Four dots (ellipsis)
Автор темы: Alejandra Molina
Alejandra Molina
Alejandra Molina
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Aug 21, 2020

Hi everybody! I was investigating about punctuation, and I found out that according to the Chicago Manual of Style, we can use four dots when using ellipses. But I'm not sure if the first dot finishes the previous sentence and then, the other three dots omit part of the following sentence. Has anybody listened to this before or could explain to me what is the usage for four dots?

Thank you in advance.


 
DZiW (X)
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dot-dot-dot Aug 22, 2020

Hello Alejandra,

Please, check, say, https://cmosshoptalk.com/2019/07/30/dot-dot-dot-a-closer-look-at-the-ellipsis/ and others to learn that four-dots advice persisted till the beginning-mid of the 20th century.

Cheers


 
Samuel Murray
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Which version, which page Aug 22, 2020

Alejandra Molina wrote:
I found out that according to the Chicago Manual of Style...


Which version did you consult, and on what page did you see this (and what was the chapter/section title)?


 
Jo Macdonald
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Three dots Aug 22, 2020

Always thought an ellipsis was just three dots, used when...is left out.

Also used when, I dunno...the reader should hesitate.


Heinrich Pesch
 
Tina Vonhof (X)
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four dots Aug 22, 2020

In most cases it is the previous sentence that is unfinished, so you get the usual three dots plus a period to indicate the missing end of that sentence. There should be three dots when something is left out at the beginning of a sentence because that sentence continues. And, of course, there are only three dots if something has been left out in the middle of a sentence.


[Edited at 2020-08-22 16:07 GMT]


 
Samuel Murray
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@Alej Aug 22, 2020

Alejandra Molina wrote:
I found out that according to the Chicago Manual of Style, we can use four dots when using ellipses.


On the first page of the preface of the 16th edition, it says "We now recommend, for example, a single approach to ellipses -- a three- or four-dot method." The Chicago-16 method of writing ellipses is three dots with a space between them. However, there is no four-dot method. The only sections about four dots relate to when ellipsis dots occur at the end of a complete sentence.

So, yes, you can "use four dots when using ellipses", but it's not a four-dot ellipsis.

But I'm not sure if the first dot finishes the previous sentence and then, the other three dots omit part of the following sentence.


Does this screenshot answer your question?

ellipses with periods

As far as I can tell, Chicago-16 does not permit or speak of fulstops after ellipses.

[Edited at 2020-08-22 17:27 GMT]


Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
MollyRose
Christine Andersen
 
Alejandra Molina
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@Samuel Aug 23, 2020

I used the 16th edition, and I read the same screenshot that you posted. I was reading that ellipsis is different from suspension dots, right? Ellipsis is used to omit quoted material, and suspension dots are used for interrupted thoughts. Is that correct?

 
Alejandra Molina
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@Tina Aug 23, 2020

Yes, that is what I thought. But what do you think about the period before the ellipsis? Why would I want to write a period to show the omission of the end of the sentence if I'm going to use three-dots (suspension dots) then? Or suspension points and ellipsis are different?

 
Perspective Aug 23, 2020

I’ve managed to go a whole life, and most of it as a writer, without ever having heard of, seen or used a four-dot ellipsis.

It reminds me for some reason of a series of books I read years ago where the author always put a comma after the word but,

They were still good books....


philgoddard
 
Heinrich Pesch
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I use space Aug 24, 2020

For a range of 5 to 10 I write "5 ... 10". And of course I always separate numbers from unit: 90 %, 24 V etc.

 
Tina Vonhof (X)
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Screenshot Aug 24, 2020

Alejandra Molina wrote:

Yes, that is what I thought. But what do you think about the period before the ellipsis? Why would I want to write a period to show the omission of the end of the sentence if I'm going to use three-dots (suspension dots) then? Or suspension points and ellipsis are different?


The shortened version of the text in the screenshot shows exactly what I meant: in some cases you need an ellipsis of four dots. For the logic behind it I would take Chicago-16 as the final authority.


 


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Four dots (ellipsis)






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