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In writing, the term “ellipsis” has two related but distinct meanings or uses. The most familiar of the two is a punctuation mark of three dots (…) and is used to represent omitted text, a pause, or an incomplete thought.
The other, a “grammatical ellipsis,” isn’t punctuation at all. It is a term used to describe an omitted word that can be understood from the context of a sentence. These two types of ellipses have two things in common: they represent an omission and are best understood by example.
Get insight into what an ellipsis does, then conveniently review your content for proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation with the Originality.ai Grammar Checker.
Sometimes referred to as “ellipsis dots” or “ellipsis marks,” the three dots that form an ellipsis (…) have several purposes in writing.
If you’ve ever wanted to use a direct quote but it was way too long, you’ve probably used the three dots to represent the part of the quote you cut out. This is one of the most common uses of an ellipsis.
However, when using an ellipsis to indicate missing words, the original meaning must remain, even with the omitted words.
Examples:
[Original quote]
“The weather was brilliant on the weekend and so we packed our bags. Then we drove to the cottage and spent the entire time swimming at the lake.” - Example person
[Sentence with ellipsis - original meaning intact]
“The weather was brilliant on the weekend … so we drove to the cottage and spent the entire time swimming at the lake.” - Example person
[Sentence with ellipsis - original meaning lost]
“The weather was … we drove to the cottage … at the lake.” - Example person
The three dots (...) can also express an unfinished or interrupted statement or a trailing thought. It can appear at the end of a clause or between two clauses.
Example:
Ellipses can indicate a brief break and usually evoke a sense of anticipation.
Example:
An ellipsis is usually a series of three dots with no spaces between them. Generally, there is usually no space before the ellipsis and one space after:
But style can vary, so always check with your style guide.
A grammatical ellipsis is very common in English grammar, even if you might not know its name. There is no punctuation mark to indicate a grammatical ellipsis — it’s just a grammar term indicating that a word isn’t shown because it’s not needed to understand the sentence.
Grammatical ellipses are used very frequently in writing and speech. When the context clarifies the meaning, many pronouns, subjects, auxiliary verbs, and articles are omitted without impacting understanding or correct grammar.
This is especially true in dialogue, where the wording used by one person doesn’t need to be repeated for the overall meaning to be understood.
Just as negative space and white space are essential in visual art, omission can be very powerful in language. Whether we remove words from a long quote to highlight the main idea or stop time for a moment to add a bit of drama, what we choose to leave out of writing can have a powerful impact.
Ellipses (the three dots) and grammatical ellipses are excellent tools for helping create this impactful space in writing.
Review your copy to make sure you’re using proper grammar (like ellipses) with the Originality.ai Grammar Checker.
Then, learn more in our top grammar resources:
