Ellipses Notes

What is an ellipsis?

An ellipsis is a series of 3 dots, or periods, that can be inserted into a sentence to indicate a pause in time or an unfinished thought or utterance in dialogue

The plural for ellipsis is ellipses

An ellipsis can be placed in the middle or end of a sentence. Ellipses cannot be placed at the beginning of a sentence

Examples:
Marion cried and cried ... and cried some more.
"I have been thinking ..." Sandra said.
The ceremony honored fourteen brilliant athletes ... visiting the U.S.

There are different style guides for ellipses. An ellipsis can have 3 dots with a space in between each dot[. . . ]. In general, there is also a space before and after an ellipsis. Some style manuals prefer 3 dots with no spaces between each dot [ ... ], while others prefer the auto-formatted version with less than a full space in between each dot […].

When using an ellipsis at the end of a sentence, you use 3 dots and then an extra dot. The extra dot represents a period marking the end of the sentence.

Examples:

I did not mean it....
I never wanted it to be like this....