{"id":797,"date":"2025-04-18T22:59:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T22:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/?post_type=chapter&p=797"},"modified":"2025-08-12T21:23:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:23:41","slug":"punctuation-learn-it-6","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/englishcomp1\/chapter\/punctuation-learn-it-6\/","title":{"raw":"Punctuation: Learn It 6","rendered":"Punctuation: Learn It 6"},"content":{"raw":"

Ellipses<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1762\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"Appropriate Figure 3<\/strong>. An ellipsis.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAn ellipsis (plural ellipses<\/em>)\u00a0is a series of three periods, as you can see in the icon to the right.\r\n\r\nAs with most punctuation marks, there is some contention about its usage. The main point of contention is whether or not there should be a space between the periods (.\u00a0.\u00a0.) or not (\u2026). MLA, APA, and\u00a0Chicago<\/em>, the most common style guides for students,\u00a0support having spaces between the periods. Others you may encounter, such as in journalism, may not.\r\n

Quotes<\/h3>\r\nLike the brackets we just learned about, you will primarily see ellipses\u00a0used in quotes. They\u00a0indicate a missing portion in a quote.\r\n\r\n
Look at the following quote for an example:\r\n
Camarasaurus<\/em>, with its more mechanically efficient skull, was capable of generating much stronger bite forces than\u00a0Diplodocus<\/em>. This suggests that Camarasaurus<\/em> was capable of chomping through tougher plant material than\u00a0Diplodocus<\/em>, and was perhaps even capable of a greater degree of oral processing before digestion. This actually ties in nicely with previous hypotheses of different diets for each, which were based\u00a0on apparent feeding heights and inferences made from wear marks on their fossilized teeth.\r\n\r\nDiplodocus<\/em> seems to have been well-adapted, despite its weaker skull, to a form of feeding known as branch stripping, where leaves are plucked from branches as the teeth are dragged along them. The increased flexibility of the neck of Diplodocus<\/em> compared to other sauropods seems to support this too.<\/blockquote>\r\nIt's a lengthy quote, and it contains more information than you want to include. Here's how to cut it down:\r\n
Camarasaurus<\/em>, with its more mechanically efficient skull, was capable of generating much stronger bite forces than\u00a0Diplodocus<\/em>. This suggests that Camarasaurus<\/em> was capable of chomping through tougher plant material than\u00a0Diplodocus.\u00a0<\/em>. . .\u00a0This actually ties in nicely with previous hypotheses of different diets for each, which were based\u00a0on apparent feeding heights and inferences made from wear marks on their fossilized teeth.\r\n\r\nDiplodocus<\/em> seems to have been well-adapted . . . to a form of feeding known as branch stripping, where leaves are plucked from branches as the teeth are dragged along them.<\/blockquote>\r\n<\/section>\r\n

Ellipses Do Not Remove Original Punctuation<\/h3>\r\nIn the block quote above, you can see that the first ellipsis appears to have\u00a0four dots. (\"They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails. . . .\")\u00a0However, this is just a period followed by an ellipsis. This is because\u00a0ellipses do not<\/strong> remove punctuation marks when the original punctuation is still in use; they are instead used in conjunction with original punctuation.\r\n\r\n
Here is another example, with an ellipsis followed by a comma:\r\n
By looking at two sympatric species (those that lived together) from the fossil graveyards of the Late Jurassic of North America . . . , [David Button] tried to work out what the major dietary differences were between sauropod dinosaurs, based on their anatomy.<\/span><\/blockquote>\r\n<\/section>One of the best ways to check yourself is to\u00a0take out the ellipsis. If the sentence or paragraph is still correctly punctuated, you've used\u00a0the ellipsis correctly. (Just remember to put it back in!)<\/span>\r\n\r\n
Quote the following passage, using ellipses to\u00a0remove the bolded portions and using\u00a0brackets for clarity where necessary.\r\n
Sauropod dinosaurs are the biggest animals to have ever walked on land. They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails, and nearly always portrayed moving in herds, being stalked by hungry predators<\/strong>.\u00a0In recent years, a huge amount of taxonomic effort from scientists has vastly increased the number of known species of sauropod. What we now know is<\/strong> that in many areas we had two or more species co-existing alongside each other.\u00a0A question that arises from this, is how did we have animals that seem so similar, and with such high energy and dietary requirements, living alongside one another? Was there some sort of spinach-like super plant that gave them all Popeye-like physical boosts, or something more subtle?<\/blockquote>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"6\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"3662\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"3662\"]The first ellipsis should follow a period, and the second should follow a comma. There are a couple of phrases that could\u00a0be used in brackets, but we've chosen the phrase \"research has shown.\"\r\n
Sauropod dinosaurs are the biggest animals to have ever walked on land. They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails. . . .\u00a0In recent years, . . . [research has shown] that in many areas we had two or more species co-existing alongside each other.\u00a0A question that arises from this, is how did we have animals that seem so similar, and with such high energy and dietary requirements, living\u00a0alongside one another?<\/blockquote>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\nThis is a part of Martin Luther King\u2019s famous \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Quote part of the following passage, using ellipses to remove the bolded passage and making sure that you use the appropriate punctuation surrounding it:\r\n

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression,<\/strong> will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.<\/strong> I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of \u201cinterposition\u201d and \u201cnullification,\u201d one day right there in Alabama<\/strong> little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.<\/p>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"6\"][\/practice-area]\r\n\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"713549\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"713549\"]The first ellipses should NOT follow the comma, because the phrases that were removed make the comma meaningless. The second ellipses should follow the period because the removed material comes after the period. The third ellipses should follow the comma because the removed materials appear after the comma.\r\n

\u201cI have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi . . . will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. . . . I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, . . . little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.\u201d<\/p>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/section>","rendered":"

Ellipses<\/h2>\n
\"Appropriate
Figure 3<\/strong>. An ellipsis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An ellipsis (plural ellipses<\/em>)\u00a0is a series of three periods, as you can see in the icon to the right.<\/p>\n

As with most punctuation marks, there is some contention about its usage. The main point of contention is whether or not there should be a space between the periods (.\u00a0.\u00a0.) or not (\u2026). MLA, APA, and\u00a0Chicago<\/em>, the most common style guides for students,\u00a0support having spaces between the periods. Others you may encounter, such as in journalism, may not.<\/p>\n

Quotes<\/h3>\n

Like the brackets we just learned about, you will primarily see ellipses\u00a0used in quotes. They\u00a0indicate a missing portion in a quote.<\/p>\n

Look at the following quote for an example:<\/p>\n

Camarasaurus<\/em>, with its more mechanically efficient skull, was capable of generating much stronger bite forces than\u00a0Diplodocus<\/em>. This suggests that Camarasaurus<\/em> was capable of chomping through tougher plant material than\u00a0Diplodocus<\/em>, and was perhaps even capable of a greater degree of oral processing before digestion. This actually ties in nicely with previous hypotheses of different diets for each, which were based\u00a0on apparent feeding heights and inferences made from wear marks on their fossilized teeth.<\/p>\n

Diplodocus<\/em> seems to have been well-adapted, despite its weaker skull, to a form of feeding known as branch stripping, where leaves are plucked from branches as the teeth are dragged along them. The increased flexibility of the neck of Diplodocus<\/em> compared to other sauropods seems to support this too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a lengthy quote, and it contains more information than you want to include. Here’s how to cut it down:<\/p>\n

Camarasaurus<\/em>, with its more mechanically efficient skull, was capable of generating much stronger bite forces than\u00a0Diplodocus<\/em>. This suggests that Camarasaurus<\/em> was capable of chomping through tougher plant material than\u00a0Diplodocus.\u00a0<\/em>. . .\u00a0This actually ties in nicely with previous hypotheses of different diets for each, which were based\u00a0on apparent feeding heights and inferences made from wear marks on their fossilized teeth.<\/p>\n

Diplodocus<\/em> seems to have been well-adapted . . . to a form of feeding known as branch stripping, where leaves are plucked from branches as the teeth are dragged along them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/section>\n

Ellipses Do Not Remove Original Punctuation<\/h3>\n

In the block quote above, you can see that the first ellipsis appears to have\u00a0four dots. (“They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails. . . .”)\u00a0However, this is just a period followed by an ellipsis. This is because\u00a0ellipses do not<\/strong> remove punctuation marks when the original punctuation is still in use; they are instead used in conjunction with original punctuation.<\/p>\n

Here is another example, with an ellipsis followed by a comma:<\/p>\n

By looking at two sympatric species (those that lived together) from the fossil graveyards of the Late Jurassic of North America . . . , [David Button] tried to work out what the major dietary differences were between sauropod dinosaurs, based on their anatomy.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/section>\n

One of the best ways to check yourself is to\u00a0take out the ellipsis. If the sentence or paragraph is still correctly punctuated, you’ve used\u00a0the ellipsis correctly. (Just remember to put it back in!)<\/span><\/p>\n

Quote the following passage, using ellipses to\u00a0remove the bolded portions and using\u00a0brackets for clarity where necessary.<\/p>\n

Sauropod dinosaurs are the biggest animals to have ever walked on land. They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails, and nearly always portrayed moving in herds, being stalked by hungry predators<\/strong>.\u00a0In recent years, a huge amount of taxonomic effort from scientists has vastly increased the number of known species of sauropod. What we now know is<\/strong> that in many areas we had two or more species co-existing alongside each other.\u00a0A question that arises from this, is how did we have animals that seem so similar, and with such high energy and dietary requirements, living alongside one another? Was there some sort of spinach-like super plant that gave them all Popeye-like physical boosts, or something more subtle?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n