ELLIPSIS

As a Figure of Speech, ellipsis is a punctuation mark made up of three dots,  sometimes placed  within square brackets […] and used for four main purposes:

1. To show an omission of a word, words or sentences from a text.
2. Along with “but, and or”
3. To create a pause for a special effect, suspense or higher efficiency.
4. To show an unfinished thought or a change in the flow of thought.

It must be pointed out that, in  grammar and rhetoric,  square brackets are useful to make it clear that the ellipsis did not appear in the original text or to differentiate it from a pause for effect. That is, square brackets are not used with an ellipsis for a pause for effect; though it is possible to use a dash to create a pause for effect.

PURPOSE 1 Examples.

• My sister likes strawberry cakes; my brother, lemon pies.
• Billy likes the Pittsburgh Steelers; his father, the  New England Patriots.
• “After work,  I went to the Main Plaza Mall to buy a little something and then I came home.” (original text)

“After work, I went to the mall… and then came home.”

• Sounds great!
• No problem.

Note that in the first two examples you are using a semicolon (;) and then a comma (,) before the omitted words.  These punctuation marks make the sentences grammatically correct, even though they are aesthetically poor. However, if you only use a comma as in: “My sister likes strawberry cakes, my brother lemon pies.” The sentence is considered grammatically incorrect.

PURPOSE 2 Examples.

• Hanna is in charge of the bulletin board, and Ricky, the social media. 

• Someone came over looking for you at noon yesterday, but I don´t know who.
• Professor Smith asked Jonas to redo his essay, and Sheila too.
• Kelly´s mother wants to go window shopping, or to the movies.
• Kathy found three mistakes in the letter, and Gabe found four.
•  As your teacher, I´ll have to say no, but as your brother, yes.
• My grandparents are secure at home, but my parents aren´t.

PURPOSE 3 Examples.

• As I  opened the door I saw … my parents right there!
• I was thinking … maybe I should visit him at the hospital.
• Jealousy is a complex emotion that encompasses feelings ranging from …suspicion… to rage …to fear …to humiliation.

PURPOSE 4 Examples.

• I know I´ve seen this person somewhere…
• As to what we should do next […] I have no idea.

It would be great to invite Randolph Bacon to the Opening Ceremony […] only if everybody agrees.

READING COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY BUILDING 

Read the text below and decide which answer (A,B,C or D) best fits each gap. Use higher case letters (mayúsculas).

Azar, B. S., Azar, D.A., & Koch R.S. (2009). Understanding and Using  English Grammar. Longman.

Barker C. and Mitchell, L. (2004). Mega 1 (First Ed.). Macmillan Publishers.

Hewings, M. (2013) Advanced Grammar in Use with Answers: A Self-Study Reference  and Practice Book for Advanced Learners of English. Cambridge    University Press.

Murphy, R. (2012). English Grammar in Use. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

Murray, L. (2014) English Grammar.  Cambridge University Press.

Images_Compra propia de licencias de banco de imágenes de Pixton y Pngtree, exentas de derechos de autor. https://www-es.pixton.com/ & https://es.pngtree.com/free-backgrounds. Reading Text retrieved fromhttps://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2013/06/13/191286344/why-dolphins-make-us-nervous_2013 National Public Radio, Inc. News report titled "Why Dolphins Make Us Nervous" by Robert Krulwich was originally published on NPR.org on June 13, 2013, and is used with the permission of NPR. Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

• All practice exercises and charts were  written by Connie Reyes_2022_ENES- LEÓN-UNAM
• Audio version performed by Kimberly, Isabella, John and Matt_Compra propia de licencia de uso de voces en Voicemaker, exenta de derechos de autor. https://voicemaker.in/ _Connie Reyes Cruz_2022_