Four dots (ellipsis) Thread poster: Alejandra Molina
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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)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 14:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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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
Spain
Local time: 14:06
Italian to English
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Always thought an ellipsis was just three dots, used when...is left out.
Also used when, I dunno...the reader should hesitate.
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Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 06:06
Dutch to English
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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
Netherlands
Local time: 14:06
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
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?
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]
| | | | Alejandra Molina
Guatemala
Local time: 06:06
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
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
Guatemala
Local time: 06:06
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
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?
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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....
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 15:06
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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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)
Canada
Local time: 06:06
Dutch to English
+ ...
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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