In some style guides, I see this mention of putting a full-stop after an ellipsis when you are stopping the paused sentence and going onto another new sentence, but when reading several very well-known novels, I have just seen either the ellipsis alone or ellipis followed by a SPACE between two sentences so am confused as to whether I should be putting the extra full-stop in and when.
E.g. "I was ashamed…and afraid." Normal pause, so just ellipsis.
But how about:
"I was ashamed…You couldn't understand."
Is the above ok or should it be:
"I was ashamed… You couldn't understand." SPACE AFTER ELLIPSIS.
How about:
"I am not sure if I will ever be able to forgive him…."
If this is the end of the character's thought, are we supposed to add the extra full-stop?
If not, when do we use it and do authors really use it? I rarely see it.
Thanks so much to anyone who has an idea!
As an aside, I see some authors use small letters after the ellipsis even when they are starting a new clause or sentence, rather than capitals to start a new sentence.
E.g. "I was ashamed…you couldn't understand."
Is the above also acceptable?
Best Answer
E.g. "I was ashamed...and afraid." Normal pause, so just ellipsis.
You need spaces before and after ellipsis and in-between. Some rules don't require spaces in between. Punctuation rules are the most flexible ones.
"I was ashamed... You couldn't understand." SPACE AFTER ELLIPSIS.
Spaces before and after ellipsis, please.
"I am not sure if I will every (typo) be able to forgive him...."
If the ellipsis is used to replace words at the end of a sentence, you need a full stop. In the above sentence, I guess you are replacing "for what he did to me" or something with ellipsis. Then, you need to put a full stop.
E.g. "I was ashamed...you couldn't understand."
The reason you doesn't start with a capital letter is the clause is a part of the complex sentence, ellipsis is replacing "that" for a pause.
The below link seems to be helpful. Again, punctuation rules are not very strict.
http://www.really-learn-english.com/ellipsis.html
Hope it helps.