Periods and Ellipses Periods and Ellipses



Periods Periods



A period marks the end of a sentence that is a declarative statement.  Let’s take a look at our example sentence more closely. 

o   Charlie’s pants were soiled….He saw a bucket of water and sat down in it...

Notice how each sentence expresses a complete thought.  They then should both end in periods like so:

o   Charlie’s pants were soiled.  He saw a bucket of water and sat down in it.

The period is also known as a full stop, which means that when we come to a period when reading a text aloud, we should take a full breath before continuing.  Notice, there is no space after the last word and the punctuation mark.  For example, this is correct:

o   Charlie’s pants were soiled.

but this is incorrect:

o   Charlie’s pants were soiled .

Also notice there is one or two spaces before the first word of the next sentence. 

o   Charlie’s pants were soiled. He saw a bucket of water and sat down in it. 

o   Charlie’s pants were soiled.  He saw a bucket of water and sat down in it.

Note that the same applies for both exclamation points and question marks. 

To use one or two spaces is a matter of style not grammar.  The key is in being consistent.  Use either one space throughout your entire document or two spaces.  You can even set your word program to check this for you or to space your sentences automatically.   

But wait!  What’s that you say?  Isn’t a series of periods a common punctuation device? As in:

o   Charlie’s pants were soiled….He saw a bucket of water and sat down in it....

Ah, I think you are talking about our friends, the ellipses a.k.a.  dot dot dot ( . . . ), identical triplets that we use in special cases.  Do not confuse ellipses with periods as they have completely different functions.



Ellipses Ellipses



As previously mentioned, a period marks the end of a sentence that expresses a complete thought. Ellipses however are NOT end punctuation marks at all.  There are two uses for ellipses. 

1)  IN ACADEMIC WRITING USING QUOTATIONS:

We use ellipses to show we have omitted material from a quotation when writing essays.  For example, the student wishes to use Shakespeare’s quote from Hamlet –

“Brevity is the soul of wit.”

– but has decided that the quote is too long to fit into her essay.  She replaces the words “the soul of” with ellipses like so:

“Brevity is . . . wit.”

The ellipses then indicate that words are missing from the original quote.  But what if the student wants to remove larger parts of a quote including whole sentences? In this case, the ellipses would include a period at the end to indicate the end of a sentence. 

. . . .

For example, the student wants to shorten Hamlet’s famous soliloquy:

“To be or not to be – that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
 And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep”

in order to fit the relevant parts into her essay.  She could write:

“To be or not to be . . . .  To die, to sleep.”

Now the reader knows that part of the quote is missing, including at least part of a whole sentence, not just a few words. 

Note: Never omit material from a quote without using ellipses when writing an essay or the teacher will mark your work very harshly.

The second way we use ellipses is:

2)  IN SCRIPTS AND STORIES USING DIALOGUE:

We use ellipses when writing dialogue in stories and scripts when the character who is speaking takes a long pause for one of three reasons: 

1) to gather his thoughts

2) to make a dramatic pause

3) to trail off without finishing his sentence. 

For example:

§  Jack said, “I hate peanut butter . . . and jam!”

Here the ellipses demonstrate that he is trying to think of something else he hates, and has to pause in mid-sentence to gather his thoughts.  Another example sentence is:

§  Jack said, “I love you . . . maybe.”

Here Jack is taking a dramatic pause for the listener’s benefit or, in this case, to frustrate his listener.  And finally:

§  Jack said, “Oh, no.  I’m about to fall of the cliff’s  . . . .”

Here the ellipses indicate that the speaker has trailed off, not finishing his thought, presumably because he has fallen off the cliff’s edge.  Note the period at the end of the ellipses.  While a period at the end of a sentence denotes a complete thought,

§  Jack said, “Oh, no.  I’m about to fall of the cliff’s edge.”

a period at the end of ellipses denotes an incomplete thought.

§  Jack said, “Oh, no.  I’m about to fall of the cliff’s edge.”

Formatting Ellipses

The writer has several choices when formatting ellipses. 

1)      The writer may add a space before, between and after each ellipsis like so:

“Brevity . . . is wit.”

2)      The writer may add a space before the first ellipsis and after the last ellipsis:

“Brevity ... is wit.”

3)      The writer may add spaces between the ellipses but not before and after.

“Brevity. . .is wit.”

4)      Or the writer may dispense with the spaces all together.  This is the least common choice.

“Brevity…is wit.”

The key here again is consistency.  Choose a formatting option and stick with it.