Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences
Dashes, Parentheses, and Quotation Marks
An ellipsis indicates that words have been omitted from a quotation. This mark consists of spaced periods.
A three-dot ellipsis indicates that you are omitting something from a sentence that continues after the ellipsis.
- He writes, “ The wise collector should probably just bite the bullet …and acquire both paintings.”
The phrase “or mortgage the house” has been omitted from this quotation.
Use a four-dot ellipsis if you are omitting the last part of a quoted sentence that ends in a period, but the remaining words are still a complete thought. The first dot comes immediately after the sentence and functions as a period. The following three dots are spaced and indicate that material has been omitted. If the original sentence ended in a question mark or exclamation point, substitute that mark for the first dot.
- The author advises, “ In analyzing nonverbal signals, look at the total pattern of behavior rather than just one symbol….”
The phrase “before making a decision,” which ended the sentence, has been omitted from this quotation.
You can also use the four-dot ellipsis whenever your quotation skips material and then goes on to a new sentence. But make sure that your four-dot ellipsis has an independent clause on each side of it.
- The market researchers outlined several possible explanations for the drop in sales…. No matter how many ways they analyzed the data, the projections were negative.
