Saturday, May 18, 2019

style - In what situation do you put a full-stop after an ellipsis?



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 every 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?




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