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What You're Not Saying … Ellipsis Points by Susan Thurman

Ellipsis points or marks (three spaced periods) let readers know that some material from a quotation has been omitted. Look at this sentence:

Marilyn asked Frank to pick up a hat she had ordered and to stop for milk at the grocery store.

If you needed to quote that sentence but the part about Frank picking up the hat had no relevance to what you were saying, you could use ellipsis points in this way:

Marilyn asked Frank … to stop for milk at the grocery store.

You should use ellipsis points only if the meaning of the sentence isn't changed by what you omit.

Suppose you have this sentence:

The policeman reported, “The car involved in the accident had been stolen and then driven by a woman whom friends called ‘Honest Harriet.’”

You shouldn't use ellipsis marks to shorten it this way:

The policeman reported, “The car involved in the accident had been … driven by a woman whom friends called ‘Honest Harriet.’”

In doing so you would've left out some rather vital information.

If the material you're omitting occurs at the end of a sentence, or if you omit the last part of a quoted sentence but what is left remains grammatically complete, use four ellipsis points, with the first one functioning as a period. Take this original passage:

“A number of new people have joined the secret club. In fact, its membership has never been higher. Because the club is devoted to reading classical literature, however, its secret enrollment numbers haven't been questioned by the public at large.”

You could use ellipsis marks in these ways:

“A number of new people have joined the secret club…Because the club is devoted to reading classical literature, however, its secret enrollment numbers haven't been questioned by the public at large.”

Another use for ellipsis marks comes if you're quoting someone and trying to show that there's a deliberate pause in what the person said. Read the following paragraph:

Jimmy thought to himself, “If I can just hold on to the ball long enough to get it over to Mike, I know he can get the shot off…. I have to pace myself…. Twenty-five seconds … Fifteen seconds … Eight seconds … Time for a pass.”

The ellipsis marks tell your readers that they're reading all of Jimmy's thoughts and that Jimmy wasn't interrupted by anything, he just didn't have any conscious thoughts in the intervening time indicated by the ellipsis marks.

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