and even discouraged by most style guides:

If you are quoting material that already uses one or more ellipses, you should place your own ellipses in brackets. This will make it clear to the reader which ellipses are your own and which were already in the text. For example:

Alternatively, instead of using brackets around any added ellipses, we can also make a note of which ellipses were original or added in parentheses after the quotation (remember to put the period after this):

While shortening quoted material is the “official” use of the ellipsis, it is perhaps more commonly used in informal or creative writing to denote a pause, hesitation, faltering, or trailing-off of speech or thought. When used in this way, it’s quite common to eliminate the space traditionally used between the ellipsis and the word it follows. For example:

Many people use an ellipsis as a sort of “stand-in” for a comma, creating a break in the flow of their writing. However, the suggestion created by an ellipsis used this way is that the speaker is unsure of or hesitant about what he or she is trying to say, or else has more to say but is reluctant or unable to finish the thought. For this reason, ellipses should be used sparingly, especially in written correspondence.