# An Elliptical Question \[grammar\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elliptical-question-grammar/178858 "2003-06-01T01:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elliptical-question-grammar/178858/1 "2003-06-01T01:10:01Z")
There are two situations in which one is likely to use a string of dots, like consecutive periods: a) You’re quoting someone and want to be explicit about the fact that you’re leaving some words out. **Patrick Henry** : > [@](#): > > I know not what course others may take; but…give me liberty or give me death! b) You wish to indicate a pause, a spacing between words as spoken, or even in the head as thought of…you know what I mean…you’re formulating…let’s call them phrases…and you’re pausing between them like this… OK, grammarians. The first type is known to me as an _ellipsis_. Is the same symbol — or what appears to be the same symbol —\_as used in the second style also an ellipsis? Or is it instead a different punctuation sset apart by some distinctions, in much the same way that a hyphen is not the same thing as an em dash? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elliptical-question-grammar/178858/2 "2003-06-01T01:16:46Z")
As far as I know, it’s called an elipsis no matter how it’s used. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elliptical-question-grammar/178858/3 "2003-06-01T01:17:54Z")
According to [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=ellipsis), both types are ellipsis examples. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elliptical-question-grammar/178858/4 "2003-06-01T01:23:17Z")
They’re both ellipses, but I think with the former you put a space before and after the periods. > [@](#): > > I know not what course others may take; but … give me liberty or give me death! This lets the reader know the words are missing, although the context isn’t altered, as opposed to a mere pause. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elliptical-question-grammar/178858/5 "2003-06-01T01:44:49Z")
Ah, never mind my post. Here’s what the Morton S. Freeman’s _Wordwatcher_ has to say: > [@](#): > > An _ellipsis_ is an omisison of one or more words needed to complete a grammatical construction of a sentence. If what is omitted does not alter grammatical construction, the ellipsis is satisfactory, a true ellipsis. In “Steve is tall, his brother short,” the missing _is_ after _brother_ is mentally supplied. > > \ > > But in “The teammates either have or will unite for victory,” the ellipsis is false because _united_ belongs after _have_. > > \ > > Note: _Ellipses_ are marks used to indicate an omission of a word or words from a sentence by the insertion of three dots or periods, or they may be asterisks (“And he then said he wanted to go and . . .”). If the ellipsis takes place at the end of a sentence, as shown, four dots are needed if a period would ordinarily follow the sentence, the fourth being the final period. Ellipses (sometimes called “periods of ellipses”) are used as shown in the above example and in your examples. It’s just that in formal writing, one wouldn’t pause so much. In fiction, it happens all the time, and that’s when the ellipses come into play. You’re using them quite rightly. The em dash - which is larger than a hyphen - can be used **parenthetically** , but not as an ellipsis. In the previous sentence, I am using it parenthetically. Try that on for size, **AHunter**. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elliptical-question-grammar/178858/6 "2003-06-01T14:54:58Z")
I thought that when you’re omitting words in a quotation, you’d surround the ellipsis with square brackets […] ? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-elliptical-question-grammar/178858/7 "2003-06-01T18:52:19Z")
Not to my knowledge, **ratatoskK**. Where I _have_ seen square brackets in quotations is where you are putting in things that are implied but not actually present in the original. Example: **The Original** : > [@](#): > > We hold these truths to be self-evident—that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness **The Quotation with Ellipses** : > [@](#): > > We hold these truths to be self-evident—that all men are created equal…that among [men’s unalienable rights]…are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.