writing fiction ellipses

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My philosophy, monday, may 6, 2019, how to use an ellipsis properly in fiction.

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” - Dr. Suess

“You know you’re in love when . . . reality is finally better than your dreams.” - Dr. Suess

July seventeenth, what a night. Sam rowed me over to the little island. We danced on the beach, and we kissed on the beach, and . . .

"I started to go to the school, but . . ." she trailed off.

Would she actually want . . . ? she wondered. 

"Sarah is really very . . . fanciful , isn't she?" David said. 

She ate . . . she drank . . . and she went shopping.

I was so hungry. . . . chicken, cereal, tofu, pasta--all of it sounded good.

 "They treated me like . . . Want to go to dinner?" she asked suddenly.

(Worth noting, however, is that the Chicago Manual of Style has some examples where it isn't, but it's usually best to stick to these guidelines.)

If not, you don't. When it comes to spacing before and after an ellipsis, handle it how you would a regular word .

Sarah was really very[space]. . .[space] fanciful . 

"I started to go to the school, but[space] . . .[no space]" she trailed off.

Would she actually want[space]. . .[space]? she wondered.

Would she actually want[space].[space].[space].[space]? she wondered.

Would she actually want ... ? she wondered.

"I wish . . ." "Shut up!" Mike interrupted.

"I wish--" "Shut up!" Mike interrupted.

11 comments:

I don't believe I have ever seen this handled so thoroughly and perfectly! Thank you for this.

Thank you for this! I've always used them but I needed confirmation I was utilizing them correctly. I'm more than a little relieved to see "...?" is alright. This was very helpful.

Glad this helped!

Okay, just a little thing to check. I want to make sure I'm doing this right. Is it: "Erm...what?" Or "Erm...What?"

Some things, like this, are debatable or preference. Personally, I would do the top one, but you can make a case for either.

I am editing writing by someone who likes to use ellipses too often. Sometimes twice in a paragraph, and again in the next paragraph. Is there a legal limit,or should I allow them all? thanks!

There isn't a hard and fast rule for how often to use them, but if you feel there are too many and it's not helping the text, I would let the writer know.

I love using ellipses in my writing because it feels like and works so well with my voice. I've not seen another piece that better explains the proper way to use them. I try not to overuse them and don't believe I do, but this certainly validates my usage. Thank you.

Glad to hear!

I love comments :)

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The Editor’s Manual

Free learning resource on English grammar, punctuation, usage, and style.

• Punctuation |

How to Use an Ellipsis (...)

An ellipsis (plural: ellipses ) is a mark that comprises a series of three dots. The dots in an ellipsis may be separated by spaces (. . .) or they may not (…), depending on the style you follow.

In a quotation, an ellipsis signifies omitted words and sentences. Be careful not to change or skew the meaning of the original speech or text.

In a dialogue or narrative, an ellipsis shows faltering speech or a pause. Take care, however, not to overuse this mark. Don’t use an ellipsis instead of a period unless a pause is meant to be meaningful to the reader or signify an incomplete thought.

What is an ellipsis?

An ellipsis (. . . or …) is a set of three periods or dots in a row. In formal writing, it is used to indicate omitted text in a quotation . Ellipses are also used in casual communication, such as text messages, to show indecision or a thought trailing off. In creative writing, an ellipsis can signify a pause.

Spacing of dots in an ellipsis

An ellipsis has three dots. There may or may not be a space separating each of the dots.

• The government . . . told news channels what to report and when to report it.
• The government … told news channels what to report and when to report it.
• “I . . . I can’t remember what happened.”
• “I … I can’t remember what happened.”

Word processors like Microsoft Word have an ellipsis character (U+2026), which automatically appears when you type three dots in a row. You may use this or type three spaced dots yourself. If you do insert spaces between the dots, they should be nonbreaking, so that your ellipsis doesn’t spread out across two lines of copy.

Spaced dots in an ellipsis are preferred in academic writing, and unspaced in news copy. Some style manuals (like Chicago , APA , and MLA ) recommend spacing before and between the dots of an ellipsis. In contrast, the AP Stylebook treats an ellipsis as one word without internal spacing. Pick a style, and follow it consistently.

For omitted text

Use an ellipsis to indicate the omission of words from quoted text.

• Original: I can enjoy feeling melancholy, and there is a good deal of satisfaction about being thoroughly miserable; but nobody likes a fit of the blues. Nevertheless, everybody has them; notwithstanding which, nobody can tell why. There is no accounting for them. You are just as likely to have one on the day after you have come into a large fortune as on the day after you have left your new silk umbrella in the train. — Jerome K. Jerome , The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow , 1879
• Quoted: As the writer says, I can enjoy feeling melancholy, . . . but nobody likes a fit of the blues. Nevertheless, everybody has them . . . You are just as likely to have one on the day after you have come into a large fortune as on the day after you have left your new silk umbrella in the train.

When you quote just a word or a phrase, don’t use ellipses with it, since it is already clear that you are not quoting the entire text.

• Incorrect As the writer says, nobody likes “. . . a fit of the blues.”
• Correct As the writer says, nobody likes “a fit of the blues .”

Note that after you have replaced words with ellipses, the reader should still be able to read the text aloud as a grammatically complete sentence .

• Incorrect As the writer says, I can enjoy feeling melancholy, . . . likes a fit of the blues. After the omission, this no longer reads as a sentence.
• Correct As the writer says, I can enjoy feeling melancholy, . . . but nobody likes a fit of the blues. Although words have been omitted, the quotation can still be read aloud as a sentence.

When you quote someone, make sure you don’t skew or change the meaning of the original words. Omitting words from a quotation should not cause confusion about the speaker’s original meaning or intent.

• Original: “We still have many people marginalized and discriminated against in our nation. People in power, people with privilege, who continue to discriminate against the historically marginalized, must be punished, must be made to pay. We must set an example.”
• Incorrect Quoted: The senator replied, “We still have many people marginalized . . . such people must be punished, must be made to pay. We must set an example.”
• Correct Quoted: The senator replied, “We still have many people marginalized . . . in our nation. People . . . who continue to discriminate against the historically marginalized . . . must be made to pay. We must set an example.”

You don’t need to insert an ellipsis for text omitted at the start or end of a quotation.

• Original: In the morning, you must wear your clothes before you leave the house.
• Unnecessary Unnecessary: In his great wisdom, the guru said, “ . . . wear your clothes before you leave the house.” Better Better: In his great wisdom, the guru said, “Wear your clothes before you leave the house.”
• Unnecessary Unnecessary: In his great wisdom, the guru said, “In the morning, you must wear your clothes . . . .” Better Better: In his great wisdom, the guru said, “In the morning, you must wear your clothes.”

Only if you wish to leave a quotation deliberately incomplete should you use an ellipsis at the end.

• Correct Quoted: The guru droned on, “In the morning, you must . . .” It was afternoon, and I drifted in and out of sleep to the sound of his soothing voice.

The term “ellipsis” can mean the omission of words considered superfluous to the meaning of a sentence.

• France scored three goals ; Germany, four. The words “scored” and “goals” are clear from context and need not be repeated when speaking about Germany’s score.

An ellipsis (. . .) is not used in such elliptical references , where we omit words simply to avoid repetition.

Ellipsis in brackets

When the quoted text itself contains ellipses, surround your own ellipses with brackets to indicate that these have been inserted by you.

For example, if you interview participants in a study, you may want to show faltering speech in your transcription of the interviews. In such a case, use ellipses to show faltering speech, and bracketed ellipses to show your own omission of words.

• Original speech (including pauses): “For immigrants . . . I mean for immigrant children, especially . . . culture clash, I have often seen, it can cause disorientation.”
• Quoted (omitted text shown by ellipses in brackets): One of the participants spoke about her childhood as an immigrant: “For immigrant children, . . . culture clash [. . .] can cause disorientation.”

Period after ellipsis

Generally, if the ellipsis falls at the end of a quotation, three dots are sufficient. You don’t need a fourth one for the final period.

• Original: “They wanted freedom. They would fight for it, lay down their lives for a cause without consideration to their own existence, for that is what it was without freedom—existence without life. You could not call it a life, they said, if you could not choose how to live.”

However, if the ellipsis is followed by another sentence, place a period before the ellipsis to show that the previous sentence has ended.

• Quoted: In her autobiography, she writes, “They wanted freedom. They would fight for it. . . . You could not call it a life, they said, if you could not choose how to live.”

Punctuation with ellipses

If the omitted text follows a punctuation mark (like a comma or a question mark ), include the mark in the quotation only if it is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. If you do, leave a space after the punctuation mark, and then type the ellipsis.

• The chief of staff said, “We must be more open, inclusive, . . . and it is important to include the Durandians in the discussion.”

As in prose, use an ellipsis to show an unfinished line in poetry.

• Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. — Samuel Taylor Coleridge , “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (1834)

To show the omission of one or more lines, use a row of dots the approximate length of the previous line.

• Day after day, day after day, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Upon a painted ocean. — Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (1834)

As suspension points

The three dots that make up an ellipsis are also called suspension points. In informal writing, these dots can indicate indecision, an incomplete thought, or a pause. The ellipsis then acts as a punctuation mark that indicates a pause.

• “Are you coming to the party tonight?” “Maybe …”
• “I saw … I think I just saw a ghost!”

You can also use an ellipsis to show faltering speech in dialogue or a thought trailing off.

• “The ghost . . . the ghost stole my hat!”
• “Is he . . . is he quite sane?”
• Night fell . . .

In literature

Here are some examples that show how a writer can use an ellipsis to make the reader pause between thoughts.

In poetry, an ellipsis creates a gentler pause than that signified by a period, giving the reader time to reflect.

• I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. — T.S. Eliot , “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” (1915)

In a narrative, an ellipsis can indicate a thought trailing off.

• It’s a bird, white, falling from a great height. Shot through the heart, in winter; the feathers coming off, drifting down … — Margaret Atwood , The Edible Woman (1969)

In dialogue, an ellipsis can signify a pause.

• I mean if you let yourself get angry you’ll be . . . consumed. You’ll burn up. It’s not productive. — Anne Tyler , The Accidental Tourist (1985)

An ellipsis can also be used to show faltering speech.

• ‘Now … it says here your first name is … can’t read Fred’s handwriting … er …’ There was nothing for it. ‘Cheery, sir,’ said Cheery Littlebottom. — Terry Pratchett , Feet of Clay (1996)

Ellipses are easy to overuse and misuse. In emails and chat messages, remember that an ellipsis indicates an unfinished thought and carries the tone of indecision.

• “Do you want the job?” Poor Uncertain: “Yes …” The use of ellipsis makes the person sound unsure of their answer. Better Certain: “Yes.” The period conveys a more decisive tone.

In formal writing , use ellipses only to indicate omitted text in a quotation. Avoid using ellipses in business communication.

• “Will you complete the report by tonight? Poor Poor: “Yes …” Better Better: “Yes.”

Use a period rather than an ellipsis when you want to sound sure about an answer or to mark the end of a complete thought or sentence.

In fiction and creative nonfiction, be careful not to overuse ellipses. Since an ellipsis makes a reader slow down and reflect, overusing this mark can ruin the rhythm of your prose.

Usage guide

When you use an ellipsis to indicate omitted words in a quotation, check that you haven’t changed the meaning of the original text. In general, the text should still read as a complete grammatical sentence even after the omission of words (except when a sentence is deliberately left incomplete).

You can also use ellipses to show indecision, faltering speech, or an incomplete thought. But be careful not to use an ellipsis where a period would fit better—for example, if you wish to convey certainty or need to mark the end of a complete thought.

Share this article

The three dots that comprise an ellipsis may be either spaced (. . .) or unspaced (…). Follow a consistent style in your document.

A quotation should read as a grammatical sentence, ellipses and all. (“It is necessary to effect these reforms for the greater good.”)

Ellipses aren’t needed when you’re quoting just a word or a phrase.

Ellipses can be used in both prose and poetry to signify a pause.

Ellipses signify a pause or a thought trailing off. Since they make readers slow down, overusing ellipses can ruin the flow of your text.

Ellipses…Guidelines for Their Safe Use In Fiction

• Post author By Clara Bush
• Post date July 22, 2021
• 5 Comments on Ellipses…Guidelines for Their Safe Use In Fiction

Deviating from the weird and wonderful, the next two blogs will deal with writer business. I know. I feel your pain. But I receive so many hits on my blogs on ellipses and em dashes, it’s time to update. I’ve procrastinated long enough. 

Much confusion surrounds the use of ellipses — a series of three dots/periods in a row. And understand, the confusion is not just on the part of writers, but editors as well.

I love to use ellipses in my writing, but most editors don’t seem to like them, or don’t know how to use them, and offer the recommendation to use them sparingly. As hard as I try, I get three or four or more wrong every time I send a manuscript to my editor.

I hope you and I evolve into such competent users of ellipses we feel confident enough to tell our editors, Nope you are wrong . (Dreaming. I know.)

Drawing from several resources, I created the following guidelines. Please note that these guidelines are for writing fiction .

( Probe Note: Guidelines for the use of ellipses in non-fiction or the academia world are clear.)

Ellipses, Or … Dot, Dot, Dot

For our purposes : An ellipsis is a literary device, a punctuation mark, used:

• to show a break in continuity
• or the trailing off in a character’s dialogue — either spoken or internal — as in hesitation or interruption of thoughts.
• in narration, the ellipsis might show the unfinished thoughts of a character.
• to show indecision, faltering speech, or an incomplete thought

Below are a variety of common ellipsis uses. I took these from books I’ve read.

(ProbeNote: Check out the differences in the spacing of the dots from various authors. Each author uses a different way to space ellipses! No wonder there is confusion.)

Examples of Ellipsis: In Internal Dialogue

Right now it all seems like an awful lot of work. A long row to hoe. A high mountain to climb. A . . . a . . . But he can’t think of any other similes. — Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

He realizes she’ll never watch another reality show. It’s sad . . . but it does have its funny side. — Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

I lay where I was, looking at her. Some small soothing in me was yammering at me to try to pick up the pieces … explain … apologize … make some reparation for this terrible conduct.” — Godbody by Theodore Sturgeon

Examples of  Ellipsis: In Dialogue

  “I know. Just…you were going to find out later, and I didn’t want you to think I’d been jerking you around. What?” Oz managed. His right eye was blinking hard. He felt weak. — The Intruders by Michael Marshall

He realized that the man was wearing gloves. “What are you…” The man put his face up close. — The Intruders by Michael Marshall

  “Perhaps outdoors … the pool, that will be it. She likes the pool. I’ll go with you.” — More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

Examples of Ellipsis: In Narration

Key around his neck . . . hurry. Both hands on the chain, legs under her, snatch. The chain broke and she fell backward, scrambling up again. Turned around, confused. Trying to feel, trying to listen with her numbed ears over the crackle of the flames. Side of the bed . . . which side? She stumbled on the body, tried to listen. — Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

The weeks went by and broken tissues knit and the wide flat body soaked up nourishment like a cactus absorbing moisture. Never in his life had he had rest and food and … She sat with him, talked to him.  — More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

Guidelines to the Safest Way to Use Ellipses

( but no guarantees ).

• Use the ellipsis in spoken or internal dialogue to show hesitation or trailing off of a thought.
• Use the ellipsis in spoken or internal dialogue to allow a question or accusation to hang in the air.
• Use the ellipsis in spoken or internal dialogue if the character cannot finish the thought or can’t bear to speak her/his/its thoughts.
• Do not use the ellipsis with dialogue that is interrupted by another character. Interruption in a character’s dialogue by another character is shown with an em dash. (I give guidelines for use of the em dash here .)
• If you are unsure, restructure the sentence to avoid use of the ellipsis.
• Editors don’t like ellipses and each editor will give you a different opinion on the correct usage. (If you don’t believe me, google ellipsis and see what you find.)
• Readers probably won’t analyze whether you have used ellipses correctly, as long as you don’t interrupt the flow of your prose with a bunch of dots.
• More noted authors appear to use ellipses in spoken and internal character dialogue and less often in narration.

If you check out the spacing of ellipses used by the authors above, there are different formats used by the famous.

• King and Harris use: space, dot, space, dot, space, dot, space EXAMPLE:  There was a little boy . . . Danny.
• Marshall uses: dot, dot, dot with no spaces EXAMPLE:   There was a little boy…Danny.
• Thurgeon uses: space, dot, dot, dot, space EXAMPLE:  There was a little boy … Danny.
• And I have even seen other variations: dot, dot, dot, space EXAMPLE: There was a little boy… Danny.
• Some even use punctuation after the dots. EXAMPLE:  There was a little boy… . Danny. (I find this confusing when I read. It interrupts the flow. But I’ve seen it done. Such as:  Did you see that  little boy… ? Danny, I think .  And,  There was this boy… ! Danny .)

What do we use?

King’s style is indicative of The Chicago Manual of Style:  space, dot, space, dot, space, dot, space . And you will find this even in his more recent novels like The Institute (2019) and Outsider (2018).

Marshall’s style is correct according to the most up-to-date information available: dot, dot, dot with  no   spaces and no end punctuation . Because of the wide use of computers and Microsoft Word/Office — which offers a keyboard shortcut to the ellipsis — this is the accepted spacing for modern times.

Eons ago, teachers taught us to double space after ending punctuation marks before beginning a new sentence. Now, we are told to only use one space. This appears to be the current status of the ellipsis. Less is more.

As for me, I will use the dot, dot, dot with  no spaces when writing my novels and novellas. It’s evolution, you see. And way the heck simpler. Plus, the editing program I use suggests this as the recommended style.

(However, you may have noticed in my blog I use space, dot, dot, dot, space ; like Sturgeon. That’s because of the font and theme of my blog. The spaces make it easier on the eyes to read.)

• Using Microsoft Office for a Mac, click on option (alt) and semicolon. A nd Voila! An ellipsis appears. 
• http://kiercesevren.com/2013/02/26/the-ellipsis-in-fiction/
• http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/punctuation/when-to-use-ellipses.html
• http://thewritepractice.com/how-to-use-an-ellipsis-correctly/
• http://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Fiction-Writers-Busy-Guides/dp/0992037182/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414019315&sr=1-4&keywords=marcy+kennedy
• And of course: The Chicago Manual of Style
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5 replies on “Ellipses…Guidelines for Their Safe Use In Fiction”

I love running across a good ellipses when I read. I like to imagine the word, spoken aloud, then the sound travels to my ear and into mind where it …

Thank you for posting, J. Marin. Beautifully said. I love ellipses as well.

You sound like a writer. Are you?

I put your name into the magic jar for the drawing on November 20.

Thanks for the information on ellipses. They are my favorite to use, and I probably use too many. Most times I’ll do the space dotdotdot space. Oh, just wanted you to know, I loved reading your ghost hunt stories series. 🙂

Hi b, Thank you for your comment and reading my blog! I have been enjoying your blog as well and I love the variety of your posts and your beautiful photographs. Let’s keep in touch! —Clara

Thanks so much, Clara! Just now seeing your comment. I really appreciate that you enjoy seeing my posts, too! 🙂

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How to use ellipses in your writing

Jessica Malnik

An ellipsis is a versatile punctuation mark. When used correctly, an ellipsis can elevate your writing by making it more succinct and impactful.

In this post, we’ll discuss what an ellipsis is, how many dots are needed, and examples to help you use ellipses in your writing.

What is an ellipsis?

The ellipsis, or ellipses in plural form, is a series of dots used to represent an omission of words. Casually referred to as the  dot-dot-dot , an ellipsis can take the place of a word, sentence, or even an entire section of text without affecting the meaning of the content.

Think of an ellipsis as a punctuation mark that can be used to cut the fluff out of your writing. If the words or sentences are redundant or easy to understand from the context clues, you can swap them out for an ellipsis.

However, an ellipsis isn’t just used when you take out words from quoted text. An ellipsis can also represent a mood shift, thoughts trailing off, hesitation, pause, or suspense.

Here’s what an ellipsis looks like: “…”

But it can also look like this: “ . . . ”

So why the difference in spacing ellipses? Different writing style guides have different ellipsis spacing rules. The Chicago Manual of Style requires a space between each dot in the ellipsis.  The AP Stylebook  is a different story — it treats the ellipsis like a word in a sentence. That means there’s no space between the dots, but there is a space between the ellipsis and other words. And then there’s MLA Style, which calls for a space before each period and a space following the last period.

Refer to the  style guide  you reference for its rules on using an ellipsis. If you don’t follow a particular style guide or aren’t required to for your job, then you can pick whichever style works best for you. Whether you add spaces between the dots or not, just keep it consistent throughout the piece.

Does an ellipsis always mean 3 dots?

Yes, an ellipsis is made up of three dots. You’ll typically see it written this way. However, this isn’t always the case.

There is an instance when omitting  quoted  material that you would need four dots instead of three. If you omit two or more original sentences of a quote, then you’ll need to use four dots to represent the omission.

In another scenario, if you end a sentence with a period and add an ellipsis after the period, it’s going to look like four dots. Technically, you aren’t looking at a four-dot ellipsis, but a sentence like that would look deceptively like one.

Does this look like an ellipsis or a period with an ellipsis to you?

Example: “I’m John…. Mr. Doe was my father.”

It looks like it could be either. But the correct answer is: a period followed by an ellipsis. When the sentence you’re connecting the ellipsis to is grammatically correct, it still has to end with a period.

Typically, though, you’ll see three dots for an ellipsis. As a rule of thumb, stick with three dots in your writing to represent an ellipsis.

How do you use ellipses in a sentence?

An ellipsis can basically be used in two ways:

• As a replacement for an omitted word, sentence, or section.

• As a way to indicate hesitation, suspense, or trailing thoughts.

In this section, we’ll show examples of ellipses in action for both uses.

• An ellipsis as a replacement for an omitted word, sentence, or section:

The ellipsis needs to be in place of the omitted word(s). In this case, the omitted words were “after careful consideration and thought.” This is right in the middle of the sentence, so the ellipsis that replaces the superfluous words goes right where the original words were.

As mentioned above, there are few instances where four dots are necessary instead of the typical three for an ellipsis. Because two or more sentences were omitted from the quote, the ellipsis needs four dots in this case.

This example is the same quote from Example 2, but this time we only omitted one sentence. Because we only omitted one sentence, we only need three dots to represent the omission.

In this case, several words are omitted from the single sentence. They’re replaced with three dots. It’s worth noting that this would be correct with or without the spacing, so “textbooks…to” and “textbooks … to” are both acceptable depending on the style guide you use.

• An ellipsis used to indicate hesitation, suspense, or trailing thoughts:

In this example, the ellipsis indicates a trailing thought. Ellipses used for trailing thoughts typically go at the end of a sentence.

The ellipsis here is used to indicate suspense. It’s essentially a pause for effect.

Remember to check your brand’s style guide for specific ellipsis rules.

If you don’t follow a  style guide  for your writing, then you’re free to use spacing or leave it out. Just be consistent.

Looking for more ways to improve your writing?  Start a free trial  today to see the benefits of Writer.

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How To Use an Ellipsis… Correctly

by Liz Bureman | 104 comments

Joe here. Please note that I created the title above as an intentionally incorrect use of ellipses. I realized while writing it that if I didn't tell you it was incorrect, Liz might stab me in the eye with her red pen. Anyway, on to the post!

Liz here. Here at the Write Practice, we have love for all punctuation marks: commas, semicolons, question marks. Today we're discussing that trio of periods that make up the ellipsis.

What's an ellipsis?

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What Is An Ellipsis?

An ellipsis is a trio of periods (…) that serve as a placeholder for text. It's most commonly used in undergraduate history papers that require copious citations.

For example, the writer Oscar Wilde says in The Picture of Dorian Gray :

“Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what a subtle magic there was in them! They seemed to be able to give a plastic form to formless things, and to have a music of their own as sweet as that of viol or of lute. Mere words! Was there anything so real as words?”

If I were editing this quote to be used in newsprint, where type space is precious, I might use an ellipsis to make it read as such:

Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what a subtle magic there was in them! … Was there anything so real as words?

The idea of the text is preserved, and space is conserved.

Easy Keyboard Shortcut for… an Ellipsis

By the way, there's an easy keyboard shortcut for an ellipses too.

Here’s the shortcut for a single-character ellipsis:

alt/option + semicolon (;)

I find it especially useful on Twitter when you really can’t afford to spare those two extra characters.

When Ellipses Go Wrong

On occasion, you might see an ellipsis used as an indication of a pause in speech, a place where the writer or speaker has lost their train of thought. Such as:

Well yes, Dorian, the retrieval of post-modern socie … is that a bunny?

This is perfectly acceptable, as long as your protagonist isn't losing their train of thought every other paragraph. Too many ellipses can detract from the effectiveness of the prose (and some readers and writers find it irritating to no end).

In summation, if you're removing text from a quotation (while keeping the meaning intact, of course), then use the ellipsis.

If you have a mental space cadet for a main character, you might want to tone down your desire to use those dots.

How Many Periods Are There In An Ellipses?

You might wonder just how many dots should be in an ellipsis. The answer is that sometimes there are three! Sometimes there are four!

That's a lie, actually. There is no such thing as a four-dot ellipsis. A four-dot ellipsis is actually an ellipsis with a period at the end of it. It's important to remember that you still should punctuate properly even if you're using an ellipsis.

When using ellipses in conjunction with other punctuation, whether they be commas, semicolons, question marks, or exclamation points, treat the ellipsis as though it was just another word in the sentence.

Ellipsis Examples

For example, if Chuck and Carlton just escaped an encounter with a rabid hamster, and are interviewed by the local paper, a journalist might choose to eliminate some of the more superfluous text.

Chuck might say: “I never expected this! Never in a million years! I can't believe that I managed to escape with my life. Carlton almost got bitten, right after the thing started turning purple. We're lucky to be alive.”

The journalist, with precious type space available, cuts it down to this: “I never expected this! … We're lucky to be alive.”

Note that the exclamation point remains in place, while the ellipsis follows it to replace the omitted words. This would be the same if other portions were eliminated. (“I can't believe that I managed to escape with my life. … We're lucky to be alive.”)

Need more grammar help? My favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates reports to help improve my writing is… ProWritingAid . Works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Also, be sure to use my coupon code to get 20 percent off: WritePractice20

How about you? Do you use ellipses in your writing?  Let us know in the comments section.

Write for fifteen minutes about a spacey-yet-brilliant fan of classic literature. Use ellipses properly as your character spouts lines from Wilde , Shakespeare , Emerson , or their preferred writer.

Liz Bureman

Liz Bureman has a more-than-healthy interest in proper grammatical structure, accurate spelling, and the underappreciated semicolon. When she's not diagramming sentences and reading blogs about how terribly written the Twilight series is, she edits for the Write Practice, causes trouble in Denver, and plays guitar very slowly and poorly. You can follow her on Twitter (@epbure), where she tweets more about music of the mid-90s than writing.

104 Comments

So … now I know! A request – at some point can you write about dialogue, quotation marks and how to do paragraphing during a dialogue. I am so confused … not to mention frustrated.

Was that a correct use of ellipsis? And … by the way, my query about dialogue arises from true need. Thank you.

Request noted! Look for an answer next week. 🙂

Liz can i ask some query? oh please, i really need to know it.

Maybe I can help you with dialogue questions…

I am currently reading “Trust No One” by Gregg Hurwitz. Every time he uses an ellipsis, he ends the preceding word with the letter “j.” Examples: I just can’t … ; They thought she’d be morej … docile; He just diedj… . Have you ever seen this combination? Do you know if it has a meaning,and, if so, what that meaning is?

Hey Dori. How strange! I looked this up and it sounds like a glitch with the printing. He doesn’t seem to do that with his other books, as far as I can tell from a quick glance. But to answer your question, no, that isn’t normal or recommended!

THANK YOU. Seriously. I know so many people…who use them like this…for no apparent reason. Drives me nuts.

You are so welcome, Bethany. Joe actually alerted me to your ellipsis request, so thank YOU for providing me with inspiration this week!

I knew a guy who used ellipses like that, and he considered himself a good writer. He also liked to ramble on in “sentences” that were about 90 words in length. They were packed full of multi syllabic words, so when readers didn’t know what the heck he was trying to say, he’d attribute it to their lack of intelligence, rather than his agreement errors and dangling participles (oy!).

He finally found a vanity publisher who appreciated his literary genius (and payments for services rendered).

Please, keep spreading the word about proper punctuation and usage.

Maybe, that’s the point…?

Such a useful post, Liz. And you managed to make a potentially dull topic entertaining. 🙂 Thanks!

You are so welcome, August! And thank you for the kind words. 🙂

Thank you for clarifying the proper use of Ellipses…that is in fact a bunny.

I’m partial to puppies, myself, but there is something to be said for a fluffy bunny.

Can you say that while stuffing marshmallows in your mouth?

martial moo muppiessss. martial mooo muppiess.

I think he means the fluffy bunny part. You’ve never played that game, JHB?

Yes I have. But I thought he meant puppies instead of bunnies.

I love Ellipses….I use them all the time! And, I just learned…I use them the WRONG WAY….convicted!

Haha, glad we can help guide you to the light, Ryan!

… 🙂 wow.

When using an ellipsis that goes over a period you should add a fourth dot. Right? There are surely more rules to using an ellipsis than you have stated.

For example: “They went to the mall. While they were there, they got ice cream. It was good, and they had a good time.”

If I used an ellipsis I would say: “They went to the mall . . . . and had a good time.”

There are absolutely more rules. Punctuation and ellipses is a blog for another day, but for your question above, you would place the period as you normally would (without a space) and then begin the ellipsis.

An Excerpt from Tomdub’s 101 (mis)Uses of Ellipses

The Suggestive Ellipsis “He gave her a wink. ‘So, do you wanna…?’”

The Awkward Pause Ellipsis “Not until after I walked out of my cabin did I realize it was a dude ranch, NOT nude ranch…”

The Moment of Silence Ellipsis “Let us remember those who’ve gone before us…”

The Yada, Yada, Yada Ellipsis “Immediately after the winner of the hot dog eating contest received his blue ribbon, he ran to the bathroom and…”

The Too Lazy to Count Ellipsis “1-2-3… 100”

The Walked in to the Middle of a Conversation Ellipsis “…and then he told me to bend over.”

Wow. Please tell me you’ve posted this on a blog somewhere so I can read the whole thing. Unbelievable.

Haha! I lied. There is no “Tomdub’s 101 (mis)Uses of Ellipses,” only 6…

It makes it eve better. You should post this on your blog, though. Tell me when you do and I’ll link to it in this post.

Tom – I just read this because I just got to this point in the grammar tutorial. It’s great!!!

Wonderful. If you don’t have 101… just get to 11 and then leave an ellipsis.

Call me the novice that I am, but most of these look okay to me. (Oh no! Don’t throw tomatoes!) Could someone PLEASE tell me the proper way to punctuate these examples, since the ellipsis is being misused here? Okay, actually I don’t think I would make the mistake of The Moment of Silence Ellipsis, but I’m sure I’m guilty of the others. Would a dash be preferable in the last example? I’m confused :(. (I had “I’m confused :(…” but then thought better of it and took it off—yikes!) (???)

for an ellipsis to be correct I believe there needs to be a space after the word it follows and a lot of people do not do that. I’ve found myself often putting the ellipsis right after a word. so its sort of like this. Did you mean… vs Did you mean … See the difference? Since an ellipsis replaces words it needs to be treated as a word.

Thank you. Clear explanation.

That’s unreal to my mind!! The right way looks so…wrong…

Several questions:

1. Why is The Suggestive Ellipsis, The Awkward Pause Ellipsis, and The Moment of Silence Ellipsis incorrect?

2. Is The Walked-in-to-the-Middle-of-a-Conversation Ellipsis incorrect because the ellipsis in this case should be replaced with an em dash?

3. Would any of the following be a correct way to do the 5th situation down?

Example 1: “1-2-3 … 100”

This is how you would usually do non-operator successions in mathematics with a standard ellipsis, (but in maths, one would also replace the hyphens with commas and add a comma after the 3 and before the 100.)

Example 2: “1-2-3- … -100”

This is how you would sometimes do operator successions in mathematics with a standard ellipsis (one would, of course, replace the hyphens with minus signs (which is not the same as hyphen)).

Example 3: “1-2-3…100”

Like Example 1 above, but with the spaces removed.

Example 4: “1-2-3 … -100”

This doesn’t seem correct to me at all, but I thought I’d include it for inclusion’s sake.

Example 5: “1-2-3- … 100”

This also doesn’t seem correct to me at all, but I thought I’d include it for consistency’s sake since I included Example 4 above.

How is that a misuse?

Guilty … as charged!! Thanks for the tip.

Great, concise tips. “This is perfectly acceptable, as long as your protagonist isn’t losing their train of thought every other paragraph.” Agreed. Everything in moderation. I now write my first drafts and then go through and remove all the ellipses I used unless they are absolutely necessary. Then I go through again and delete those.

Ha nice Chrissey. Great two step method 🙂

As a former newspaper editor, I can emphatically state that there is almost always something wrong with an ellipsis when it’s used to indicate missing text in a quote. Let’s play with a simple quote: “I can’t wait to get out of here. I’ve been practicing like crazy for the school talent show. My guitar solo tonight is going to be awesome!” Now if the missing text is between two complete sentences, the ellipsis should appear as follows: “I can’t wait to get out of here. … My guitar solo tonight is going to be awesome!” (Note the space after the period ending the first sentence and the ellipsis.) However, if the quote were changed to combine portions of two sentences, it should appear as follows: “I’ve been practicing like crazy for … [m]y guitar solo tonight …!” Alternatively, an ellipsis can indicate text missing between paragraphs: “I can’t wait to get out of here. I’ve been practicing like crazy for the school talent show. … My guitar solo tonight is going to be awesome!” (Starting the sentence immediately after the ellipsis indicates that a sentence or sentences are missing from the beginning of the paragraph.) If an entire paragraph were removed, the ellipsis would appear as follows; “I can’t wait to get out of here. I’ve been practicing like crazy for the school talent show. … My guitar solo tonight is going to be awesome!” Yikes! Silly ellipsis.

Now could that be a different style guide? I wonder if MLA and Chicago have different opinions on the ellipses? Still, this is great info. Thanks Stephanie!

well i suppose it[ … ] really means what the reader thinks, howeve ri do enjoy your ponderings. I am not a professional writer but enjoy writing and reading for a better understanding. I have always wanted to use square brackets how cool is that

So… how about people who use The Yada, Yada, Yada Ellipsis but write/type it as …………………………………………

Ha. Well, yes, that would be incorrect. I like that you called it the “yada, yada, yada ellipsis.

Daphne had written to him several times and included snippets from Virginia Woolf. She described her feelings about how she wrote fiction, and added this from “A Room of One’s Own, “A spider’s web,…still attached to life at all four corners.” She described her feelings about memories being diluted at the beginning of life and then being blindingly bright when closer to the present and added, “If life has a base that it stands on,… stands upon this memory”, a famous quote from “Moments of Being”.

The idea that recent memories were blindingly bright was not always true for Daphne. Things had become brighter since she had met him in her class, since she had decided that he was the one for her; but now, it was time for her to have a date, to go with him to dinner, and she had not mentioned in any of her notes, that she was disorganized, that her thoughts ran in circles and that speaking made it even worse, because she was shy. She thought she should warn him about her inability to make conversation, but she didn’t do it, she didn’t send this quote from “The Waves”, “The streamers of consciousness waver out and are perpetually torn…I cannot therefore concentrate on my dinner.”

He, however, had no problem talking, and could continue talking thought any activity. He talked to her as he helped her into the car, the talked to her as they waited for a table, and he talked to her in the midst of their ordering dinner.

“What do you think about her description of what Bernard is looking at in the first chapter of “The Waves? Was he the one who talked about pushing through the cabbages in the garden?”

“You mean the part about the cat or fox coming home all dirty…look they have peas on the menu…I can’t remember if there were peas in the garden or cabbage. What were you asking me… Bernard, maybe it was Louis who thought that part.”

Dear Liz, In some examples I note a space before the ellipsis, in some a space after the ellipsis. In others, such as your Mr. Wilde citation, an Einsteinian space appears on both sides of the ellipsis, making it an orphan caught in the space-time continuum. In yet others the ellipsis finds itself with no space on either side of it, fearing that it will be crushed out of existence by the weight of the universes on either side. What is a poor ellipsis user to do? (signed) A. Einstein

Oh he is brilliant my friend Al Gore! He is an inventor and his love of shrimp is paled by, by any how he loves coconut shrimp my dear. He devoured 16 pieces of those golden brown coconut encrusted beauties last time we dined. Al reminds me of those people of Spoon River like when the character Roger Heston is … Did I tell you that my friend Al was a Governor, yes can you believe it dear, what state was he governor over well let’s see perhaps Kentucky no it was Arkansas. Oh! I remember Tennessee that’s it dear. Oh yes Roger Heston he was arguing with Earnest Hyde, he said “What’s that, free will or what?” as he ran for his life. Poor Roger

i have always wondered about the … ellipses. For me its a visual thing i like the way it makes things appear just like the word perhaps i love the sound of that word. Any how not that i will get a reply i am enjoying the idea i might…

He can be brilliant and funny, but most of the time he is just annoying. I am convinced he is a frustrated literature professor and loves taking it out on us. Hey, it’s not my fault he decided to go for Sciences instead!

There he goes again. “The world is a stage…” . He quotes authors right and left; what amazes me is he never seems to get them wrong. He’s got one hell of a memory, I’ll give him that.

“… as Ishmael would say.” Who’s Ishmael? Perhaps I should not space out when he opens his mouth; I might learn something. At the very least, which books he is referencing. I don’t think I’d have time to read them all, though. I don’t read like he does.

 Something he says grabs my attention. It must have been my name. “Did you get lost on the Island of the Day Before?… Eco?” The only echo I know can be found in caves, so I say nothing. He sighs. “There are more islands than the one in ‘Lost’, you know? Mystery Island, Treasure Island…. In fact, your ‘Lost’ island is based on all of them.” Maybe I should start reading, after all. I have wondered where the script writers got all their ideas.

“Dad, I don’t…. Actually, no, I do care. Which of those islands should I read about first?” He stands up, turns toward the library and I can see him smiling.

I’m new, and I have just read this. Oh my goodness, I do that all the time – incorrect use of ellipsis. Even in all the comments I have made in the Write Practice. I will make a concerted effort to stop right now. Ahem.

so toms use of ellipses are incorrect?? i just looked up “ellipsis” on wiki and i think some might work. i could be wrong though, i am kind of a high school drop out

I definitely needed this post. Also loved Tomdub’s 101 (mis) Uses of Ellipses. Thanks for sharing!

Hi guys. I see you are using the ellipsis only in conversations. Is it possible to use it as an end of a sentence or a paragraph? i.e. His final thoughts, My God! The food was poisoned, how silly of me, and attempts to hold on to consciousness, extending his arms with imploring hands towards Mari Si, collapsing into shadows…

It’s certainly possible to use the ellipsis to end a sentence. It generally comes off better in a first-person or third-person limited narration setting.

Thanks a lot, Liz! 😉

I did not know this. I’ve always used them to indicate that my speaker was trailing off, or to indicate that s/he’d for gotten their words just before they spoke them.

Question: It looks like YOU put a space in between the ellipsis and the last word before it and another space in between the ellipsis and the next word. I have not seen it like that. I have seen: It was almost the last word… where the ellipsis connects to the last word.

In both examples of uses, you seem to put a space before and after the ellipsis.

Is that correct usage on the page – or should it, connect to a word? Such as when the speaker pauses and then continues (i.e., “It’s like I think…forget that. I know .” His voice deepened as he spoke.)

When you’re connecting two complete sentences in an editorial manner, adding the space before and after the ellipsis is generally the way to go. In other circumstances, such as when you’re using them in a creative context like you mention, connecting the words without the spacing is fine.

The only question I have left is the correct way to type an ellipsis. Is there a space between each period and is there one before and after the whole ellipsis? Is it “…” or “. . .” and if the later that makes the period and ellipsis much more confusing looking.

There’s actually a specially formatted ellipsis that appears in my word processor like magic, but when that’s not available, generally spacing between the dots is the way to go.

I recently got a great tip from Jeff Goins that you can make that magic ellipsis by pressing alt+semicolon (at least on mac). See: …

(Continuing my question): I have been googling it and have found it used connected tot the words on this and other sites: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/ellipses.asp (which is how I have used it previously). Now am confused. Which way is correct?

From a typographic standpoint, you should use true ellipses (…), not just three periods (…). There’s a difference in the amount of spacing. Yes, a little anal, but hey — we’re talking about ellipses for crying out loud!

Nothing wrong with being a little anal about it, right? Although that makes me wonder what the correct plural version of ellipsis is… (not an ellipsis, just trailing off my thought).

That would be ellipses. Now don’t you wish to took Latin…?

Second that, Jeff. I almost always use […] when I bother to use ellipses at all. I’ve only ever seen the use of brackets in legal writing, however, which is where I picked up the practice.

Yes, but I only use […] if text has been omitted. If it’s a pause in conversation, or conversation that has trailed off, brackets would be weird.

Brackets are used when something must be segregated within a parenthetical comment, as using parentheses within parentheses would be very confusing. Example: (unless you intended “legal” and “forced” to be connected [which I doubt]). Terrible example off the top of my head, but many times this practice has saved me from verbosity.

Thank you for posting this valuable lesson. I pride myself on being as grammatically accurate as possible. This certainly helps.

Greetings Liz. I am new to WP and enjoyed this post. However am still a bit foggy on the creative use of ellipsis as distinct from its editorial use. If this distinction is nonsensical, please ignore or deride at will. Sometimes it feels like I have three dots in my brain where there ought to be information on how to use ellipsis (etcetera!)….

Hi Sal! Welcome to WP. Glad to have you here.

From a creative standpoint, ellipses are generally used in dialogue to indicate when a character trails off vocally or loses their train of thought. It can also be used in first-person or third-person limited narration for similar purposes.

Editorially, ellipses are pretty exclusively used to replace words or sentences in quotations for the sake of brevity without taking away from the meaning of the quote.

Thanks for that, Liz. It does seem to be the narrative use of ellipsis that is most confusing, and I’m still not sure what you mean by “limited narration.” Katherine Mansfield is one of my favourite authors and she uses ellipsis liberally in her narration. For example, if I may quote her, in her famous story The Doll’s House, she writes: “Perhaps it is the way God opens houses at the dead of night when He is taking a quiet turn with an angel….” just as one example of many. This usage seems to be to suggestive of thoughts that are better left unspoken, to create mystery and suspense, I guess. Would you agree? And more to the point, would you use ellipses in this way?

Oh… I am so guilty of overusing and misusing ellipses. Why is that I wonder …. It must be something to do with a naturally scatty mind! Thanks for this set of useful reminders. What would I do without thewritepractice.com?…

I heard noises, discreet but clear. A footstep or two and the creaking of the floors and doors… sleeping is impossible in this place. Have i used ellipsis right?

WHY…CAN’T YOU SHOW MORE EXAMPLES….??!!!

Well, this be a good example of what not to do. 🙂

please give me a example!

Oh ellipsis, how do I spell thee ellipsis or ellipses, Perhaps to think, to ponder, how I should use thee Perhaps as in Apollo 11 10 … 9 … 8 …

Nah, boring

Perhaps as in Jomeo and Ruliet “Jomeo, oh … thou?” “T’s … east.”

Perhaps the Wabberjauck, “T’was brillig … groves.”

Perhaps as Hamlet said to Horatio, no Spoonerism possible, oh my, “To … be.”

Enough enough said Buggs and Porky sputtered “Tha’ tha’ …”

Dear Liz Bureman,

I’m writing to you in regards to your recent article titled, “How to Use an Ellipsis.” My client, who shall remain nameless, has objections and suggestions to the points that you presented in your argument.

In the article you stated: “An ellipsis is a trio of periods (…) that serve as a placeholder for text. (…) The idea of the text is preserved, and space is conserved.”

Here are the counter-points presented by my client, who shall remain nameless.

Because the term ellipsis sounds like a mathematical term, it should not be taken too seriously as a literary term. (I do not condone my client’s mud slinging.)

My client, who shall remain (…), has hand written letters to multiple people, using three dots at the bottom of the page to indicate that the message continues on the other side of the paper, and at no time has a single person responded in a confused manner to present themselves lost on the first page.

There are too many examples of three dots being used after the words, “To be continued,” to deny that they mean what you don’t think they mean. I mean, where do grammar rule come from anyway?

In light of these objections, my client, (…) has put forth a suggestion.

When omitting text, use the collection of punctuation that includes open and close parenthesis, and three dots. (…)

When conveying the idea that something is “to be continued,” whether from instance to instance, page to page, or thought to thought, use the collection of three dots all on their own. This would not be called an ellipsis, since it doesn’t use the parenthesis. Instead, this should be called a formoto, derived from the musical annotation of a fermata, to hold.

On behalf of my client, (…)

Hi Liz; I am new to WP and trying to soak it all in! I liked Thomas Furmato’s client’s (…) suggestion, I think it is brilliant! Naturally, the reason this resonates with me is that I am also guilty of mis-using the ellipsis. I use it not only as a text place holder, but to punctuate a pause or trail off (as in, “To be continued…”) a train of thought. I have SO much to learn… 🙂 This post was a bit confusing, but really helpful.

Thanks, Liz for clarifying the difference between “creative” vs. “editorial” use, this helped clarify that I am not completely off.

I also really enjoyed Tomdub’s 101 (mis) Uses of Ellipses; what great examples!

Did I overlook how to form an ellipsis?

Hey Charlotte! Could be! An ellipsis is simply that trio of periods… you see so regularly (and usually unnecessarily) on social media. You can make it by either pressing the period key three times or by using the shortcut for a true ellipsis, Alt/Option + semicolon (;). Did I answer your question?

Sorry for the delay in response Joe, I don’t come here every day.

I know an ellipsis is three periods but I did not know the shortcut you mention.

What about the spaces? I’ve learned form Ruthanne to put a space after my ellipsis; should I put on before it too? … Set it off/out from the sentence?

Hi Joe, sorry I was away so long.

What I want to to know is do you begin and end an ellipsis with spaces, ” … “, or “… “, or ” …”.

I asked that above. I guess I shouldn’t get any hopes up since you asked 3 months ago and they still haven’t done it. xD

It’s funny because the title says they’ll show you how to do it correctly… >.<

Lol, that is kind of funny. xD

Years later & nobody will repost the examples with proper grammar… I learned nothing from this.

Thank you for this. I am learning the craft all over again. It has been years since I have been in school and I just began writing.

Thanks Liz! I’m currently copy editing a manuscript whose author has made the stylistic choice of using ellipses at the beginning and ending of several sentences per page. The MS is 590 pages in length. For the sake of my own sanity, I’m ignoring the ellipses, but in my notes I’ll be including your handy explanation.

Yes, I use ellipsis – or is the multiple form ellipses? Whenever a second character (B) interrupts A, finishing his sentence. Or – with the fourth dot i.e. full stop, when the speaker is distracted. Thanks, Liz, you’ve given clarity to this area.

Hi Liz, I’m a grammar lover, though not a grammar expert. I often use an ellipsis when I want to write a sentence fragment. I use it like a mea culpa. Will I be carted off to grammar jail? Thanks for the piece!

Did you use an incorrect possessive pronoun in one of your sentences above? “On occasion, you might see an ellipsis used as an indication of a place where the writer or speaker has paused or lost their train of thought.” Or is that a new way of avoiding saying “his or her”?

How interesting. I use it at the end of a sentence.

Thomasina looked out of the window and thought of Gabriel. “I shall do one thing in this life … love you, and long for you, and keep wanting you till I die.” She knew that nothing in the world would ever change. “…At home by the fire, whenever you look up there I shall be— and whenever I look up, there will be you,” she whispered. They were irrevocably bound. “At first I did not love you … when I first knew you I merely wanted you to love me … and when I found I had caught you, I was frightened … but you see, however fondly it ended, it began in the selfish and cruel wish to make your heart ache for me without letting mine ache for you…” said Thomasina. She used Gabriel unfairly, but now it was too late for both of them. Gabriel turned from her and was lost in the deep blackness of the night. “Why didn’t you tell me there was danger…,” he murmured, “…Why didn’t you warn me?”

I used quotes from my favorite author, Thomas Hardy Leigh

I would fundamentally disagree with your usage of an ellipsis in that Oscar Wilde quote! What an egregious and growing misuse of the punctuation!

Yes. I do. And sadly … far too often … and incorrectly, at least in my first drafts. 🙂

No I don’t use ellipsis, or at least, not often… («—-Question, was this an ellipsis?) So, I want to try it.

Quote: «When all the sky with clouds is black, Don’t lie down upon your back And look at them. Just do the thing; Though you are choked, still try to sing. If times are dark, believe them fair, And you will cross the Delaware!».

With ellipsis: «Don’t lie down upon your back… And you will cross the Delaware!»

…Ok, that doesn’t make sense but i will post it for my efforts.

Why do people use an ellipsis before an exclamation mark or question mark? eg: “Great work…!”

You dealt with that elusive “four-dot-ellipsis” concept. It’d been bugging me for….

“W … What did you say?” she gasped. “Are you very very sure?”

Huge mistake reading the comments… … (…) […]. I’m more confused now than ever! :/

It seems your point here is to not impart any information while using as many words as possible… I still don’t know how to use it but I am impressed with all of your words You have really got a lot of them.

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How to use ellipses (… a complete guide)

Knowing how to use an ellipsis can be confusing. A space before the ellipsis or not? Spaces in between the three dots or not? Fear not. This guide will tell you all you need to know.

The ellipsis (plural: ellipses) is an incredibly versatile bit of punctuation, typically used in fiction to show hesitation, omission or a pause, and in non-fiction to show a direct quote has been altered.

Depending on which style guide you’re following, an ellipsis can be written with or without spaces before, after or between the dots.

This article will show you when to use ellipses and how to write them. Let’s go!

What is an ellipsis?

Associated press (ap), american psychological association (apa), chicago manual of style (cmos), modern language association (mla), oxford (new hart’s rules), ellipsis to show trailing off or an incomplete thought, ellipsis to show hesitation or faltering.

• Ellipsis used for dramatic pause

Ellipsis to show omission

An ellipsis is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots: … or . . .

The dots can be spaced or bunched up, or preceded/followed by a space or not, depending on style and placement in the text. Once you’ve decided on the approach you’d like to take, or if you’re following a particular style guide, be consistent throughout your document or manuscript.

If you’re following a style guide that spaces out the dots or uses a preceding space, like CMOS and MLA, remember to use non-breaking spaces between dots and before the first dot. (Option+Spacebar on a Mac, Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar on a Windows machine). This will prevent ellipses that may end up at the end of a line from breaking midway through. Any space after the ellipsis can be a normal space.

An experienced editor or proofreader can help you pick the ideal format for ellipses in your project and apply it consistently. They can also help you with non-breaking spaces in the right places (ooh, that rhymes!).

What’s the difference between an ellipsis, en dash and em dash?

Ellipses, en dashes and em dashes may, at first glance, share similar roles, but there are distinct differences between the three marks.

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way. They look different:

• Ellipsis: … or . . .

The en dash has no crossover in use with the ellipsis. It is mostly used in number ranges , scores (e.g. Newcastle beat Liverpool 3–1), connection (e.g. London–Brighton train, work–life balance) and complex compound adjectives (e.g. the post–Cold War era).

The ellipsis and em dash represent different kinds of breaks in text. The em dash denotes an interruption; the ellipsis shows trailing off or hesitation. Lyss Maurer’s article on interrupted dialogue is a great resource that shows this difference.

The em dash never represents missing words; that’s the job of the ellipsis.

It’s a question of style

As I’ve already mentioned, how ellipses are presented depends on which style guide you’re adhering to.

AP style is used by most newspapers, magazines and other media outlets. It focuses on US English, but you can adapt the spelling and other elements to your version of English (UK, Canadian, Australian etc).

Ellipses in AP style are written as three unspaced dots, with a non-breaking space before and after the group ( … ). This style guide also advises retaining a period/full stop at the end of a preceding sentence before the ellipsis (. … ).

An ellipsis can be used to show omission in a direct quote, but, as with any of these styles, be careful not to alter the intended meaning with your omission. Don’t use ellipses at the start or end of direct quotes when using AP style, only in the middle. AP style doesn’t use square brackets around ellipses that have been added to denote omission.

APA is used for research papers in the social sciences, education and other fields. It uses ellipses to show a change to quoted material, such as an omission.

It allows either three dots with non-breaking spaces around each ( . . . ) or the ellipsis character with a space before and after ( … ).

If the quotation includes the end of one sentence and the beginning of another, with omitted material in between, use a period plus an ellipsis (. … or . . . . ).

When following APA style, don’t use an ellipsis at the start or end of quote material, unless essential for clarity. Also, don’t use square brackets around an ellipsis that you’ve added to show omitted material.

CMOS advises writing an ellipsis as three dots, each with a space on both sides ( . . . ). It does concede that some authors, who are otherwise following the Chicago style, prefer the ellipsis single character (closed-up dots), and in this case a space before and after the character should be included.

If the ellipsis is before another mark, e.g. a question mark or a comma, retain the non-breaking space after the final dot (e.g. What the heck is . . . ?). If using the single character ellipsis, close up that space (e.g. What the heck is …?).

Don’t include the final space before closing quotation marks (e.g. “Don’t shut the . . .” she began to say.)

When using an ellipsis to show trailing off, Chicago says a comma is optional to show the transition from speech back to narrative. So either of the following are fine:

• “I can’t believe he . . .” I said.
• “I can’t believe he . . . ,” I said.

In fiction, whether in dialogue or narration, even if an ellipsis follows a complete sentence, only three dots are used, not four (so no preceding period/full stop). However, a final question mark or exclamation mark before the ellipsis is kept. Here are some examples:

• “I’ve never liked bananas . . . Can you guess why?”
• The small group peered over the edge . . . There was nothing below.
• “What do you want? . . . Oh, I thought you were someone else.”
• “This is amazing! . . . What’s wrong?”

Quoted material

When following Chicago style, if an ellipsis is being used after a full sentence in quoted material, retain the period/full stop at the end of the preceding sentence, e.g. “Reader, I married him. . . . When we got back from church.” ( Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë).

If an omission appears at the end of the quote and the quoted material ends a sentence in your text, don’t include an ellipsis. Just end the quote with a single period/full stop and closing quote mark, as in the Jane Eyre example above. Similarly, don’t include an ellipsis at the start of quoted material.

This style is typically used by writers and students preparing humanities research papers.

MLA style for ellipses matches the CMOS guidance: three dots, all of which are preceded and followed by a non-breaking space ( . . . ).

As with CMOS ellipses in quoted material, the preceding punctuation (period/full stop, comma etc) is included before the first non-breaking space, e.g. “The months came and went. . . . White Fang lived fat and prosperous and happy.” ( White Fang , Jack London).

If the omission appears at the end of the quote, include the ellipsis (unlike CMOS) and leave no space before the closing quote mark ( . . .”). Also, include an ellipsis at the start of a quote if it is not the beginning of a sentence in the original text.

Similar to Chicago style, when there is already an ellipsis in the quoted text, add square brackets around your introduced ellipses to distinguish them from the original punctuation marks: [ . . . ].

An Oxford-style ellipsis is similar to that prescribed by AP style: three dots together with a space before and after the trio. The ellipsis can be set as a single character, as MS Word and other word-processing programs usually automatically do for you. If your writing software isn’t playing ball, you can get a single-character ellipsis by typing Option+; on a Mac or Alt+0133 on a Windows machine.

If an ellipsis appears at the end of an incomplete sentence, don’t include the final full stop. However, if the incomplete sentence is at the end of a line of dialogue, add a full stop after the closing speech mark. Retain the full stop at the end of a sentence that precedes the ellipsis:

• Once upon a time … (no full stop at end of incomplete sentence)
• Once upon a time, a princess awoke and said, ‘I’m fed up with princes …’. (full stop after dialogue ending with an ellipsis)
• Once upon a time, there lived a princess. … and they lived happily ever after. (retain preceding full stop)

Use a non-breaking space before the ellipsis – Option+Spacebar on a Mac, Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar on a Windows machine. An experienced editor will do this for you as they work on your manuscript.

NB. The Oxford style is not the same as the University of Oxford style, which closes up ellipses completely (no spaces before, after or between, unless the ellipsis plays the part of a comma, in which case it is followed by a space).

Omitted text in a quote is denoted by a non-spaced ellipses with a non-breaking space before and a normal space after. Don’t include an ellipsis at the start or end of quoted material.

Preceding punctuation can be omitted, unless needed for comprehension (e.g. a question mark or exclamation mark). The full stop at the end of a complete preceding sentence is retained according to Oxford style and there is no space between the full stop and ellipsis (….).

There is no need to add square brackets around an ellipsis that you’ve added to show an omission, unless the original quoted text already contains an ellipsis.

How to use ellipses

Let’s dive into the specific uses of ellipses in different scenarios, with examples of each from popular style guides.

We see this device in fiction when a character is talking and then loses steam (as opposed to being interrupted by another character, for which you’d use an em dash).

The three dots denoting trailing off are also known as ‘suspension points’.

• Matilda stared at him, glassy-eyed. “I can’t believe she’d . . .” (CMOS style)
• Matilda stared at him, glassy-eyed. “I can’t believe she’d …” (Oxford style)

An ellipsis is used in fiction to show a character is speaking hesitantly or faltering in their speech. Please note that a stutter or stammer would be denoted by a hyphen rather than an ellipsis, e.g. “Don’t p-p-push me!”

You can follow the three dots with either a lowercase or capital letter, depending on the effect you’re after. Lowercase would show they faltered mid-sentence; uppercase would show a more definite shift in their thought.

• “I . . . I can’t take it anymore,” Perry whimpered. (CMOS style)
• “I … I can’t take it anymore,” Perry whimpered. (Oxford style)
• “This cake is . . . delicious.” Tamsin washed down the dry mouthful with the dregs of her tea. (CMOS style)
• “This cake is … delicious.” Tamsin washed down the dry mouthful with the dregs of her tea. (Oxford style)
• “We can’t go out tonight . . . My daughter isn’t well.” (CMOS style)
• “We can’t go out tonight … My daughter isn’t well.” (Oxford style)

Ellipsis for dramatic pause

Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, you may find the need to represent a dramatic pause in your writing. The humble ellipsis is the answer.

• He had never seen anything so huge . . . so awe-inspiring . . . in his life. (CMOS style)
• He had never seen anything so huge … so awe-inspiring … in his life. (Oxford style)

Ellipses denoting an omission are used in fiction, for example, if the reader ‘meets’ a character halfway through saying something, e.g. “. . . but she’d never do that.” (spaced here according to CMOS style).

An ellipsis can also be used to suggest more is to follow:

• “to be continued . . .” (CMOS style)
• “to be continued …” (Oxford style)

More commonly, however, we see ellipses showing omission in non-fiction books and academic text where original material is being quoted. For advice on this use of ellipses, please refer to the relevant style guide section above.

When making alterations to quoted material in this way, make sure the original meaning has not changed.

Ellipses in other languages

All the advice in this article relates to the English language. Ellipses are written differently in some other languages. For example, in Chinese, the ellipsis is six dots rather than the three we see in English. In French, there is no space before an ellipsis but there is one after it.

There are more examples from different languages in Wikipedia’s entry for ‘Ellipsis’ .

The ellipsis is a versatile punctuation mark. It can be used in fiction or non-fiction, in dialogue, narration or quoted material. Whether your characters are hesitating, trailing off or pausing dramatically, these three little dots are what you need.

If you have a question about ellipses that isn’t answered in this article, drop it in the comments below.

It’s time to go dotty with ellipses!

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How to Use Ellipses in Your Written Works: 9 Easy Steps

Learn how to use ellipses in your writing, even in tricky situations. 

Have you ever heard someone say, “dot-dot-dot,” indicating they are leaving out a thought or idea? If so, you have heard someone verbalize the idea of the ellipsis.

An ellipsis is made from three carefully spaced period marks. In writing, it can show omitted words and trailing thoughts, depending on the style guide. Because the ellipsis gets used so rarely, keeping track of the rules surrounding this punctuation mark is not always easy.

This guide will help you go through your next written piece word-for-word to listen to verses.

Materials Needed:

Step 1: show trailing thoughts, step 2: leave blanks in quoted material, step 3: check your style guide, step 4: add the ellipsis after punctuation, step 5: know when to use four dots, step 6: end with an ellipsis, step 7: do not add ellipses at the beginning, step 8: skip the ellipsies for middle sentence quotes, step 9: avoid using too many ellipsis.

• Computer with writing software
• Paper and pens
• Grammar checking software
• Your draft writing piece
• Any research material or sources used in your writing piece

In informal writing, you can use an ellipsis to show thoughts trailing off in the middle of the sentence. This commonly occurs when you are writing out someone’s thoughts or dialogue. For example, you might say:

• If only he had . . . Well, it doesn’t matter now.

“If only he had” is not a complete sentence, but the writer intends not to write a complete sentence. Instead, in this instance, the writer wants to show that the thoughts are trailing off in a different direction. You might also be wondering, how to use figurative language .

If you are quoting something in a formal writing assignment, you will use an ellipsis to show where you left words out that were in the original work. Whether you put the quote in quotation marks or set it apart as an indented quote, you will use an ellipsis to show it if you skip part of the author’s original work. For example, consider a transcript of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “ I Have a Dream ” speech. The second paragraph of the speech reads:

“But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense, we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check.”

If you are quoting a portion of a piece but leaving out parts in the middle, you would use an ellipsis, as in:

• “But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. . . . And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”

The ellipsis shows that you left out a sizeable portion of the original work.

All three major style guides, including MLA , APA,  and Chicago style , have their own rules about ellipses use. Before any academic writing, check your style guide and familiarize yourself with its rules. When you are familiar with what the style guide requires, you can start quoting and using the ellipses effectively within a quoted piece.

If the portion of a quote ends with a punctuation mark, you will leave that mark in place before adding the ellipsis. For example, if the omitted portion of a direct quote comes after a complete sentence, you will still place a period at the end of the sentence. The ellipsis will follow the period. Thus, you will have three dots after the initial period.

If the quoted portion ends in a comma, you will leave it and use the ellipsis afterward.

• “But 100 years later, . . . the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.”

The same rule holds for exclamation marks, question marks, semicolons, and colons.

If you quote a piece that has multiple sentences, you may need to use four dots from time to time. Specifically, if the omission comes between two or more original sentences, you will use a period followed by the three dots to end the sentence. Thus you have four dots total, and the fourth one shows the full stop of the period.

• “But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled. . . . One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”

Even though “crippled” was not the last word of the sentence in the original quote, the ellipsis shows up between the two sentences, and thus it needs four dots. No matter how you use an ellipsis, it never has more than four dots or periods in the pattern. So you will have four if the ellipsis shows the end of the sentence, and you will have three if it does not.

If your work uses the MLA style guide, you will add an ellipsis at the end of the quotation if you did not quote the entire passage. For example:

• “But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. . . .”

However, you would not add this final ellipsis in the Chicago Manual of Style or AP style. Instead, you would end with a period:

• “But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free.”

Never add an ellipsis at the beginning of a sentence. Even if you start the quote later in the passage, start with a capital letter. Both the MLA and the AP stylebook agree on this point. In addition, if you do not start with the first word of the sentence from the original work, it’s OK to change the initial capitalization to a capital letter of the portion you use.

Here is an example:

• “The Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”

In the original piece, the opening sentence starts with “But 100 years later.” However, this is not part of the quote. Still, you do not use an ellipsis and capitalize “the” for clarity.

If you add a quote in the middle of a sentence, you do not need to offset it with an ellipsis. Instead, use a comma and quotation mark to show the quoted material, like this:

• In his famous speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty,” indicating a challenging state for the modern African American.

The fact that you included the quote in the middle of the sentence like this shows that you did not quote the entire passage.

The overuse of ellipses is a common mistake in English grammar. Ensure you do not use too many because they make the work harder to read. If you find yourself relying too heavily on them and writing an informal piece, you can use an m-dash to show interrupted dialogue instead. For formal writing, try to rephrase what you’re writing to eliminate the use of ellipsis marks, and you will be in far better shape.

If you still need help, our guide to grammar and punctuation explains more.

• Proofreading Tips

How to Use Ellipses in Writing (With Examples)

• By  Bethan McGloin
• Mar 06, 2023
• Common Errors
• Punctuation

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Ellipses, also known as “dot, dot, dot,” are a type of punctuation with many purposes. In this guide, we explore what ellipses are and how you can help your clients make the most of them in their writing.

What Is an Ellipsis?

An ellipsis is a form of punctuation consisting of three dots (or periods):

To be or not to be …

Ellipses create a longer, less abrupt pause than other forms of punctuation, such as dashes , colons, and semicolons . Writers can use them to:

• Indicate hesitation
• Imply that a speaker wants to avoid certain words or leave them unspoken
• Build suspense
• Represent an omission in quoted text

Ellipsis and ellipses both refer to this type of punctuation, but ellipsis is singular, and ellipses is plural.

For example, this sentence contains an ellipsis :

He must have left … about an hour ago.

And this sentence contains multiple ellipses :

He must have left about an hour ago … I think … or maybe earlier …

Formatting Ellipses

You can format ellipses in several ways:

• With one space before and after the ellipsis:

This is one way … to format an ellipsis.

• With one space before the ellipsis, after the ellipsis, and between each dot: 

This is another way . . . to format an ellipsis.  

• With no spaces before or after the ellipsis or between each dot:

This is a third way…to format an ellipsis.

• With one space between each dot but no space before or after the ellipsis:

This is a fourth way. . .to format an ellipsis.

The way an author formats and spaces ellipses will depend on their preference and the style guide they are using.

As a proofreader, you’ll need to make sure that your client has formatted ellipses consistently and followed the rules of their relevant style guide.

Using Ellipses in Fiction

In fiction, authors often use ellipses to convey or represent uncertainty, hesitation, and thoughts that trail off. Ellipses are most commonly found in dialogue but can also appear in the narration itself: 

She appeared wearing a neon green and pink hat. “Oh,” said her mother, “that looks … nice.”

“I just wanted to say … that …” His voice faded out.

There was nothing else they could do …

Authors also use ellipses to create suspense by delaying the revelation of certain information:

It almost looked like … no, surely it couldn’t be …

They peered out of the dark window and saw … no one at all.

While ellipses can be a useful tool, they shouldn’t be overused. Too many ellipses can weaken their dramatic effect and make the text difficult to read.

Using Ellipses in Quotations

In formal writing, journalism, and academic texts, writers often use ellipses in direct quotes . The ellipses show that the writer has omitted words or sentences because they aren’t relevant or make the quotation less concise. 

For example, take this original quote from author Ursula K. Le Guin:

“A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight.”

We could shorten this quote by removing “Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom” and replacing it with an ellipsis:

“A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it … and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight.”

You should remove any punctuation on either side of the ellipsis unless it’s grammatically necessary.

When your client has used an ellipsis to omit part of a quotation, you’ll need to make sure that the remaining sentence is grammatically correct. The quoted text should read smoothly, as if your client removed nothing. The following example would not be correct:

 “A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it … use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight.” 

If your client has introduced errors by using ellipses in a direct quote, you may not have access to the full quotation and therefore may not be able to fix the issue yourself. When this happens, you should leave a comment for your client, explaining the issue.

When you use ellipses to indicate omissions in quoted text, you can present the ellipsis in square brackets : […]

This formatting isn’t always necessary but can help prevent the ambiguity that occurs when writers use ellipses within one passage to indicate both omissions and uncertainty. Your client’s style guide may also recommend using square brackets with ellipses in this way.

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THE EDITING ESSENTIALS BLOG

Worry-free Writing: how to use an ellipsis

• Denise Cowle
• June 7, 2016

​ How do I make an ellipsis?

​how do i use an ellipsis, 1 an ellipsis shows that a sentence is unfinished. it is used when the writer has left something unsaid or when a sentence tails off., ​2 an ellipsis is also used to show you have left out text from a direct quote., should i put a space before an ellipsis.

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Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Use Ellipses, Part 5: Ellipses in Dialogue

By Erin Wright

Use Ellipses to Indicate a Pause in the Middle of a Line of Dialogue

General Rule: Ellipses in the middle of a line of dialogue indicate that the speaker stopped talking momentarily. 1

“Do you know of any good places to hike around the Illinois Valley?” he asked.

“Hmm, let me think . . . the best place around here is Starved Rock State Park,” I said.

Use Ellipses to Indicate a Disruption at the End of a Line of Dialogue

General Rule: Ellipses at the end of a line of dialogue indicate that the speaker faltered before completing his or her statement. 2

“Is there anything else to do around there?” he asked.

“You can also hike at Buffalo Rock State Park,” I said. “Matthiessen State Park, the I&M Canal trail, eat pizza at Bianchi’s, eat pork tenderloin sandwiches at the Igloo . . .”

“In other words, there’s ample hiking and a lot of places to eat,” he said.

A Few Things to Consider When Using Ellipses in Dialogue

Avoid ellipses overload . The appearance of too many ellipses can diminish their impact. So, save the ellipses for those times when you really need to emphasize a dialogue disruption. Remember that em dashes can also be used to signal dialogue interruptions. 3

Reserve ellipses for the middle and end of dialogue lines. Ellipses aren’t typically used at the start of a line of dialogue. If you need to indicate that the speaker faltered before speaking, do so through descriptive text before or after the dialogue.

Maintain consistent ellipses spacing. Follow your primary style guide , house style guide, or publisher’s guidelines when deciding how to space ellipsis points. If you’re not following a specific guide, choose one format to maintain consistency throughout your document. Two common formats are

• equally spaced points with one space before and after each set (i.e., “Hello . . . there”) or
• unspaced points with one space before and after each set (i.e., “Hello … there”).

Consistent point spacing is also important for ellipses in quotations; however, the guidelines for quotations are more specific because ellipses serve more functions in quotations than in dialogue. The first four parts of this series describe a variety of ways to use ellipses in quotations.

How to Use Ellipses, Part 1: Ellipses within and between Quoted Sentences

How to Use Ellipses, Part 2: Ellipses between Quoted Paragraphs

How to Use Ellipses, Part 3: Ellipses at the Beginning and End of Quoted Sentences

How to Use Ellipses, Part 4: Ellipses in Brackets

1. The Chicago Manual of Style , 17th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), 13.41.

2. The Chicago Manual of Style , 13.41.

3. The Chicago Manual of Style , 6.87.

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• Apr 15, 2021

Fiction Style Guide: Punctuation

The more you get right in your manuscript before submitting to editors, the less work they'll have to do on mechanical issues—and the more time they can spend on making your writing shine. Plus, learning the conventions of fiction style* can save you money .

*This is Articulate Editing house style, which is based on generally accepted fiction convention (in the US) and a pinch of personal opinion. Most of what is written here will apply across the board. If a guideline has wiggle room, I'll let you know. And if you're working with a publisher, make sure you follow their specifications, as their house style may differ slightly. (This style guide also applies to creative nonfiction.)

Quick navigation

Exclamation points and question marks, creative use of semicolons.

Commas have their own blog post

Parentheses

Ellipses/suspension points, quotation marks, single quotation marks, apostrophes.

Whole books have been written about punctuation (a really good one is The Best Punctuation Book, Period by June Casagrande), so it would be pretty difficult to cover every punctuation rule in a blog post. But if you're a writer, you probably know to put periods at the end of sentences without me telling you anyway. This post, therefore, will mostly concern itself with those style issues and punctuation rules that are most relevant to fiction manuscripts.

Only one space follows a period . No matter what your (my) typing teacher taught you in 1987. Times change.

If a sentence ends with an abbreviation that takes a period, the sentence ending period is omitted.

Today I awoke at 4:30 a.m. Tomorrow I'll sleep in.

All other punctuation marks can follow a period that is part of an abbreviation. ( This is the only situation where a question mark or exclamation point will follow a period.)

You really woke up at 4:30 a.m.?

A question mark or exclamation point will take the place of an ending period, even if the exclamation point or question mark belong to a title.

I read Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? It was excellent.

In US English, periods always go inside closing quotation marks, whether double or single.

I just love the word "literally". X

"oh dear," gladys said. "i forgot to read 'the raven.' " ✓.

Periods can be used between words to show staccato speech or frustration. This effect has become popular in some genres, but can become annoying if overused.

"Worst. Day. Ever."

This can look awkward mid-sentence. (I've seen it done, but my preference is to avoid it.)

It was the worst. Day. Ever. X

Sentence fragments are okay for dramatic effect. Just don't overdo.

Yup. That's how it happened. Exactly like that.

Only one at a time, please! (Unless you're writing a comic book.)

Who could it be?? X

Avoid using a question mark and an exclamation point together. There may be times when an exception can be made for creative purposes, but in general, this is considered an amateur move. If more emphasis is needed, consider italics.

Keep exclamation points to a minimum! Too many exclamation points creates melodrama! Which undermines rather than increases reader excitement!

Don't overcorrect by banning all exclamation points. Sometimes they're necessary, especially in dialogue, which can read weirdly flat without them.

"Stop this instant," he shouted. X

"stop this instant" he shouted. ✓.

Both exclamation points and question marks can occur mid-sentence when used parenthetically.

So Mary came over to me—does she think I'm stupid or something?—and grabbed it right out of my hands.

He kissed me () before he left..

Indirect questions don't take question marks.

The question is why she thought it was a good idea in the first place.

He wondered if it was a good idea., is it a good idea he wondered., she asked herself, why did she think it was a good idea in the first place.

You can sometimes use a period with what would ordinarily be a question to change the inflection.

Will everyone please take your seat.

Who wouldn't., why don't you just die..

When dialogue ends with a question mark or an exclamation point, the first word of the tag still needs to be lowercase .

"Well, that just stinks!" He bellowed. X

"well, that just stinks" he bellowed. ✓, "well, that just stinks, doesn't it" he asked. ✓.

Colons only have a few uses in fiction writing. Some writers of genre fiction find them too formal, but writers of literary fiction use them more frequently. For those who dislike them, a dash can often be used in place of a colon.

A colon can be used to introduce a list. Many writers don't like to use colons in dialogue, so a dash can be a good substitute. Another option that works well in dialogue is to use a period and make the list a sentence fragment.

"We have three different proteins that you can add to your salad: chicken, ham, or hard-boiled egg"

"we have three different proteins you can add to your salad—chicken, ham, or hard-boiled egg.", "we have three different proteins you can add to your salad. chicken, ham, or hard-boiled egg.".

A colon can connect two independent clauses or connect a word or phrase to the end of an independent clause. Use it where you want to create a sense of expectancy. Think of the sentence before the colon as rising tension, and what comes after the colon as resolution of that tension. When the reader arrives at the colon, they should anticipate additional information that explains or expands on what came before. Don't leave them hanging!

He had only two choices: he could concede now, or he could fight to the death.

He had only two choices: concede now or fight to the death..

What precedes a colon must be a complete sentence.

The word of the day is: patriotism . X

There's a word i would like to discuss today: patriotism . ✓.

A colon can introduce dialogue or quotations. Used in place of a comma in otherwise conventionally styled dialogue, it can feel old-fashioned and formal, so in general, save it for when there's a reason to emphasize the dialogue.

Some authors use colons to give their dialogue the style of a screenplay.

Mary: Oh, John.

John: oh mary.

If the text after a colon is not a complete sentence or is only one complete sentence, lowercase the first letter. (Unless it starts with a proper noun.)

If the text after a colon is a quotation, dialogue, a direct unquoted question, or consists of two or more complete sentences, capitalize the first letter.

But she couldn't get the question out of her mind: Why had he washed all the bedding if he had nothing to hide?

She knew what came next: first she'd have to do all the shopping. then she'd have to clean, organize, and decorate the house. and finally, she'd have to prepare a seven-course meal..

Colons can't precede closing quotation marks or parentheses, only follow.

While sometimes a sentence will work with either a colon or a semicolon, they're not usually interchangeable. Colons create anticipation of something to come; semicolons connect related, equally weighted ideas. They can also be used as "strong commas."

Use semicolons to connect two independent clauses that are closely related. They create a closer connection than a period, but give more separation than the comma.

I really love pizza; melted cheese and tomato sauce are delicious together.

He left immediately; he didn't even say goodbye..

Use semicolons in place of commas in a wordy and complex series or a list of items that themselves contain commas.

I sent letters to friends from Portland, Oregon; Bangor, Maine; and Austin, Texas.

Use semicolons when joining two independent clauses with conjunctive adverbs. Unlike coordinating conjunctions like and or but , conjunctive adverbs aren't strong enough connect independent clauses with only a comma. For more on this, check out my blog article "Is 'of course' always followed by a comma? Of course not!"

I love to oil paint; however, the fumes are too much for me.

I don't really want to go; besides, i don't think their invitation was sincere..

Then doesn't require a semicolon when it's used as shorthand for "and then."

Drive straight for three blocks, then take a right on Waterfront Street.

Like colons, semicolons shouldn't precede closing quotation marks and parentheses, only follow.

Historically, creative writers have used semicolons as "strong commas" wherever they wanted a longer pause, not just for complicated lists. This was especially common in the nineteenth century. Here's an example from Louis May Alcott's Little Women (1868), which averages six semicolons a page.

“I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so many beginnings there never will be an end."

Most modern writers would use a comma, a dash, or a period instead, but a semicolon isn't wrong. While liberal semicolon use has mostly fallen out of favor, there's still room for creative writers to go beyond the strict usage prescribed for formal writing, especially in literary fiction. For more on this topic, Russell Harper has a great article at CMOS Shop Talk, Fiction+, called " Semicolons in Fiction ."

Commas are the trickiest punctuation mark and have lots of guidelines (that have lots of exceptions), so they have their own separate blog p ost .

Parentheses are useful in fiction to show the narrator speaking directly to the reader. Particularly for humorous asides. This effect should be used sparingly, however, and only if it's appropriate for the chosen point of view.

Avoid using parentheses in dialogue. It may be difficult for the reader to tell if the speaker is giving an aside, or if the author is inserting a comment into the dialogue.

If a separate sentence is inside the parentheses, the terminal punctuation is inside the closing parenthesis.

I am obsessed with shoes. (I am, after all, a woman.)

If the parentheses are inside a sentence, end punctuation follows the closing parenthesis.

This is also true if the parentheses are at the end of phrase that requires a comma, semicolon, or dash.

I am obsessed with shoes (but only fabulous shoes).

I loved him (of course i did), but he had no idea..

Dashes in US English are usually em dashes with no space on either side. (Exceptions are often made when styling e-books because of issues with wrap and to make text more accessible for those who use screen readers.) British English uses spaced en dashes instead (except for interruption of dialogue, which is also an em dash.)

Dashes are the chameleons of punctuation. They can be used in place of colons and semicolons when those punctuation marks feel too formal—or an author dislikes them—and in place of commas and parentheses when setting off non-essential phrases/sentences. Because of this versatility, they're easy to overuse. Also, pay attention to how they can change the quality of the pause in the example. Dashes are speedier than colons.

He knew the rules: do what you're told, do it immediately, and don't complain.

He knew the rules—do what you're told, do it immediately, and don't complain..

Like commas and parentheses, dashes can be used for parenthetical elements. But they tend to emphasize what they surround rather than de-emphasize as parentheses do.

I loved him—of course I did!—but he had no idea.

Use dashes instead of commas to set off a parenthetical element that's a complete sentence or contains internal commas.

He knew the rules—do what you're told, do it immediately, and don't complain—better than anyone. ✓

He knew the rules, do what you're told, do it immediately, and don't complain, better than anyone. x.

Dashes show an abrupt change in direction.

"I'll pick up the—wait a minute, I forgot I have an appointment scheduled."

Use dashes, not ellipses, for interrupted dialogue. For more detail, see my f iction style guide on dialogue .

The en dash is longer than a hyphen, but shorter than an em dash. In the US, en dashes have only two (uncommon) uses in fiction. (Unless you're using them in place of em dashes in an e-book. See my fiction s tyle guide on dialogue for more info).

Use an en dash, not a hyphen, for number ranges.

Here are the records for 1995---2005.

Don't use the en dash for a range that follows "from" or "between." Instead, use "to," "through," or "until "with from, and "and" with "between."

I worked there from 1995 to 2005.

I work ed there between 1995 and 2005..

Use the en dash as a "strong hyphen" when connecting open compounds to another word or connecting two hyphenated adjectives.

Vincent van Gogh–style painting

Pre–world war i fashions.

For hyphens with compound words , see my style guide on spelling and abbreviations .

Use a hyphen to show stuttering. For more detail, see my style guide on dialogue .

"B-b-but, I d-don't know how."

Use a hyphen to separate each letter when spelling a word out letter by letter.

"I live on Paolino Place. P-a-o-l-i-n-o. I'm guessing you can spell place ."

The trend is to not hyphenate words that indicate dual heritage. For example, Asian American . Without the hyphen, the first term modifies the second, so the person in question is an American (noun) with origins in Asia (modifier). With the hyphen, the implication is that the person in question isn't fully American, but some kind of hybrid. For more, check out this article by Henry Fuhrmann at Conscious Style Guide.

Chicago Style ellipses are space, dot, space, dot, space, dot, space. Non-breaking spaces right before and between the dots will prevent the ellipsis from breaking at the end of the line. The final space is omitted when the ellipsis falls at the end of a sentence or is followed by an end quotation mark or a closing parenthesis. With other punctuation marks, add a non-breaking space after the ellipsis and before the punctuation, to keep it on the same line as the ellipsis.

"What the . . . ?" ✓

"someday . . ." ✓.

If you're using the Word ellipsis character , use a space before and after between words. There is no space between the ellipsis character and any following punctuation.

"What the ...?" ✓

"someday ..." ✓.

For more on styling ellipses/suspension points for e-books and print, see my f iction style guide on dialogu e .

Use ellipses (suspension points) to show faltering speech, uncertainty, and pauses.

"Um ... I ... I think ... would you consider it? The proposal, I mean."

Use ellipses to show that a sentence is unfinished or a speaker is trailing off.

"What the ..."

Don't use a period before an ellipsis in fiction. The "four dot" ellipsis is for quoted matter. What people call ellipses are properly called suspension points in fiction. Lack of clarity with this distinction has been the cause of lots of confusion—and the incorrect application of ellipsis rules to suspension points. The Chicago Manual of Style was clearer in the 16th edition than in the 17th, but the reflects the trend to call both ellipses.

CMOS 16, 13.48: "These points (or dots) are called ellipsis points when they indicate an ellipsis and suspension points when they indicate suspended or interrupted thought."

Cmos 17, 13.50: "an ellipsis is a series of three dots used to signal the omission of a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage. ... these dots (which are sometimes referred to as suspension points) may also be used to indicate faltering speech or incomplete thoughts.".

In fiction, ellipses/suspension points show that the speaker is trailing off or pausing, and it doesn't matter whether or not what comes before is a complete sentence. Some editors still argue about this in forums, citing CMOS 13.54, which talks about ellipses used in quoted passages. But CMOS addresses this in their Q & A section, saying, " If you use the ellipsis merely to indicate a voice or thought trailing off, you would not use the period with it: 'I'm not sure . . .' "

Apart from rules, the first dot in a "four dot" ellipsis is a period—a full stop — which contradicts the idea of trailing off. So it's just not logical to add a period before suspension points.

For quotation marks with dialogue , see my style guide on dialogue .

For quotation marks with titles, signs, and mottoes , see my style guide on titles and special treatment of words .

For scare quotes , see my style guide on titles and special treatment of words .

In US English, use single quotation marks in fiction only when embedding quotes inside quotes. All other instances, whether showing irony or indicating titles of son gs, take double quotation marks (unless nested inside a quotation).

Gary snorted. "Right! Next you'll be telling me she said, 'That Gary is quite a catch.' "

"is 'lucy in the sky with diamonds' your favorite song", "lucy in the sky with diamonds" was his "favorite" song.

Apostrophes show possession, indicate dropped letters in contractions, and can occasionally form plurals.

For apostrophes with plurals and possessives , see my style guide on (you guessed it) plurals and possessives .

When letters are omitted, use apostrophes to show the omission.

c annot/can't

Singing/singin', it is/ 'tis (make sure the curly apostrophe is facing left even though it's in the front).

Some contractions are irregular.

am not, is not, are not/ain't

Will not/won't.

Curly, or "smart," apostrophes should always face left, like backwards c 's. Word assumes apostrophes at the beginning of words are opening single quotation marks, and they end up facing right. You can copy and paste a left-facing apostrophe from somewhere else as a work-around. Or type two and delete the first.

If an apostrophe falls at the end of a word, it's part of that word and any following punctuation should come after it. Don't confuse an apostrophe in this position with a closing single quotation mark and mistakenly put periods or commas inside.

"I wis h I were goin', but I ain't." ✓

"i wish i were goin'." ✓.

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Mastering the Art of Ellipsis in Writing: Tips and Examples

Do you ever find yourself at a loss for words? When you can’t quite express your thoughts or feelings, the ellipsis comes to the rescue. Those three little dots have the power to convey hesitation, create dramatic pauses, and even indicate a sentence trailing off. In this article, I’ll delve into the fascinating world of ellipsis in writing and explore its various uses in both formal and informal contexts.

But the ellipsis doesn’t stop there. It also finds its place in the realm of formal writing. Even in more serious contexts, this versatile punctuation mark can still work its magic. From indicating pauses to emphasizing important points, the ellipsis has the potential to elevate your writing and make it more engaging. So, whether you’re crafting a formal essay or penning a fictional masterpiece, the ellipsis is a valuable tool that can help you navigate the intricacies of language and express yourself with finesse.

Table of Contents

What is an ellipsis?

An ellipsis is a versatile punctuation mark that can add depth and nuance to your writing. It is a series of dots used to represent an omission of words, sentences, or even entire sections of text without affecting the meaning of the content. Casually referred to as the “dot-dot-dot,” an ellipsis can help you cut the fluff out of your writing and make it more succinct and impactful.

While the most common use of an ellipsis is in quotations to indicate omissions, it has many other uses in informal and fiction writing. For example, an ellipsis can be used to represent a mood shift, thoughts trailing off, hesitation, pause, or suspense. It allows you to convey uncertainty or create anticipation in your writing.

You might be wondering why there are differences in spacing between the dots in ellipses. Different writing style guides have different rules for ellipsis spacing. The Chicago Manual of Style, for instance, requires a space between each dot in the ellipsis. On the other hand, the AP Stylebook treats the ellipsis like a word in a sentence, so there is no space between the dots but a space before and after the ellipsis. MLA Style calls for a space before each period and a space following the last period in an ellipsis.

To give you an example, let’s take the sentence: “I’m John. Mr. Doe was my father.” If you want to connect the two sentences with an ellipsis, the correct format would be a period followed by an ellipsis. It would look like this: “I’m John… Mr. Doe was my father.” This usage indicates a pause or a trailing off of thought.

When to use an ellipsis

Indicating omitted words.

An ellipsis is a versatile punctuation mark that can be used to represent the omission of words, sentences, or even entire sections of text without altering the meaning of the content. One of the most common uses of an ellipsis is in quoting, where it is used to indicate the omission of certain words or phrases from the original source. By using an ellipsis, we can condense lengthy quotes or remove unnecessary information while still maintaining the essence of the original statement.

For example, in a formal academic writing situation, if I were to quote a passage and omit certain words, I could use an ellipsis to show that there has been an omission without changing the overall message of the quote.

“In the sentence above, the ellipsis shows that certain words in my not-so-humble opinion have been omitted. However, the overall message of the quote remains the same.”

In this case, the ellipsis allows me to indicate that certain words were omitted while preserving the integrity of the quote itself.

Creating Suspense or Trailing Off

Another use of an ellipsis in writing is to create suspense, convey uncertainty, or represent thoughts that trail off. This is particularly common in fiction writing, where authors utilize ellipses to add a sense of hesitation or ambiguity to their characters’ dialogue or inner monologue.

For instance, imagine a scene in a novel where a character is describing someone’s peculiar behavior:

“It almost looked like…no, surely it couldn’t be. They peered out of the dark window and saw…no one at all.”

However, it’s important to note that while ellipses can be a powerful tool in conveying mood and atmosphere, they should be used sparingly. Too many ellipses can dilute their dramatic effect and make the text difficult to read. It’s crucial to strike a balance and use ellipses intentionally to enhance the storytelling or convey a specific emotion or thought.

An ellipsis can be used to indicate omitted words in a quote or to create suspense, hesitation, or trailing thoughts in fiction writing. By understanding these different uses, writers can harness the power of the ellipsis to enhance their writing and engage their readers. So, keep in mind the versatility of this punctuation mark and use it thoughtfully to convey your desired message.

How to use an ellipsis correctly

Using three dots.

When it comes to using an ellipsis correctly, it’s important to remember that an ellipsis should consist of three dots: “…” This trio of dots is used to represent an omission of words, phrases, or even whole sentences without altering the meaning of the content.

For example:

Avoiding overuse

While an ellipsis can enhance your writing, it’s crucial to avoid overusing it. Using too many ellipses can make your writing appear sloppy, dramatic, or even silly. Remember, moderation is key.

Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:

Common mistakes to avoid when using an ellipsis

Using more or fewer dots than necessary, placing a space before or after the ellipsis.

Another common mistake to avoid is placing a space before or after the ellipsis. According to style guides like The Chicago Manual of Style, there should be no spaces before or after the ellipsis. However, some style guides, such as APA style, allow for spaces between each dot. To maintain consistency, it’s best to choose a style guide and stick to its guidelines consistently throughout your writing.

Using an ellipsis at the beginning or end of a sentence

One important rule to remember is to never place an ellipsis at the beginning or end of a sentence. An ellipsis should only be used within a sentence to indicate the omission of words, phrases, or sentences. Placing an ellipsis at the beginning or end of a sentence can create confusion and disrupt the flow of your writing. It’s best to use the ellipsis purposefully and sparingly within the body of your sentences.

Examples of using an ellipsis in writing

In this section, I’ll provide you with some examples of how to effectively use an ellipsis in writing. From formal to informal, these examples will showcase the versatility and impact of this punctuation mark.

In these informal or fiction writing examples, the ellipsis is used to convey pauses, hesitations, or a trailing off of thoughts. It adds a sense of authenticity and allows for more natural dialogue.

It is crucial to remember that an ellipsis should always be used in a way that is appropriate for the context and style of your writing. Whether you’re crafting a formal document or a fictional story, mastering the use of ellipses can significantly enhance the impact and readability of your work.

I have also provided examples of how to use an ellipsis effectively in both formal and informal writing, highlighting its versatility and impact. Whether it’s creating suspense in a novel or indicating a pause in a conversation, the ellipsis can be a powerful tool in conveying meaning.

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Ellipses: When to Use Ellipses in Writing (Examples)

If you've been wondering what ellipses are and when to use them in your writing, you've come to the right place because that's precisely what this article will cover and more.

• Ellipses are a form of punctuation used to show omitted words in quotations, a thought trailing off, to add suspense, or to suggest there's more.

This guide is part of our free online Grammar Book .

What Are Ellipses?

First of all, we should talk about what exactly ellipses are. They're a form of punctuation consisting of three dots in a row. You can use them for many different purposes, but the most common one in formal settings is to show an omission for a quote, and in casual settings, it adds a little suspense.

• Ellipses is actually the plural noun for ellipsis. Three dots count as one ellipsis. If you use the word 'ellipses' with an 'e,' you're inferring there are several sets of three dots.

It's pronounced the same, whether singular or plural, since the two words are homophones .

You pronounce them like this:

[ ih-lip-sis ] / ɪˈlɪp sɪs /

You might also have heard it referred to as 'dot dot dot.' That's the more casual name for it.

How To Format Ellipses

Recommendations on how to format ellipses vary depending on the style guide. For example, MLA and Chicago Manual of Style prefer for you to use spaces between each dot, as well as at the beginning and end of the ellipsis:

On the other hand, AP Style Guide prefers you not to use spaces between the dots. They do agree about using space on either side of the ellipsis, though:

Some style guides will tell you not to use spaces before and after, and some will ask you to use a space after but not before.

Furthermore, you'll sometimes see ellipses enclosed within brackets (most often in formal writing and journalism), and other times not.

So how will you decide how to format your ellipses? I recommend speaking to the editing team at your company to find out which style guide they follow. Alternatively, if they don't have one or you're writing for yourself, you're free to pick whichever one you prefer. Just remember to stay consistent: pick one and stick to it.

When to Use Ellipses

Now it's time to get to the juicy bit: when do you use ellipses? We will go over four significant instances when ellipses are used today.

• To show omitted words
• To pause for dramatic effect
• To leave a sentence unfinished
• Modern uses of ellipses

Let's look into these ones by one.

To Show Omitted Words

To show omitted words in a direct quote is one of the most common ways you'll see ellipses being used. Some even say it's the only acceptable way to use ellipses in formal writing.

So how do you do it?

Imagine you wanted to quote something somebody had said, but it was long, and the middle bit wasn't relevant to your point. Then you'd be able to leave out the bit that isn't relevant and replace it with ellipses instead. The idea is that this way, the reader will know you've left out part of the quote.

Here's an example of what that might look like:

As per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "Punctuation used in the original that falls on either side [ ... ] may be retained if it helps clarify the sentence structure."

This quote's whole sentence is, "Punctuation used in the original that falls on either side of the ellipsis points is often omitted, but it may be retained if it helps clarify the sentence structure." Still, it's a rather long sentence, and it wasn't essential to show it in its entirety, so I replaced the middle bit with an ellipsis placed within brackets.

• Note that when doing this, you'll want to try to keep the grammaticality of the sentence intact when you split it this way. The idea is when the reader reads the sentence, it still makes sense , and they can grasp the meaning intended.

Here are some more examples:

"Great moments are born from great opportunity, and that's what you have here tonight, boys. [...] Tonight, we are the greatest hockey team in the world." —Herb Brooks "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. [...] But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done." —Rocky Balboa "I've found that nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks. [...] There is no doubt about it. [...] Give everything you've got. And when you fall throughout life, fall forward." —Denzel Washington

Pause for Dramatic Effect

This use of ellipses is a little less formal and most commonly found in fiction texts and casual forms of communication, like email or text.

• If you want to mark a pause in a sentence, you can use ellipses.

So what's the difference between a comma and an ellipsis or an em dash and an ellipsis? Well, for starters, ellipses mark a longer pause than a comma. But it's a softer pause than a dash, which can be slightly abrupt. But mainly, the break marked by an ellipsis helps create a dramatic effect or build suspense.

Here are some examples:

I wandered into the kitchen and you'll never guess what I saw... my cat pooping on the floor!  She's given the project the go ahead, but... she's picked another team to do the job. I'm really into you...

Leave a Sentence Unfinished

Nowadays, songs have neat, well-thought-out, and pretty dramatic endings. But some of you might remember the days when songs used to end by gradually decreasing in volume.

That's the equivalent of using an ellipsis to trail off into silence.

• You can use them for this purpose if you aren't sure what you want to say next, are avoiding telling a difficult truth, or are leaving space for the other person to say something. 

Here are some sentences that illustrate this use of ellipses:

Yes, Sally was at the reunion last night. She seemed very... I'm not sure this opportunity is right for you... So are you ready to go or... ?

Modern Uses of Ellipses

I wanted to include a separate section to talk about modern uses of ellipses because social media and technological advances have greatly influenced how we use ellipses in the same way they've impacted many other aspects of language. This can be confusing because you might see certain words or punctuation used in ways that aren't accounted for in grammar texts.

• But it's also positive because it gives you the freedom to experiment and be creative in your writing . It means that the rules can be broken.

Here are some of the ways you might see ellipses being used on social media these days:

• To show we are pausing to think I think I'll have... one scoop of vanilla and one chocolate.
• To make a suggestion We could go to the cinema...
• To indicate the other person is typing . . .
• To communicate annoyance or impatience Are you ready or...

These are just a few. I'm sure you'll notice many more ways people are using ellipses if you pay attention. These ways of using ellipses probably don't follow proper grammar rules, but as long as you know that and can differentiate the use of ellipses in casual settings and their use in formal settings, you're safe. So have fun!

• One final piece of advice - and this applies to all uses of ellipses - is don't overuse them. They're a great tool, but they'll encumber your text and lose their effect if you use them all the time. 

Concluding Thoughts

That concludes this article on the use of ellipses. I hope you found it helpful.

Let's summarize what we've learned:

• Ellipses are punctuation marks made up of three dots.
• You can use them to show omitted words, trail off for dramatic effect, or leave a sentence unfinished.
• Social media and text messaging use ellipses in entirely new ways.
• Get creative and have fun!

If you enjoyed this article, you'd love our Grammar Book , a free online database of grammar articles just like this one. Check it out!

Learn More:

• Slash: When to Use Slash in Writing (Examples)
• Periods: When to Use Periods in Writing (Examples)
• Exclamation Points: When to Use Exclamation Points in Writing (Examples)
• Commas: When to Use Commas in Writing (Examples)
• Semicolons: When to Use Semicolons in Writing (Examples)
• Colons: When to Use Colons in Writing (Examples)
• Parentheses: When to Use Parentheses in Writing (Examples)
• Parallelism: What Is Parallelism? Definition and Examples
• Capitalization Rules: What Are the Rules Capitalizing Words? (Examples)
• Abbreviations: What Are Abbreviations? Definition and Examples
• Question Marks: When to Use Question Marks in Writing (Examples)
• Quotation Marks: When to Use Quotation Marks in Writing (Examples)
• Homophones: What Is a Homophone? (Meaning and Examples)
• Verb Tense: What Is Verb Tense? Definition and Types (Examples)
• Transitive and Intransitive Verbs: Definition and Examples

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Using ellipses in a novel

A lot of my favorite writers use ellipses, in both narration and dialogue. I know the rules for them, and how they are broken (somewhat) for fiction. The problem I have is that when I vacillate between the three-dot ellipsis and the four-, I run into a problem on line breaks. In Journey to the End of the Night and the works of Henry Miller, they will have these types of usage:

"Doctor, I rely on you . . ."

She would go on like this as long as she felt like it. . . . Today she seemed to me ready to quadruple her efforts.

"I say, Robinson! Hey there! . . ."

I know from grammar and usage guides that they are spaced; they are spaced in novels as well. However--and this is my question--when I space them on my manuscript (in MS Word 2013), they treat it as different words and will break them in half. If I don't space, it looks awful. Can the editors tell the difference? Will they care if I don't space them out, or is there an method to fix it? I tried setting it up in the options in Word, but it has nothing for four-dot ellipses; it treats them as though they don't exist.

• punctuation

• 1 I think the spaces look terrible and I never use them. Three or four periods in a row will never ever be broken by Word. –  Lauren-Clear-Monica-Ipsum Commented Jul 11, 2017 at 15:49
• 2 @LaurenIpsum I agree. I've seen spaced ellipsis used in some novels and I personally think it's kinda ugly to read. I don't know why. I also think they're unnecessary anyway. –  Nick Bedford Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 4:52

2 Answers 2

Editors care if you have a good story to tell and can tell is reasonably well. No manuscript was ever or will ever be rejected on the basis of spaces around an ellipsis. Four spelling errors on the first page, maybe. Spacing around an ellipsis, never. All that will get taken care of in copyediting and typesetting, if you get that far. Focus on your storytelling and let the ellipses fall where they may.

Chicago style is with the spaces. As are most law briefs. You get used to that, it can stick. But AP style is without. And AP style is what people generally see in regular life. (News Stories, most media follows this).

But fiction, though it tends mostly towards no spacing in older books and sometimes even those dang BRACKETS, is wildly inconsistent from book to book and printer to publisher.

Chose one format, and stick with it. As long as you are consistent, it should not matter.

There is a reason why the program doesn't like the spacing--more often it's no spacing. There are other rules out there.

• I'm not sure what you mean by older books--all the ones I love and admire were written and published in the early half of the twentieth century, and a lot were written in French originally. And the publishers or imprints that I love--New Directions, Grove/Atlantic, Vintage--they use the spaces. All my books are trade paperbacks; I find mass market editions reprehensible (unless its a collector's edition), so I don't really know what they use. But I do study what I read, and it seems that the fiction that matters, serious, literary fiction, they all use spaces. . . . –  August Canaille Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 1:56

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Punctuating Your Narrative: Guidelines for Using Ellipses in Fiction Writing

Ellipses, those intriguing series of dots, often find their way into the heart of fiction writing, especially within dialogue. They serve as a versatile tool for authors, allowing them to infuse their narrative with pauses, interruptions, and trailing thoughts that mimic real-life speech. Understanding how to use ellipses effectively can enhance the reader's experience by adding depth and realism to the characters' conversations. This article explores the nuanced role of ellipses in fictional dialogue and offers guidance on their proper use, ensuring that writers can punctuate their narrative with confidence.

Key Takeaways

• Ellipses are crucial for creating suspense, indicating interruptions, and reflecting incomplete thoughts in fictional dialogue, contributing to a more authentic and engaging narrative.
• Writers should be mindful of ellipsis etiquette, avoiding overuse and misplacement, and adhere to style guides to maintain academic rigor and readability in their work.
• Understanding the difference between ellipses and other punctuation, such as em dashes, and knowing when to use each can significantly impact the flow and interpretation of dialogue.

Mastering the Pause: The Role of Ellipses in Fictional Dialogue

Creating suspense and uncertainty.

In the realm of fiction writing, the use of ellipses can be a powerful tool to instill a sense of suspense and uncertainty in your narrative. Ellipses heighten the reader's anticipation , making them eager to turn the page. By deliberately omitting certain words or phrases, you invite readers to fill in the gaps with their imagination, which can be particularly effective in building tension.

Consider the following examples where ellipses are used to create suspense:

• "She opened the door slowly, unsure of what she would find on the other side..."
• "The footsteps grew louder as they approached... and then suddenly stopped."
• "'I never thought I'd see the day when...' His voice trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging."

These instances demonstrate how ellipses can suggest incomplete thoughts or interruptions, thereby contributing to the overall mood of suspense. It's important, however, to use this punctuation mark sparingly to avoid diluting its impact. Overuse can lead to confusion and disrupt the flow of your narrative, which is why striking the right balance is crucial for maintaining the desired effect.

Signaling Interruptions and Incomplete Thoughts

In the realm of fiction writing, the use of ellipses serves a unique purpose beyond mere decoration. When you wish to convey a character's hesitation or a faltering train of thought, an ellipsis can be a powerful tool. It signifies a pause or silence that is loaded with meaning , often more than words could express.

Consider the following examples of how ellipses can be used to signal interruptions and incomplete thoughts:

• To indicate a character's speech trailing off: "I thought I could handle it, but..."
• When a character is interrupted by another: "Just wait a moment, I'm sure—" "No, we don't have time!"
• To show a character's uncertainty or inability to continue: "The truth is, I don't know if..."

These scenarios are not just about the words left unsaid; they are about the emotions and tensions that the silence conveys. As a writer, you must balance the use of ellipses with the overall narrative pace, ensuring that each pause is meaningful and contributes to the development of your characters and story.

Balancing Dialogue Flow with Narrative Pace

In crafting dialogue, the rhythm of the exchange is as crucial as the words themselves. Ellipses can be a powerful tool in managing this rhythm , allowing you to slow down the pace where necessary and provide a moment of reflection or tension. Consider the following points when using ellipses to balance dialogue flow with narrative pace:

• Use ellipses to indicate a trailing off of speech, suggesting a character's hesitation or uncertainty.
• Employ them to create a pause for effect, giving the reader time to ponder the significance of what's been said.
• Be mindful of the frequency of ellipses to avoid disrupting the natural cadence of conversation.

Remember, your style of writing dialogue should reflect the unique voices of your characters and the overall tone of your narrative. Overusing ellipses can lead to a choppy and disjointed reading experience, while using them sparingly can enhance the emotional impact of your scenes. As you refine your dialogue, listen to the rhythm it creates—does it ebb and flow like a natural conversation? Does it align with the pacing of your story? These considerations will guide you in punctuating your narrative effectively.

Ellipses Etiquette: Conventions and Misconceptions

Understanding the ellipsis: more than just three dots.

When you encounter an ellipsis in fiction, you're seeing more than just a trio of periods; you're witnessing a strategic pause , a breath in the narrative. Ellipses serve a nuanced purpose , allowing writers to craft dialogue that mimics the natural ebb and flow of conversation. They can indicate hesitation, a trailing off of thought, or a moment of silence that speaks volumes. It's essential to grasp the subtleties of this punctuation mark to use it effectively in your writing.

Consider the following points when incorporating ellipses into your narrative:

• To convey a character's uncertainty or reflective pause, an ellipsis can be a powerful tool.
• In dialogue, an ellipsis can suggest that a character's speech is faltering or that they are being interrupted.
• The use of an ellipsis should always serve the story, enhancing the reader's experience without causing confusion.

Remember, while an ellipsis can add depth to your characters' voices, it's crucial to avoid overuse. A well-placed ellipsis can be impactful, but when overdone, it can disrupt the flow and clarity of your narrative. As with all aspects of writing, moderation and intent are key.

Common Pitfalls: Overuse and Misplacement

When you incorporate ellipses into your narrative, it's crucial to avoid the common pitfalls of overuse and misplacement. Ellipses should serve a clear purpose , enhancing the text without distracting the reader. Overusing ellipses can lead to a choppy and disjointed reading experience, while misplacing them may obscure the intended meaning or interrupt the natural rhythm of the dialogue.

To maintain the integrity of your writing, consider these guidelines:

• Use ellipses to indicate a trailing off of thought or a pause in dialogue, but do so sparingly.
• Ensure that the placement of ellipses aligns with the emotional tone of the scene.
• Avoid substituting ellipses for other punctuation marks that might be more appropriate, such as commas or dashes.

Remember, the key to effective use of ellipses lies in moderation and precision. By adhering to these principles, you can skillfully punctuate your narrative and keep your readers engaged.

The Academic Perspective: Adhering to Style Guides

When you delve into the realm of academic writing, adhering to style guides becomes paramount. These guides provide a framework for consistency and clarity, ensuring that your work aligns with the expectations of your academic community. The use of ellipses is no exception , and it's crucial to understand the nuances of their application as prescribed by various style guides.

For instance, Skidmore College advises using an ellipsis of three dots to omit parts of a source not necessary for your quote. When omitting material at the end of a sentence, an additional period is required. This is just one example of how style guides can differ in their approach to ellipses. Academic planning tools often emphasize the importance of adhering to these guidelines for students' success , as they can significantly impact the readability and professionalism of your thesis or research proposal.

To avoid common pitfalls, familiarize yourself with the most relevant style guides in your field. Here's a quick reference to some of the most common academic style guides and their stance on ellipses:

• MLA (Modern Language Association)
• APA (American Psychological Association)
• Chicago Manual of Style

Each guide has its own set of rules for punctuating ellipses, and it's essential to consult them when preparing your manuscript. Remember, the goal is to communicate your ideas effectively while respecting the academic traditions that foster a shared understanding among scholars.

Dive into the world of academic writing with confidence by exploring our comprehensive guide on ' Ellipses Etiquette: Conventions and Misconceptions '. Uncover the secrets to using ellipses correctly and avoid common pitfalls that even seasoned writers sometimes stumble upon. Don't let punctuation marks stand in the way of your scholarly success. Visit our website now to learn more and take advantage of our expert resources designed to streamline your writing process. Your journey to mastering ellipses awaits!

In conclusion, the judicious use of ellipses in fiction writing can greatly enhance the narrative by providing rhythm, suggesting speech patterns, and conveying emotional subtleties. As we have explored, ellipses serve to indicate omissions, trailing thoughts, and pauses in dialogue, contributing to a more authentic and engaging reading experience. Writers must, however, wield this tool with care, ensuring that its application is consistent with the established rules of punctuation and does not detract from the clarity of the text. By mastering the nuanced use of ellipses, authors can elevate their storytelling, allowing readers to connect more deeply with the characters and the unfolding plot. As with all aspects of writing, practice and thoughtful consideration will lead to the most effective and impactful use of ellipses in any narrative work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should ellipses be formatted in fictional dialogue.

In fictional dialogue, ellipses should consist of three dots with a space on either side, except when ending a sentence. For example, 'Well . . .' or 'I wonder if . . . .' Remember, the ellipsis indicates a pause or trailing off of speech.

Can ellipses be overused in fiction writing?

Yes, overuse of ellipses can disrupt the flow of narrative and dialogue. They should be used sparingly to indicate pauses, unfinished thoughts, or interruptions in dialogue, ensuring they enhance rather than detract from the story.

Do different style guides have specific rules for using ellipses?

Yes, style guides such as APA, MLA, and Chicago have specific rules for using ellipses. Writers should consult the relevant style guide to ensure proper usage, especially for academic or professional writing.

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Punctuation Marks: Ellipsis

by Melissa Donovan | May 10, 2022 | Punctuation Marks | 37 comments

Punctuation marks: the ellipses…

You see it everywhere, but most people don’t know what it’s called or how to use it properly.

In fact, it’s often referred to as “dot, dot, dot” even though it does have a name. This punctuation mark is the ellipsis .

It is a series or row of three periods, which is usually used to indicate an omission. It may also be used to indicate faltering or interrupted speech or a pause.

Punctuation Marks 

Some punctuation marks are clear-cut while others cause a lot of confusion. Most of us mastered periods and question marks back in elementary school. Commas, semicolons, and ellipses aren’t as easy to master. As a result, many punctuation marks are frequently misused.

The ellipsis is one such punctuation mark. Most people don’t know the name of this punctuation mark, and those who do often confuse the singular and plural (just as many people confuse singular datum and plural data ).

Luckily, the ellipsis isn’t nearly as confusing as the comma. It’s relatively easy to learn how to use it correctly and how to refer to it properly.

According to The Chicago Manual of Style:

An ellipsis — the omission of a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage — is indicated by ellipsis points (or dots)… Ellipsis points are three spaced periods ( . . . ), sometimes preceded or followed by other punctuation.

Singular and Plural

The word ellipsis is not plural. In other words, it refers to the three points, together, as a single unit, which is often colloquially referred to as dots or periods. Here is an ellipsis:

The plural of ellipsis is ellipses. This would indicate more than one set of three dots:

. . .    . . .    . . .

This punctuation mark may also be called a suspension point, points of ellipsis, or periods of ellipsis. But to keep things simple, let’s just stick with the word ellipsis .

The ellipsis is primarily used to indicate an omission. It can be an intentional omission, such as when you’re using a quotation but want to skip over a portion of it. Consider the following quote from Stephen King:

Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much about what they do — not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when it’s bad.

If space is tight, you might want to omit part of the quotation, but you still need to indicate a missing piece of text. You would use an ellipsis:

Fiction writers . . . don’t understand very much about what they do — not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when it’s bad.

Faltering or Interrupted Speech

The ellipsis may also be used to represent faltering or interrupted speech:

“Well, I . . . uh . . . don’t know,” she said.

We can also use an ellipsis to indicate a pause or unfinished thought. At the end of a sentence, an ellipsis represents trailing off into silence.

Using an ellipsis to represent a pause can get a writer into trouble. We tend to pause a lot in speech. Pauses give us a moment to collect our thoughts or add emphasis to what we’re saying. But in writing, a page peppered with ellipses wreaks havoc on the eyes.

The same applies to unfinished thoughts. A lazy writer might use ellipses to indicate, “and so on” or “et cetera.” In text messaging and social media, many people use ellipses where they believe the reader will implicitly understand what would be stated next. In professional-grade writing, we finish our thoughts, so ellipses used for this purpose should be rare.

However, when we are writing dialogue, an ellipsis can come in handy, especially if we want to show a character’s speech trailing off. Keep in mind, though, that ellipses, like exclamation points, should be used with caution and only when truly needed for emphasis. As a general rule, don’t use it unless you must.

Notation and Formatting

You’ll see ellipses formatted in two ways, either three points without spacing (…) or three points with spacing ( . . . ). In some cases, four points are used, but this is rare and not covered in this article.

In the U.S., an ellipsis is generally formatted with spacing between each ellipsis point: ( . . . ) per the most common style standards.

The Chicago Manual of Style warns against using ellipsis at the beginning or ending of any quotations. However, some writers will place ellipses at the beginning or endings of quotations to indicate preceding or following text that has been omitted. This ensures that readers are aware of omissions and prevents using quotations out of context.

Using Punctuation Marks Like the Ellipsis

If you want to ensure you’re using grammar and punctuation marks correctly and consistently in your writing, pick up a grammar manual or style guide. You’ll find that the more you write, the more frequently you come across grammar and formatting situations that are unclear. Grammar and style resources will be a great help.

37 Comments

So, are . . . and … interchangeable? You used one for omission and the other for pause in the examples, which left me wondering… <== Ooh, look at that. Unprofessional usage.

It depends which style guide you’re using. The important thing is to be consistent. I just made them consistent in this piece, so now they’re the same 😉 Thanks Kelvin.

Good article, thanks for sharing!

Thanks, Helen.

Is it really Thanks, Helen? Or is it Thanks Helen.

It’s really “Thanks, Helen.” I’d recommend looking things up before challenging them on a public forum.

What a great overview of all the uses for the ellipsis. I tend to use them a lot in my own writing, and this info really sheds some light on when the right time and place to do so is, so to speak. Anyway, great article!

Thanks, Vanna. I have come to view ellipses as a crutch, a space-filler that writers use when they don’t want to finish a sentence or use action to demonstrate a pause. My own rule is to use them as rarely as possible; that way, they have a greater impact when they do appear (the same is true of exclamation marks).

This is fantastic, Melissa. One of my pet peeves is how often some writers use ellipses at the end of the sentences, which as you point out, is an indicator of trailing off into silence. But so many don’t know to use it that way. Love them to death, but I’ve noticed a lot of my screenwriting friends are ellipses happy and I’m not sure why.

I notice it a lot in emails, which is what inspired this post. In fact, I’ve seen many instances where the ellipses are used where a period would suffice. Punctuation has become rather subjective in the information age!

GUILTY…

Thanks for a good article Melissa. Will be back for more.

Dear Melissa Youyr article was a real confidence builder for me. Thanks.

Thanks, Kathleen!

Hi Melissa,

Never ever thought that punctuation could be described as creatively, till I read your blogs.You make it sound so easy. There is plenty of information available on the use of punctuation for prose, but have been trying desperately to find the use of punctuation for poetry and not been able to find this.Can you help? How much creative liberty is allowed for punctuation marks in poetry? Can poetry end with ellipsis be used at the end of each thought and sentence in poetry to connect the next sentence. But how often?Is it grammatically correct or incorrect?

Does every sentence in verse have to begin with a capital letter, even though the next thought is connected and ends with a comma or a semicolon?

What is a good book for punctuation for both poetry and prose writing style.

Would love to hear from you.

B/ Rgds Cora

In poetry, there is a ton of room for creativity. I’m actually working on a post about grammar and poetry, but here are a few insights:

• The best way to learn how to punctuate poetry is to read a lot of reputable poets’ work.
• You can use ellipses as you described in a poem; however, I personally find poems with a lot of unnecessary punctuation to be distracting. That goes for exclamation marks, commas, em-dashes, and ellipses.
• Each line in a poem can indicate a new thought, so you probably don’t need punctuation (ellipses) for that.
• Many poets don’t use any uppercase letters in a poem.

I tend toward minimalism with regard to punctuation in poems — I want each punctuation mark to really mean something; otherwise, it gets cut.

My best suggestion for you is to pick up a book that will teach you punctuation in general. I use the big one – Chicago Manual of Style . But what you really need to do is read published poetry. Get a few books of poems by well known poets, pick up a few poetry journals. Online, I strongly recommend subscribing to Rattle . Familiarizing yourself with the poetry that’s out there is your single best bet for picking up all this stuff, and this is, in large part, due to the creative liberty that poems afford. You’ll eventually find a style that suits you.

I love this! This is the first time I’ve found a blog on punctuation. I just read a book that seems to need some help. I love the story line, I just find it difficult to get past some of the things the writer does. ie: “let. me. go.” That is actually used more than once in the book. This is a series, so you can only imagine the punctuation mistakes. I’m no writer, and I know I must make many mistakes. But, I do hope they aren’t as glaring as those. My question to you is, what is the correct way for this author to get her point across. It’s been a month since I read the book, but that just keeps on nagging my thoughts.

The construction you’ve asked about (let. me. go.) is becoming more and more popular in writing. Here we have an author using the period to indicate a full stop in speech. I would feel better about this construction if the words were capitalized and if it only occurred rarely in the writing. It’s acceptable for writers to take creative liberties with punctuation but as you can see, it’s also risky. Some readers just won’t like it. The technically correct way for the author to write this would have been as follows: “Let me go.”

I don’t have a problem with the full stop after individual words to indicate the pause between words, but I would be annoyed by the lack of capital letters. The purpose of punctuation is to make the meaning clear. If it doesn’t do that, or leaves it ambiguous, then it’s incorrect. And, in my opinion, that also applies to poetry.

Different people will have different reactions to this type of construction. It is important for creative people to take liberties with language and experiment with it. However, doing so will certainly rub some people the wrong way. For me, it just depends on the context. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t.

What is a good way to use ellipses (or some other punctuation mark) to indicate a prompt-and-answer in an interview? e.g. (Interviewer): If I had a billion dollars I would (Interviewee): Give the money to my wife and get back to work.

Is the following layout ok for the 10th such question-and-answer? 10. If I had a billion dollars I would . . . . . . Give the money to my wife and get back to work.

I wouldn’t use ellipses in this case. Since it’s a formal interview, here’s how I would construct it:

Interviewer: What would you do if you had a billion dollars? Interviewee: I would give the money to my wife and get back to work.

I’m curious about how you worded this statement you made above:

“However, when we are writing dialogue, an ellipsis can come in handy, especially if we want to show a character’s speech trailing off. Keep in mind, though, that ellipsis, like exclamation points, should be used with caution and only when truly needed for emphasis. As a general rule, don’t use it unless you must.”

I would have said, “Keep in mind, though, that ellipses, like exclamation points, . . . or “Keep in mind, though, that an ellipsis, like an exclamation point, . . .

My understanding is that the noun “ellipsis” refers to all three points as one unit. Would you clarify your usage for me?

P.S. After I clicked on the “Submit” button, it was too late to correct an oversight I noticed in my last comment. I believe I should have put a space after the last comma before the ellipsis in each sentence.

I guess we both made a typo 😉

I have a question about how ellipsis are written or key stroked. If, for exmple I write “all men are created equal…some more equal”. Is it correct to have the ellipsis begin immediately after the L in equal and end immediately before the S in some? or should there be a space after L and before S?

Hi Tim. The answer you seek is in the post. Check near the bottom.

Hello Melissa, this was a great article. I myself never wondered when … (I’ll still call it dot dot dot, ellipsis seems alien. XD ) is used. Then I was critiquing on the critiquecircle page and there was one writer who was very fond of using this structure. And while learning more about ellipsis I stumbled here. I’m sure your writing will help me a lot. Loads of thanks! : )

You’re welcome! I’m glad you found this article helpful, Aditya.

Thanks, Melissa for this helpful information. 🙂 — Suzanne

You’re welcome, Suzanne.

I use the ellipsis at times in my writing but hardly ever in e-mails or texts.

What’s up with the lower-case “k” instead of writing “Okay” or “Ok”? Does that mean that person is responding grudgingly? I don’t care for it.

I don’t know about the lowercase “k.” Sounds like some kind of shorthand.

This is fantastic advice, Melissa – thank you for this. Toni x

You’re welcome!

Errands with the… hardly bother me, but I am abhor authors who start sentences with conjunctions constantly. I will actually put the book down. Can you speak to that.

I’m not sure what you mean by “Errands with the…” How are errands relevant?

Also, I think it’s an overreaction to “abhor authors” who start sentences with conjunctions, whether they do it constantly or rarely. To abhor is to hate, and that just doesn’t seem like a reasonable and proportional response. With that said, yes, I can speak to it: Anything that’s overdone can be a little annoying, but I certainly wouldn’t put a book down just because a lot of sentences start with conjunctions.

We all have our quirks and bad habits, and we all make mistakes. That’s something I try to keep in mind as a reader.

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Read an extract from Tade Thompson’s science fiction novel Rosewater

In this tantalising extract from Tade Thompson’s debut Rosewater, we meet Kaaro and learn about the psychic powers he has had since an alien invasion

By Tade Thompson

5 July 2024

Jane Khomi/Moment RF/Getty Images

Rosewater: Opening Day 2066

I’m at the Integrity Bank job for forty minutes before the anxieties kick in. It’s how I usually start my day. This time it’s because of a wedding and a final exam, though not my wedding and not my exam. In my seat by the window I can see, but not hear, the city. This high above Rosewater everything seems orderly. Blocks, roads, streets, traffic curving sluggishly around the dome. I can even see the cathedral from here. The window is to my left, and I’m at one end of an oval table with four other contractors. We are on the fifteenth floor, the top. A skylight is open above us, three foot square, a security grid being the only thing between us and the morning sky. Blue, with flecks of white cloud. No blazing sun yet, but that will come later. The climate in the room is controlled despite the open skylight, a waste of energy for which Integrity Bank is fined weekly. They are willing to take the expense.

Next to me on the right, Bola yawns. She is pregnant and gets very tired these days. She also eats a lot, but I suppose that’s to be expected. I’ve known her two years and she has been pregnant in each of them. I do not fully understand pregnancy. I am an only child and I never grew up around pets or livestock. My education was peripatetic; biology was never a strong interest, except for microbiology, which I had to master later.

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I try to relax and concentrate on the bank customers. The wedding anxiety comes again.

Rising from the centre of the table is a holographic teleprompter. It consists of random swirls of light right now, but within a few minutes it will come alive with text. There is a room adjacent to ours in which the night shift is winding down.

“I hear they read Dumas last night,” says Bola.

She’s just making conversation. It is irrelevant what the other shift reads. I smile and say nothing.

The wedding I sense is due in three months. The bride has put on a few pounds and does not know if she should alter the dress or get liposuction. Bola is prettier when she is pregnant.

“Sixty seconds,” says a voice on the tannoy.

I take a sip of water from the tumbler on the table. The other contractors are new. They don’t dress formally like Bola and me. They wear tank tops and T-shirts and metal in their hair. They have phone implants.

I hate implants of all kinds. I have one. Standard locator with no add-ons. Boring, really, but my employer demands it.

The exam anxiety dies down before I can isolate and explore the source. Fine by me.

The bits of metal these young ones have in their hair come from plane crashes. Lagos, Abuja, Jos, Kano and all points in between, there have been downed aircraft on every domestic route in Nigeria since the early 2000s. They wear bits of fuselage as protective charms.

Bola catches me staring at her and winks. Now she opens her snack, a few wraps of cold moin-moin, the orange bean curds nested in leaves, the old style. I look away.

“Go,” says the tannoy.

The text of Plato’s Republic scrolls slowly and steadily in ghostly holographic figures on the cylindrical display. I start to read, as do the others, some silently, others out loud. We enter the xenosphere and set up the bank’s firewall. I feel the familiar brief dizziness; the text eddies and becomes transparent.

Every day about five hundred customers carry out financial transactions at these premises, and every night staffers make deals around the world, making this a twenty-four-hour job. Wild sensitives probe and push, criminals trying to pick personal data out of the air. I’m talking about dates-of-birth, PINs, mothers’ maiden names, past transactions, all of them lying docile in each customer’s forebrain, in the working memory, waiting to be plucked out by the hungry, untrained and freebooting sensitives.

Contractors like myself, Bola Martinez and the metalheads are trained to repel these. And we do. We read classics to flood the xenosphere with irrelevant words and thoughts, a firewall of knowledge that even makes its way to the subconscious of the customer. A professor did a study of it once. He found a correlation between the material used for firewalling and the activities of the customer for the rest of the year. A person who had never read Shakespeare would suddenly find snatches of King Lear coming to mind for no apparent reason.

We can trace the intrusions if we want, but Integrity isn’t interested. It’s difficult and expensive to prosecute crimes perpetuated in the xenosphere. If no life is lost, the courts aren’t interested.

The queues for cash machines, so many people, so many cares and wants and passions. I am tired of filtering the lives of others through my mind.

I went down yesterday to the Piraeus with Glaucon the son of Ariston, that I might offer up my prayers to the goddess; and also because I wanted to see in what manner they would celebrate the festival, which was a new thing. I was delighted with the procession of the inhabitants; but that of the Thracians was equally, if not more, beautiful. When we had finished our prayers and viewed the spectacle, we turned in the direction of the city . . .

On entering the xenosphere, there is a projected self-image. The untrained wild sensitives project their true selves, but professionals like me are trained to create a controlled, chosen self-image. Mine is a gryphon.

My first attack of the day comes from a middle-aged man from a town house in Yola. He looks reedy and very darkskinned.

I warn him and he backs off. A teenager takes his place quickly enough that I think they are in the same physical location as part of a hack farm. Criminal cabals sometimes round up sensitives and yoke them together in a “Mumbai combo” – a call-centre model with serial black hats.

I’ve seen it all before. There aren’t as many such attacks now as there were when I started in this business, and a part of me wonders if they are discouraged by how effective we are. Either way, I am already bored.

Copyright Tade Thompson

This is an extract from  Rosewater , published by Orbit Books, the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club: sign up here  to read along with our members.

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