How to Use an Ellipses
An ellipsis (plural ellipses) is used to show that words have been omitted within a quote. An ellipsis signals to the reader that your usage of a quote alters it from its original form or context. In MLA style, an ellipsis consists of three spaced periods.
An ellipsis is not needed when quoting a word or a phrase, as readers generally understand that these are not the full original text.
- Original text: The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma.
- Correct: In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode “The Secret Box,” Patrick Star states that the operations of his mind “are an enigma.”
- Incorrect: In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode “The Secret Box,” Patrick Star states that the operations of his mind “. . . are an enigma.”
Ellipses in the middle of quotes
Use an ellipsis if you are omitting material from within a single sentence of your quote.
- Original text: One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.
- Example: Franz Kafka’s story The Metamorphosis begins by stating that “Gregor Samsa . . . found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin” (1).
If your quote omits an entire sentence or more, use an ellipsis, but add a period before it.
- Example: Franz Kafka’s story The Metamorphosis begins by stating, “One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. . . . His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked” (1).
Ellipses at the end of quotes
If your quoted material appears to be a grammatically complete sentence, use an ellipsis to signal to the reader that there was more to the original text.
If an in-text citation comes directly after an ellipsis at the end of your quote, then include an ellipsis before the closing quotation mark and place a period at the end of the in-text citation.
- Original text: The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”
- Example: In On the Road, Jack Kerouac writes, “The only people for me are the mad ones . . .” (25).
If an in-text citation does not come directly after the ellipsis at the end of your quote, add a period before the ellipsis.
- Example: On page 25 of On the Road, Jack Kerouac writes, “The only people for me are the mad ones. . . .”
- Example: In On the Road, Jack Kerouac writes, “The only people for me are the mad ones. . . .” He goes on to describe how these people “burn” like fireworks (25).
