Ellipsis 
Rules and Examples

The ellipsis (…) is a form of punctuation used in written English language.

Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses

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.


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.

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