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Victo Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Aspara Gus – Your spin, please
I personally favor the bracketed ellipsis over the regular ellipsis. I cannot find an answer on the Net with regard to the bracketed usage for the two examples below.
I believe that the correct punctuation for speech that intentionally trails off would be [...] at the end of the sentence as exemplified in example #1 below:
Example #1: “I don't know how to proceed from here [...]”
{I say no fourth dot goes outside the second bracket (not [...].) because the sentence deliberately trails off, as would be the rule with the regular ellipsis – ie just three dots are used. {Does this appear to be correct with the bracketed ellipsis example above? Is it correct usage?}
Example #2: "The Fourth of July fireworks will take place [...]."
{If words are left off at the end of a sentence, and that is all that is omitted, indicate the omission with the bracketed ellipsis marks and then indicate the end of the sentence with a fourth dot (outside the bracketed ellipsis) exactly like this […].
{Does this look correct? Is it correct usage?}
I say yes to both.
I believe that the correct punctuation for speech that intentionally trails off would be [...] at the end of the sentence as exemplified in example #1 below:
Example #1: “I don't know how to proceed from here [...]”
{I say no fourth dot goes outside the second bracket (not [...].) because the sentence deliberately trails off, as would be the rule with the regular ellipsis – ie just three dots are used. {Does this appear to be correct with the bracketed ellipsis example above? Is it correct usage?}
Example #2: "The Fourth of July fireworks will take place [...]."
{If words are left off at the end of a sentence, and that is all that is omitted, indicate the omission with the bracketed ellipsis marks and then indicate the end of the sentence with a fourth dot (outside the bracketed ellipsis) exactly like this […].
{Does this look correct? Is it correct usage?}
I say yes to both.
Top answer
) because the sentence deliberately trails off, as would be the rule with the regular ellipsis – ie just three dots are used. { Does this appear to be correct with the bracketed ellipsis example above? Is it correct usage?
- ) because the sentence deliberately trails off, as would be the rule with the regular ellipsis – ie just three dots are used.
- { Does this appear to be correct with the bracketed ellipsis example above?
- Is it correct usage?
- } No.
- Brackets should be used only to indicate an omission.
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3 Answers
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victoExample #1: “I don't know how to proceed from here [...]”N
{I say no fourth dot goes outside the second bracket (not [...].) because the sentence deliberately trails off, as would be the rule with the regular ellipsis – ie just three dots are used. {Does this appear to be correct with the bracketed ellipsis example above? Is it correct usage?}
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Aspara Gus: "No. Brackets should be used only to indicate an omission."
The brackets are in fact denoting the omission of the sentence-ending words that deliberately trailed off.
The brackets are in fact denoting the omission of the sentence-ending words that deliberately trailed off.
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victoThe brackets are in fact denoting the omission of the sentence-ending words that deliberately trailed off.
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