Tips on Using the Ellipsis

Melchior Antoine
Dec 1, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Sep 8

An ellipsis is a punctuation mark consisting of three consecutive dots (. . .). It is used in writing to indicate omitted text, hesitation, or an unfinished thought. The ellipsis has both practical and stylistic purposes. It has a wide range of versatile uses. It can do the following:

Create a sense of suspense
Indicate pause
Indicate continuity

Understanding how to use it correctly can help with clear communication.

Uses of the ellipsis

1. Omission in quotations. One of the primary functions of the ellipsis is to indicate that a portion of a quoted text has been omitted. This is particularly useful in academic writing or journalism, where brevity is often necessary. We take a detailed look later at examples of using ellipsis in altered quotations.

2. Indicating hesitation or pauses. In dialogue or informal writing, an ellipsis is used to show hesitation, a trailing off, or a pause in speech. This adds a conversational tone or reflects the speaker’s uncertainty.

Examples:

"I’m not sure . . . maybe we should wait."
"Well . . . I guess that could work."

3. Unfinished thoughts. An ellipsis can signal that a thought is incomplete, leaving the reader to infer what comes next. This is common in creative writing or dramatic storytelling.

Examples:

"If only I had known . . ."
"She looked at him and said, 'I just can’t . . ."

4. Trailing off at the end of a sentence. Similar to unfinished thoughts, an ellipsis at the end of a sentence can convey a sense of vagueness or open-endedness.

Example:

"I thought I understood, but now I’m not so sure . . ."

A note of caution

The ellipsis can be a versatile punctuation mark; however, there is a danger of overusing it. Leaning too heavily on the ellipsis can lead to confusion, or it can disrupt the flow of your text. You should avoid inserting ellipses unnecessarily or replacing proper punctuation with ellipses. In addition, in academic writing, its use should be deliberate and limited to ensure professionalism.

Using the ellipsis in quotations

In academic writing, it is often necessary to alter quotes by shortening them. This is where the ellipsis comes in. When using ellipses to shorten quotations, three spaced dots should be used in place of the omitted material. See teh excerpt below for an example:

De Backer and Fisher (2012) noted that “those [adults] who read gossip magazines, watch gossip-related television shows, or read gossip articles from internet sites . . . may feel guilty about wasting their time on a leisure pursuit” (p. 421).

When there is a sentence break within omitted material, a period plus an ellipsis (. … ) should be used to show. This includes instances when a quotation incorporates the end of one sentence or the beginning of another sentence.

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