Hello, I'm finding conflicting information regarding ellipses. Some sources say the three dots should be prefaced by a space and followed by a space; others don't like that presentation. Some like to have spaces between each dot; some don't. Can you please tell me what's your take on that and what styling manual supports it? Thank you!
I thought ellipses were a technical word for brackets ( and ). I think you're referring to ellipsis, very similar spelling but very different. Personally I would say it depends. I would put a space either side if stuff has been missed ... like that. However if a person breaks... like that it comes straight after the word with a space.
I thought we had a lengthy discussion about this a month or so ago. Took me a while to find it ... was under "Publishing." Take a look: Generally accepted use of ellipsis?
'ellipses' is the plural form of 'ellipsis' jeremy... these [ ] are 'brackets' and these ( ) are 'parentheses'... in re the form of an ellipsis, the dots should have space between them and some guides say to leave a space at either end, some say not to... i prefer not... when using ms word, if you type three periods in a row, they'll automatically turn into a 'tight' ellipsis, but if you immediately hit the back space key, they'll 'open up' into the properly spaced one... you can also find it in your 'symbols' menu...
I always write them like this ... yup. If an editor wishes to change them, she can. I don't care about it comes out in print.
You can get rid of that behaviour in Word by going to the autocorrect options and deleting the entry for three periods.
I put three dots and a space if it's in the middle of a sentence or four dots if it's at the end of a sentence. You guys are saying that's correct or incorrect? "That word sounds so... pretentious," he said. "That word sounds so...." He couldn't find the proper description. I hear it's option to stick a period after an ellipsis (i.e. just keep it to three dots). Is that correct?
if you put a space after the last period, then you must put one before the first one, as well... and that's not the correct way to use 4 dots... you should find this helpful: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/ellipsis.htm
Thanks. So the above should be...? "That word sounds so ... pretentious," he said. "That word sounds so. ..." He couldn't find the proper description. It looks strange on that last sentence, as if the sentence comes to a full stop rather than the speaker trailing off even if an ellipsis follows.
i'd do the first with no extra space fore or aft... in the second example, i don't believe it's called for there at all, since it's an interrupted/uncompleted sentence, which would call for an em dash, not an ellipsis...
