Ever had an incomplete…? Leaving something out to shorten a quotation? Find out here how to type the ellipsis symbol ( … ) using the iPhone keyboard.
First, the Lip-o-Letter
The lipogram is written not with something (say, a lip) but without something: a lipogram is a text that excludes a letter of the alphabet. (The meaning can be gathered quite literally: lipo– means without and gram is, of course, a letter in Ancient Greek.)
One prominent and impressive lipogram is Ernest Wright’s Gadsby, which makes do without the letter ‘e’ for some 250 pages and 50 000 words.
Now, looking at your iPhone’s on-screen keyboard, do you feel you have to make do without the ellipsis symbol? You do not:
How to Type the Ellipsis Symbol ( … ) on an iPhone
Time needed: 1 minute
To enter an ellipsis using the iPhone keyboard:
- Position the input cursor where you want the ellipsis to go.
Here’s where: The ellipsis stands for words, a train of thought or part of a word that has been omitted. While whitespace before the ellipsis is a matter of style, it is common to insert a non-breaking space before an ellipsis.
Omissions: In quoted text, you can indicate an omission using an ellipsis between square brackets (like […]).
Example: The soup was great … and very liquid. - Tap 123 to reveal the iOS punctuation keyboard.
- Now tap and hold the period (
.). - Swipe right to highlight the ellipsis character in the pop-up menu (
…). - Let go to enter the ellipsis.
How to Type the Ellipsis Symbol on an iPhone: FAQ
Where is the ellipsis character for keyboards other than U.S.-English?
The ellipsis is behind the period mark for nearly all keyboards and scripts.
The few exceptions include Chinese stroke input; here, it is easiest to:
- Enter a dot
.. - Use auto-complete to enter the ellipsis.
(How to type the ellipsis symbol on an iPhone tested with iOS 14–17; updated March 2024)