How to Use Brackets and the Ellipsis

ISN’T IT ANNOYING WHEN… You find that textual evidence your teacher is always nagging you to use in your responses. The problem is that the quote just doesn’t fit into your answer the way you want it to.

Here is an example… Imagine you’re writing a paper about how cruel Mrs. Geller is. You research and find a great book by Mickey Mouse about the people he hates the most, and Mrs. Geller is #1 on that list! There is an awesome quote that says: “She is one of the meanest and most sadistic people I have ever met, and her cruelty knows no limits.”

Now what? The quote was: “She is one of the meanest and most sadistic people I have ever met, and her cruelty knows no limits.” You’re not sure if your reader will know that the word “she” in the above quote refers to Mrs. Geller, and of course, you want to be clear. This is where BRACKETS [ ] come in. You can add in words that aren’t in the quote as long as you put them in BRACKETS [ ]. Anything inside the brackets are your own words.

HERE IS WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE. It goes from: “She is one of the meanest and most sadistic people I have ever met and her cruelty knows no limits.” To: “She [Mrs. Geller] is one of the meanest and most sadistic people I have ever met, and her cruelty knows no limits.”

So remember: Use Brackets when you add words to a quotation. Mickey Mouse wrote a book about the most horrible people ever to live. In the book, he explains: “She [Mrs. Geller] is one of the meanest and most sadistic people I have ever met, and her cruelty knows no limits.”

What about a situation where I don’t want to use the whole quote? I’m so glad you asked! Remember the original quote was: “She is one of the meanest and most sadistic people I have ever met, and her cruelty knows no limits.” You don’t know what the word “sadistic” means, and you’re too lazy to look it up. You want to leave that word out, but you know that you can’t change a quote.

Now what? This is where the ELLIPSIS, which is three dots … comes in. You can take out words that are in the quote or use only a portion of a quote as long as you use the ellipsis … to show there are omitted words.

HERE IS WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE. It goes from: “She is one of the meanest and most sadistic people I have ever met, and her cruelty knows no limits.” To: “She is one of the meanest … people I have ever met and her cruelty knows no limits.”

So remember: Use the Ellipsis when you leave words out from a quotation. Mickey Mouse wrote a book about the most horrible people ever to live. In the book, he explains: “She is one of the meanest … people I have ever met, and her cruelty knows no limits.”

Some things to know about using the Ellipsis Don’t use it if it changes the meaning of the quote. Let’s say I was interviewed and I said, “I would love to hit all of my 8th grade students and their friends.” You can’t use the ellipsis like this: Mrs. Geller said, “I …love…all of my 8th grade students and their friends.” That changes the meaning of my words. Suddenly, instead of being the psychotic English teacher I am, it seems as if I’m kind and mushy!

More things to know about using the Ellipsis… If the ellipsis comes at the end of your sentence, you still need end punctuation, even it is a period. EXAMPLE: The students ran away in fear as Mrs. Geller yelled, “I would love to hit all of my 8th grade students… .”

Can I use brackets and the ellipsis together? Sure! Remember that the quote we wanted to use was: ““She is one of the meanest and most sadistic people I have ever met and her cruelty knows no limits.” Here it is using both [ ] and … “She [Mrs. Geller] is one of the meanest… people I have ever met and her cruelty knows no limits.”

AND THIS IS THE END!