Can I use Ellipsis at the beginning of a quote?












1















The quote I used had multiple sentences and I only wanted a few of the sentences so I took out part of the quote.



"...The witness for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption---the evil assumption---that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption that one associates with minds of their calibre.”



Is it okay if I used ellipsis like this?










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  • 1





    It is not usual to use an ellipsis at the beginning of a quote (unless you are starting in mid-sentence). By definition, a quotation is normally only an extract from the source document - so it follows that there would have been other text before the beginning of the quotation. In your case - because of the length of the quotation - personally, I would have made the quotation a separate paragraph (possibly indented) by itself (as I have done in amending your question).

    – TrevorD
    4 hours ago











  • P.S. Are you sure that you have transcribed the quotation correctly - because your first sentence has a singular person followed by a plural verb (The witness ... have presented ...)?

    – TrevorD
    4 hours ago






  • 2





    If you put the quotation in an indent, and it's not the start of a sentence but starts with a lowercase letter, I would use an ellipsis. But if it's the start of a sentence (regardless of where in the original), then using an ellipsis makes no sense to me.

    – Jason Bassford
    4 hours ago
















1















The quote I used had multiple sentences and I only wanted a few of the sentences so I took out part of the quote.



"...The witness for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption---the evil assumption---that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption that one associates with minds of their calibre.”



Is it okay if I used ellipsis like this?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Hannah Hostetter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1





    It is not usual to use an ellipsis at the beginning of a quote (unless you are starting in mid-sentence). By definition, a quotation is normally only an extract from the source document - so it follows that there would have been other text before the beginning of the quotation. In your case - because of the length of the quotation - personally, I would have made the quotation a separate paragraph (possibly indented) by itself (as I have done in amending your question).

    – TrevorD
    4 hours ago











  • P.S. Are you sure that you have transcribed the quotation correctly - because your first sentence has a singular person followed by a plural verb (The witness ... have presented ...)?

    – TrevorD
    4 hours ago






  • 2





    If you put the quotation in an indent, and it's not the start of a sentence but starts with a lowercase letter, I would use an ellipsis. But if it's the start of a sentence (regardless of where in the original), then using an ellipsis makes no sense to me.

    – Jason Bassford
    4 hours ago














1












1








1








The quote I used had multiple sentences and I only wanted a few of the sentences so I took out part of the quote.



"...The witness for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption---the evil assumption---that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption that one associates with minds of their calibre.”



Is it okay if I used ellipsis like this?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Hannah Hostetter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












The quote I used had multiple sentences and I only wanted a few of the sentences so I took out part of the quote.



"...The witness for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption---the evil assumption---that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption that one associates with minds of their calibre.”



Is it okay if I used ellipsis like this?







ellipsis






share|improve this question









New contributor




Hannah Hostetter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question









New contributor




Hannah Hostetter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 4 hours ago









TrevorD

10.6k22257




10.6k22257






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asked 4 hours ago









Hannah HostetterHannah Hostetter

61




61




New contributor




Hannah Hostetter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Hannah Hostetter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Hannah Hostetter is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 1





    It is not usual to use an ellipsis at the beginning of a quote (unless you are starting in mid-sentence). By definition, a quotation is normally only an extract from the source document - so it follows that there would have been other text before the beginning of the quotation. In your case - because of the length of the quotation - personally, I would have made the quotation a separate paragraph (possibly indented) by itself (as I have done in amending your question).

    – TrevorD
    4 hours ago











  • P.S. Are you sure that you have transcribed the quotation correctly - because your first sentence has a singular person followed by a plural verb (The witness ... have presented ...)?

    – TrevorD
    4 hours ago






  • 2





    If you put the quotation in an indent, and it's not the start of a sentence but starts with a lowercase letter, I would use an ellipsis. But if it's the start of a sentence (regardless of where in the original), then using an ellipsis makes no sense to me.

    – Jason Bassford
    4 hours ago














  • 1





    It is not usual to use an ellipsis at the beginning of a quote (unless you are starting in mid-sentence). By definition, a quotation is normally only an extract from the source document - so it follows that there would have been other text before the beginning of the quotation. In your case - because of the length of the quotation - personally, I would have made the quotation a separate paragraph (possibly indented) by itself (as I have done in amending your question).

    – TrevorD
    4 hours ago











  • P.S. Are you sure that you have transcribed the quotation correctly - because your first sentence has a singular person followed by a plural verb (The witness ... have presented ...)?

    – TrevorD
    4 hours ago






  • 2





    If you put the quotation in an indent, and it's not the start of a sentence but starts with a lowercase letter, I would use an ellipsis. But if it's the start of a sentence (regardless of where in the original), then using an ellipsis makes no sense to me.

    – Jason Bassford
    4 hours ago








1




1





It is not usual to use an ellipsis at the beginning of a quote (unless you are starting in mid-sentence). By definition, a quotation is normally only an extract from the source document - so it follows that there would have been other text before the beginning of the quotation. In your case - because of the length of the quotation - personally, I would have made the quotation a separate paragraph (possibly indented) by itself (as I have done in amending your question).

– TrevorD
4 hours ago





It is not usual to use an ellipsis at the beginning of a quote (unless you are starting in mid-sentence). By definition, a quotation is normally only an extract from the source document - so it follows that there would have been other text before the beginning of the quotation. In your case - because of the length of the quotation - personally, I would have made the quotation a separate paragraph (possibly indented) by itself (as I have done in amending your question).

– TrevorD
4 hours ago













P.S. Are you sure that you have transcribed the quotation correctly - because your first sentence has a singular person followed by a plural verb (The witness ... have presented ...)?

– TrevorD
4 hours ago





P.S. Are you sure that you have transcribed the quotation correctly - because your first sentence has a singular person followed by a plural verb (The witness ... have presented ...)?

– TrevorD
4 hours ago




2




2





If you put the quotation in an indent, and it's not the start of a sentence but starts with a lowercase letter, I would use an ellipsis. But if it's the start of a sentence (regardless of where in the original), then using an ellipsis makes no sense to me.

– Jason Bassford
4 hours ago





If you put the quotation in an indent, and it's not the start of a sentence but starts with a lowercase letter, I would use an ellipsis. But if it's the start of a sentence (regardless of where in the original), then using an ellipsis makes no sense to me.

– Jason Bassford
4 hours ago










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