Using Ellipses

Overview
Using Ellipses When Text Omitted Is Within One Sentence
Using Ellipses When the Quoted Passage Is More Than One Sentence

Overview

An ellipsis is a series of three dots ( . . . ) used to indicate when you are quoting that you have left some of the original passage out. Important to note in the formatting of the ellipsis is that a space is used before and after each dot.

You can quote only a word or a simple phrase in your essays without using an ellipsis, as your reader can easily tell that you are using only part of the original text. That you are quoting only a small part is clear because only a few words, not a complete sentence, appear in quotation marks, and you do not begin the quotation with a capital letter nor end it with a period, unless the quotation also falls at the end of your sentence.

Example: Edgar Allen Poe, in discussing his theory of the short story, talks about the "certain unique or single effect" the author wishes to express.

When quoting a longer passage, if you wish to leave out part of the original, but the part you are leaving out comes at the beginning of the passage, you again need not use an ellipsis, as your use of lower case at the beginning of the quotation indicates that you have begun midsentence.

Example: Poe writes that when an author works to achieve this single effect "a picture is at length painted which leaves in the mind of him who contemplates it with a kindred art, a sense of the fullest satisfaction."

However, if you wish to leave out text in the middle of what you are quoting, you must use an ellipsis to show that omission. To distinguish between an ellipsis you have added and any that may occur in the original text, place your ellipsis in brackets [ . . . ]. When using an ellipsis to indicate omitted text in conjunction with brackets, the space is omitted before the first period and after the last period, and is placed before the first bracket and after the last bracket instead [. . .] . The next two sections of this page include examples of when to use an ellipsis and how to punctuate a sentence when using an ellipsis.

Using Ellipses When Text Omitted Is Within One Sentence

Original Text: And if the writer and the reader discover the same thing, if they have that connection, the act of faith has resulted in an act of magic. (Amy Tan, "In the Canon, For All the Wrong Reasons," The Story and Its Writer, ed. Ann Charters, 5th ed. [Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999], 1555)

To omit text from the middle of the quotation:

In writing about her work as multicultural literature, Amy Tan states, "And if the writer and the reader discover the same thing, [. . .] the act of faith has resulted in an act of magic."

To omit text from the middle of the quotation and include a parenthetical citation:

In writing about her work as representative multicultural literature, Amy Tan states, "And if the writer and the reader discover the same thing, [. . .] the act of faith has resulted in an act of magic" (1555).

Original Text: But I've come to realize that the study of literature does have its effect on how books are being read, and thus on what might be read, published, and written in the future. (Amy Tan, "In the Canon, For All the Wrong Reasons," The Story and Its Writer, ed. Ann Charters, 5th ed. [Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999], 1555)

To omit text when the ellipsis will fall at the end of your sentence:

Amy Tan has changed her mind about the need for writers to discuss why they write, saying, "But I've come to realize that the study of literature does have its effect on how books are being read [. . .]."

To omit text when the ellipsis will fall at the end of your sentence and include a parenthetical citation:

Amy Tan has changed her mind about the need for writers to discuss why they write, saying, "But I've come to realize that the study of literature does have its effect on how books are being read [. . .]" (1555).

Original: "The Chrysanthemums" is partly about the way Elisa's dreams are manipulated by a passing rogue--a man who repairs household goods. (Steinbeck's fiction is full of men like this one: there is Mac, for instance, from In Dubious Battle, who will do anything to win the migrant workers' confidence.) The repairman plays upon Elisa's feelings, pretending to sympathize with her love of flowers, which is all-consuming. (Jay Parini, "Lawrence's and Steinbeck's "Chrysanthemums," The Story and Its Writer, ed. Ann Charters, 5th ed. [Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999], 1530-31)

To omit an entire sentence:

In analyzing Steinbeck's story, Parini notes that "'The Chrysanthemums' is partly about the way Elisa's dreams are manipulated by a passing rogue--a man who repairs household goods. [. . .] The repairman plays upon Elisa's feelings, pretending to sympathize with her love of flowers, which is all-consuming" (1530-1531).

To omit from the middle of one sentence of the end of another:

In analyzing Steinbeck's story, Parini notes that "'The Chrysanthemums' is partly about the way Elisa's dreams are manipulated by a passing rogue [. . .]. The repairman plays upon Elisa's feelings, pretending to sympathize with her love of flowers, which is all-consuming" (1530-1531).

To omit from the middle of one sentence to the middle of another:

In analyzing Steinbeck's story, Parini notes that "'The Chrysanthemums' is partly about the way Elisa's dreams are manipulated by a passing rogue [. . .] pretending to sympathize with her love of flowers, which is all-consuming" (1530-1531).

Last Updated 04/03/02