Ellipsis Practice

True or False: when an ellipsis is used at the end of a sentence, you use FOUR dots instead of three.

[three dots for the ellipsis + one dot for the period -- . . . .]

• True

• False

Answer explanation

True. An ellipsis consists of three dots, and when it appears at the end of a sentence, a period is also needed, resulting in a total of four dots: three for the ellipsis and one for the period.

What is an ellipsis?

• A figure of speech

• A literary genre

• A type of punctuation mark

• A mistake

Answer explanation

An ellipsis is a type of punctuation mark consisting of three dots (...), used to indicate omitted text or a pause in thought. It is not a figure of speech, literary genre, or a mistake.

Which of these is an ellipsis?

• /

• --

• ,

• . . .

Answer explanation

. . . is an ellipsis, which indicates the omission of words or a pause in thought. The other options (/, --, ,) do not serve this purpose.

An ellipsis is formed by putting _ dots in a row.

How could you rewrite this quote using an ellipsis (. . .) to get rid of details you don't need and make it shorter and easier to understand?

How could you rewrite this quote using an ellipsis (. . .) to get rid of details you don't need and make it shorter and easier to understand?

Ellipses can be used to/for:

• Omit a word

• Pauses or breaks

• Trailing off in a thought

• All of these options

Change this sentence to correctly use the ellipses: “I went to Cheney after class, only for twenty minutes, and then I went to my dorm.”

• “...I went to Cheney after class, only for twenty minutes, and then I went to my dorm.”

• “I went to… Cheney after class, only for twenty minutes, and then I went to my dorm.”

• “I went to Cheney after class… and then I went back to my dorm.”

• “I went to… after class, only for twenty minutes, and then I went to…”

Change this sentence to correctly use the ellipses: “The parade had fire trucks, floats, and dancers who wore sparkly, flowing dresses.”

• “The parade had fire trucks, floats, and dancers ….”

• “The parade had… who wore sparkly, flowing dresses.”

• “The ... had fire trucks, floats, and dancers who wore sparkly, flowing dresses.”

• “The parade had fire trucks, floats, and dancers… sparkly, flowing dresses.”

Change this sentence to correctly use the ellipses: “The sports teams, including the basketball team, baseball team, and football team, participated in the fundraiser for the homeless shelter.”

• “The sports teams, including the basketball team, baseball team, and football team, participated in the… for the homeless shelter.”

• “The sports teams… participated in the fundraiser for the homeless shelter.”

• “The sports teams, including the basketball team, baseball team, and football team, participated in the fundraiser for the….”

• “The sports teams, including the basketball team, baseball team, and football team… for the homeless shelter.”