The ellipsis
Règles EN
Definition
The ellipsis marks omission, hesitation, a trailing thought, or a deliberate pause. It always consists of exactly three dots.
Use the character …
Use the single ellipsis character … (U+2026, HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS) rather than three successive full stops. The character cannot be broken across lines, its internal spacing is controlled by the typeface, and it is semantically unambiguous.
I don't know...
I don't know…
Spacing
Most publishers write the ellipsis with no space before it and a single space after. The Chicago Manual of Style recommends a spaced ellipsis (space · dot · space · dot · space · dot · space) for formal texts, but the single character without additional spaces is preferred in most contemporary contexts.
She paused… then answered.
No space before, space after
He began to speak… but stopped.
Omission in quotations
To indicate an editorial omission within a quoted passage, use the ellipsis in square brackets: […]. This distinguishes an editorial cut from a stylistic ellipsis in the original text.
The report noted that 'typography
...shapes perception.'
The report noted that 'typography[…]shapes perception.'
No additional period
The ellipsis replaces the sentence-final period at the end of a sentence. No fourth dot is added.
She waited….
She waited…