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The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation

Category: Ellipses

Using sic in 2024

Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 6:00 am

An item that still periodically surfaces among GrammarBook.com readers is the proper use of sic. Sic is a Latin term meaning "so, thus." A complete word that requires no punctuation or abbreviation, it is found only in direct quotations and other directly quoted material to indicate that something was communicated "in this manner." Writers include it …

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What’s the Difference Between a Dash and an Ellipsis?

Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at 6:00 am

The dash (—) and the ellipsis (…) are two useful tools for writing in English. Each mark gives us the means to add pacing and patterns of thought that follow how we often think and speak. However, one mark's functions can sometimes be confused for the other's. We'll look at how to use the marks …

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Ellipsis Four-Dot Method

Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, at 6:00 am

You may have seen three dots within text when reading a sentence (…). This punctuation mark is called an ellipsis. An ellipsis represents an omission of one or more words within a quoted passage. The plural of ellipsis is ellipses. The ellipsis serves efficient writing by allowing us to abbreviate content or otherwise include only …

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Diving Back into Dialogue: Part I

Posted on Tuesday, November 12, 2019, at 11:00 pm

We receive many questions from our readers about writing dialogue. We thought now would be a good time to revisit the subject. In doing so, we hope to answer questions some of you might still have. Format Each new line of dialogue is often indented on each line, enclosed in quotation marks, and attended by …

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What Is an Ellipsis?

Posted on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 11:00 pm

Definition:  An ellipsis (plural: ellipses) is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots. Use an ellipsis when omitting a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage. Ellipses save space or remove material that is less relevant. They are useful in getting right to the point without delay or distraction: Although ellipses are used in many ways, …

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Ellipsis Marks

Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007, at 2:21 am

Ellipsis marks (three dots) are used to show the omission of a word, phrase, line, or paragraph(s), from a quoted passage. The plural of this word is ellipses. The Three-dot Method There are many methods for using ellipses. The three-dot method is the simplest and is appropriate for most general works and many scholarly ones. …

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