Writing Tips

All about ellipsis (...)

Summary

This article explains the use of the elipsis punctuation mark.

The ellipsis is a series of three — and only three — full stops used to mark missing words, an uncertain pause or an abrupt interruption. For example:

        The review said, "It's wonderful ... a complete triumph".

        Niles:   But Miss Fine's age is only ...
        Fran:   Young! Miss Fine's age is only young!

Most editors precede the ellipsis by a space, even at the end of a sentence.

Note: Within Microsoft Word the ellipsis can be typed as a single character, rather than three separate periods, by typing Alt-Ctrl-period.