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Search results for “ellipsis”

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

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

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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What Is an Ellipsis?

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

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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Elliptical Sentence Constructions

Mr. Burns is wiser than I. Tara knows more about football than baseball. Yama's thinking seeks truth; his writing, the expression of it. Many of us are familiar with these types of statements in English. They are elliptical sentence constructions, which omit sentence components without losing clarity. Those components can be words, phrases, or clauses. …

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Diving Back into Dialogue: Part I

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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