American Grammar Checkup: Ellipsis Marks (aka Ellipses): Think THREE
?? Susan Rooks ?? The Grammar Goddess
Editor/Proofreader: I help nonfiction writers and podcasters (& their guests) look and sound as smart as they are.??Cruciverbalist?? BIZCATALYST 360° Columnist????The Oxford Comma????Dog Rescuer??Spunky Old Broad??
Good Monday morning! I thought today I would just mention a "mark" that is often misunderstood and misused: the ellipsis mark.
There are several instances where we can and should use this mark, but way too many folks use it here and there with no apparent thought or knowledge of how to do it.
First of all, ellipsis marks are THREE (not two) spaced periods, with a space in front of them and one behind them.
space-dot-space-dot-space-dot-space
Yeah. Really. I have checked several style guides, and so far anyway they all say there are supposed to be three spaced periods. Will that change? Probably. Everything does. But for now . . .
Three dots and three rules:
1. We can show a deliberate pause in a sentence to indicate a mood of uncertainty.
I don't know . . . I'm not sure of that.
He felt uneasy . . . but he wasn't going to let that stop him!
2. We can show a sentence that trails off, that doesn't really end.
I'm really going to have to think about that . . .
Mom said yes, but . . .
3. We can show words left out of a quoted sentence.
Original version: "During that last month, while I was working with her, I had a few doubts."
Condensed version: "During that last month . . . I had a few doubts."
Here's my best advice: Avoid using ellipsis marks for the most part. They rarely look professional, and many readers have NO idea why you're using them.
If you have any questions about this mark, please ask! I'm keeping it simple here because although there are a few more ways to use the ellipsis mark, we don't need to know them for business writing. I think if we can learn just these three above, we'll be far ahead of the game!
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Posts you may have missed last month
Monday Grammar Checkup: The Continuing Perils of Trusting Spellcheck
Tuesday Tricksters, January 5
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Advice / Advise
Happy Friday to You!
Monday's Grammar Checkup: Capital Letters
Tuesday Tricksters, January 12
Wednesday's Word & Woes: Advice & Advise
Friday Fun Food Day, January 15
Monday's Grammar Checkup: QUIZ on Lie & Lay
Here We Go: Tuesday's Tricksters, January 19
Wednesdays Words & Woes: A Lot, Allot, Alot
Another Friday Funday, January 22
Monday Grammar Checkup: Another American Grammar Quiz!
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Loose & Lose
Oh! Look! It's a Frozen, Fabulous, Friday Funday!
February's Offerings So Far
Grammar Checkup: It's a Numbers Game
Tuesday Tricksters, February 2: Finally Some F Words!ddd
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Their, There, They're
It's February. It's Freezing. It's Friday Funday!
Grammar Checkup: Pity the Poor Semicolon!
Tuesday Tricksters, February 9
Wednesdays Words & Woes: Peak, Peek, Piqueff
Beyond Grammar: 5 Ways to Make Your Posts Look More Professional
Frozen, Frigid, Friday Fun Day000
Silly Sunday: Happy Valentine's Day!
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As an international corporate trainer, I have worked worldwide for nearly 20 years creating and leading American grammar (U.S. only), business writing, and a variety of interpersonal communication skills workshops. I am also a copy editor and proofreader, mainly of business-related materials. My home base is in Massachusetts, but I will travel anywhere to help business professionals look and sound as smart as they are.
Independent Consulting Mgmt / Industry / Govt Consulting Areas / Keane NTTDATA/ FM Global
8 年Jeffrey S., Now, there you go -- MS Word was to be cure all Word Processing -- but was not meant to be. There are quite a few huge problems in the entire suite -- MS ACCESS included -- eventually straightened out but not all still perfect. We were all thrust upon , except for EXCEL which by virtue of Financial Industry demands, umpteen licenses, across the world; all others used to take back seat in development and corrected in successive versions.
Analyst at Velosi (M) Sdn Bhd
8 年Thank you for leading the way.
?????????? ???? ?????????????? ???????????????????? ??????.
8 年I use the Three Dots on my outgoing E-mail, as a sign that "a human" send it ..!
Social Media Marketer - Marine Industry Consultant - Writer/Editor - YachtbuildAdvisor.com - 88K+ total SM subscribers and followers - 1,600+ Published Articles
8 年Susan, as a one-time typesetter, I don't care what the MLA says ... I think using a space between the points . . . UGLY. To my eye, leading space and following space are sufficient ... and nobody misunderstands -- unless he or she hasn't read much and doesn't know what they are in the first place. Cheers!
Analyst at Velosi (M) Sdn Bhd
8 年Refrain oneself from Excess............................................................