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March 7, 2000
ELLIPSIS
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Ellipsis shows a pause between words, or omission of words or sentences in quoted material. Use three dots with spaces between them (space dot space dot space dot space).
EXAMPLES:
"Hm . . . I'll just paint it myself," the old man sighed.
(Ellipsis here shows a pause.)
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the . . . Lord" is part of the first line of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
(Ellipsis here shows that the words "coming of the" have been left out.)
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When more than a partial sentence is omitted, then four dots with spaces are used--beginning immediately after the last cited word.
EXAMPLE:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag . . . and to the Republic for which it stands. . . ."
(The words "of the United States of America" are replaced by the first set of 3 dots; the remaining sentences of the Pledge are represented by the four dots and spaces at the end of the quoted line.)
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PAST ISSUES NOW AVAILABLE ON-LINE
Subscribers to GrammarCheck can now read past issues at the following web site address:
http://www.grammarcheck.com/archives
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WRITING TIP: ELIMINATE "TO HAVE" VERBS
We continue our series of writing tips that can make your writing more professional. Part One of this first tip was to eliminate "to be" verbs (is, are, was, were, to be, be, being, been) WHEN POSSIBLE. Part Two is similar: eliminate "to have" verbs (have, has, had, having, to have) when possible.
Readers dislike wordiness, and the presence of both "to be" and "to have" verbs often indicates a wordy passage. For your most efficient writing, eliminate "to be" and "to have" verbs whenever possible.
Note: Do not attempt to eliminate these two verb groups when writing a first draft. Doing so can cause writer's block. Eliminate these words during the editing stage of your writing.
EXAMPLES:
Do you plan TO HAVE anyone over to your house tomorrow?
Do you plan to invite anyone to your house tomorrow?
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She hates HAVING to prepare dinner for her in-laws.
She hates to prepare dinner for her in-laws.
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HAVE you HAD your vitamins today?
Did you take your vitamins today?
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My brother HAS to HAVE his coffee in the morning.
My brother needs to drink coffee in the morning.
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FOR PRACTICE:
1. Choose a one-page letter or one page from a multi-page document you have written.
2. Circle all "to be" and "to have" verbs in the document.
3. Try to eliminate at least half of those circled verbs.
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YOUR GRAMMAR AND WRITING QUESTIONS:
QUESTION: Dialogue is very tricky for me regarding the tenses. Also in dialogue, is the comma placed before or after a quotation mark and parenthesis?
GRAMMARCHECK: Use quotation marks only around speech that is directly quoted (direct speech) rather than paraphrased (reported speech). Any verb tense can be used in dialogue, depending on what the speaker wants to say.
EXAMPLES:
Direct speech: "I knocked twice before opening the door," she whispered.
Reported speech: She whispered that she had knocked twice before opening the door.
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Without exception, the comma, if one is used, always comes before the quotation mark.
Example: "I can't believe you didn't see through him," Mother answered at last.
* * * * * * *
Without exception, the comma, if one is used, always comes after the parenthesis.
Example: "She always speaks in paraphrases (or reported speech)," said the speech teacher.
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QUESTION: What punctuation mark should end items in a bulleted list? For example:
The meeting on Tuesday will cover:
* the new insurance plan
* the west coast expansion
* the sales restructure program
* the stock split's expansion impact
GRAMMARCHECK: First, always introduce a bulleted list with a complete statement followed by a colon. To make your statement above correct, it should read something like this:
The meeting on Tuesday will cover the following:
Then if you list the bulleted points as you did, without complete sentence structure or capital letters at the beginning of each, you don't need additional punctuation either at the end of each item or at the end of the list. Although some writers handle this differently, we've described the most accurate and simple way of addressing this question. Here's how your list should look:
The meeting on Tuesday will cover the following:
* the newest insurance plan
* the west coast expansion
* the sales restructure program
* the stock split's expansion impact
In future issues of GRAMMARCHECK, we'll address other ways bulleted lists can be formatted. Although the example above is the most common way of handling lists, there are circumstances where you may want to use punctuation marks at the end of each item. Stay tuned.
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QUESTION: Can you please enlighten me on the proper use of "me" and "I"? I know when to use you and me, but quite frankly, the others stump me! Thank you.
GRAMMARCHECK: Many writers share your uncertainty! Just remember that "I" is used as the subject of a sentence and generally performs the action of the verb.
EXAMPLES:
I (Subject) ran to the dock.
Jim and I (Subjects) share the same birthday.
May I (Subject) go to Sarah's birthday party?
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On the other hand, "me" is used as the object of the sentence and generally receives the action of the verb. That is, "me" in a sentence does not perform an action.
EXAMPLES:
Ben (Subject) wrote me (Object) a letter.
Pete (Subject) sent a birthday card and check to Alfie and me (Object).
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QUESTION: Can you ever use semicolons in place of commas in a list? For example, when one of the items in the list is a two-parter that has a comma of its own, can you use semicolons to separate the items in the list?
GRAMMARCHECK: Good question. It's necessary to separate items in a list with semicolons when the listed items contain commas. Here's an example:
WRONG: My favorite things are red roses, cold, crisp apples, huge, beautiful pies, and fresh celery.
CORRECT: My favorite things are red roses; cold, crisp apples; huge, beautiful pies; and fresh celery.
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QUESTION: Please explain the correct usage of lie, lay, lain, laid, etc.
GRAMMARCHECK: Glad you asked. We're going to devote a future issue to the correct use of these words. Keep watching.
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QUESTION: Please explain the uses of an apostrophe. When is it used before an "s" and when is it used after an "s"?
GRAMMARCHECK: Use an apostrophe (it looks like a raised comma) before "s" when showing possession by ONE person, place, or thing.
EXAMPLES:
the dog's leash (the leash of only one dog)
her daughter's name (the name of only one daughter)
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But use an apostrophe after "s" when showing possession by more than one person, place, or thing.
EXAMPLES:
the dogs' leashes (the leashes of more than one dog)
her daughters' names (the names of more than one daughter)
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QUESTION: I enjoyed your article on plurals, but I noticed that you did not include examples of plural abbreviations. Can you let me know the correct way to pluralize an abbreviation? One example might be CPU singular vs. CPUs or CPU's or CPUes plural. The reason I ask is that in today's business world, we throw around acronyms and abbreviations more than words just to keep things short. However, when writing, abbreviations that are plural cause concern. Which is right--the use of the "s," "es," or "'s"? No one seems to know and everyone makes it up as they go!
GRAMMARCHECK: You're right. We've been through many different grammar texts and have found several variations on the issue of plural acronyms/abbreviations. Probably the most common usage is to simply add "s" without an apostrophe (which is how to pluralize proper names--and acronyms stand for proper names, after all).
EXAMPLES:
Regional Transit Authority (one agency) = RTA
Regional Transit Authority (two or more) = RTAs
Continuing Education Unit (one) = CEU
Continuing Education Unit (two or more) = CEUs
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