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Ellipses
Metaphors
Similes
Writing to a Brief
An
ellipsis is three periods, or full stops, one after the other.
It is always constructed in this manner.
It is always three periods, or full stops.
It is never less than three.
The
periods creating an ellipsis are called ellipsis points or
ellipsis marks. The
plural of ellipsis is ellipses.
An
ellipsis is used to indicate missing words, or sentences.
For example, if the original sentence was “the
dolphins were playing with the waves and having a wonderful
time”, it can be changed to “The dolphins were playing …
having a wonderful time”.
An
ellipsis is often used by writers to indicate a pause in the
flow of thought. Eg:
“If only … but there was no use in wishing for the
past.”
When
an ellipsis appears in mid sentence, then a space is left
either side of the ellipsis. Eg: “He wanted to say something special … but his mind
remained blank” or
“She
reminded him of someone … or something”.
When
an ellipsis is placed at the end of a sentence, it indicates
there are words missing at the end of the sentence.
A space is left between the last word and the ellipsis
and another space is placed between the ellipsis and the
period ending the sentence.
Eg:
The original statement is “She reminded him of someone he
knew a long time ago.”
When an ellipsis is placed at the end of a minimised
form of this sentence, it becomes “She reminded him of …
.”
When
an ellipsis is in-between two complete sentences, then a space
is left after the full stop finishing the previous sentence,
and another space is given before the next sentence starts.
Ellipses
are used to:
-
Represent a pause in the
flow of a sentence. It
shows an undercurrent of thought.
-
Link an original thought
with the final thought.
Eg: We had so
many dreams … where did they go?
-
Show the person speaking
has retreated into their own private thought processes.
Eg: “I
didn’t know he …” Peter said, in his usual
distracted manner.
-
Indicate
missing text
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