2

What is the correct way to quote this piece of text? The issues here are the initial letter which is now capitalized (I believe that is correct) and the omission of a few words near the period. Should the period still be present, should I remove it, is there any need for space there?

Original phrase:

This is how the clerk obtains user details and verifies its authenticity. Then, he is ready to proceed with the activation of the user account.

My attempts at it. Are these properly constructed?

[T]he clerk obtains user details ... . Then, he is ready to proceed with the activation of the user account.

[T]he clerk obtains user details.... Then, he is ready to proceed with the activation of the user account.

[T]he clerk obtains user details ... Then, he is ready to proceed with the activation of the user account.

[T]he clerk obtains user details ... [t]hen, he is ready to proceed with the activation of the user account.

Usually I read through OWL when I have these kind of doubts but I could not find anything regarding the specific case where you take out the words near the period but keep quoting right after it. I don't think it will matter but this is for a technical document.

Community
  • 1
Daniel
  • 157
  • 9

2 Answers2

2

When there is a period within the omitted text, the ellipsis consists of four, rather than three, dots. Whether those dots are equally spaced or consist of three dots, then a single dot is more a function of how the type is set rather than logic or convention. I believe that four together is more commonly used.

If the remaining text needs a change in capitalization to make grammatical sense, the substituted letter is placed in brackets.

In your example, you are omitting periods so the ellipsis should have four dots. The second concept is a complete sentence, so it should begin with a capital T.

Both your first and second choices are correct, the second being preferable.

bib
  • 72,782
2

I generally see your second option being used. Ellipsis is generally marked with three dots (see Wikipedia). And you need another dot (full stop, period) one to end the sentence. By convention, there isn't usually a space between the ellipsis and the full stop.

This is what I generally see. I wouldn't, however, be surprised if there might be rival conventions. Matters of punctuation are often subject to different recommendations by different style guides.

Peter
  • 2,597