Types of Punctuation – Quotation Marks and Ellipsis – Beginner

Quotation Marks
Whenever we reproduce exactly what someone else has said, whether it’s a word, phrase, or entire sentence, we use quotation marks—either double (“ ” ) or single ( ‘ ’ )—to separate it from the rest of our writing. For instance:
John said, “I’ll never live in this city again.”
The CEO has expressed his ‘genuine concern and remorse’ over the developments.
If we use a quotation that already has a quotation within it, we alternate between double and single marks:
The president said, “I’ve been assured by the prime minister that she is ‘taking all appropriate steps in response to the crisis.’”
We can also use quotation marks to highlight text that is or might be considered somehow questionable, dubious, or uncertain, as in:
His “promise” turned out to be a complete lie.
Quotation marks also have the technical use of marking the titles of smaller pieces of written or creative works, such as poems or songs:
My favorite song has always been “Auld Lang Syne.”

Ellipses
An ellipsis (plural: ellipses) is a series of three dots ( . . . ) that represents material that has been omitted from a quotation for the sake of neatness and brevity. In general, this is only done when an omission is made in the middle of a quoted sentence; any other punctuation necessary for the structure of the sentence must be kept intact. For example:
“In response to the outcome of the trial, the president said, ‘I don’t think the decision today reflects the . . . opinion of most Americans.’”
“The final passage sums up the protagonist’s view: ‘I’m sure of one thing in life: I value family over all other things, . . . and I will never forget it again.’”
“Our local correspondent told us that ‘[a]dvocates from around the state are rallying around a new law aimed at reducing the number of
roadside accidents. . . . Still, there are some critics . . . who feel the law will have a greater and more negative impact on commuters.’”
Less formally, ellipses are commonly used to indicate when a statement trails off or is broken up due to uncertainty or hesitation, as in:
“I sure hope this works. . .”
“But. . . I don’t understand. . .”

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