Writing – How to use ETC., AND SO ON, …

Do you like studying, learning new things, practicing your English, etc.? Do you stop when you see ‘etc.’ and wonder what it means? This lesson will look at the little things in English, such as how to show a list continues without actually continuing it. You’ll learn how and when to use ‘etc.’, the ellipsis mark (…), as well as ‘and so on’.

Quiz

Test your understanding of this English lesson

Test your understanding of the English lesson by answering these questions. You will get the answers and your score at the end of the quiz.

297 COMMENTS

,You are born to teaching …Thank You
BR

all teachers should teach like him;)

i agree with u ,
if my teacher were adam, i will feel comfotable in english classes

thanks a lot dear adam
carry On

Adam, and what about fourth dot? When you started you said that you’d explane the meaning of the expression with fourth dots but never did it. Or I missed something?

Thanks for the lesson. I has wondered about it since the first time I learnt English.

thank you so much dear adam

That is great, I like it.

They were my questions for years.
thank you

Hi, I am very interesting with your lessons.
my question for you is what is the different between (different and difference). I hope you answer me, I do appreciated
Many Thanks

different= adjective
difference =noun.

Thank u so much!! you´re amazing!

Thank you for the lesson Mr.Adam

This is an amazing posting!
Tks for the good lesson that we couldn’t be able to find in any other pages.

I love you Adam ♥

I didn’t know taht: “There should be no ‘and’ before ‘etc.'”, thanks

i didn’t understand whAT BLAH MEAN.

BLAH means ‘not so good,’ or ‘boring,’ or ‘plain,’ etc.

hey adam,, what does “so on and so for” mean?

You did your hair cut. Looks good! Like Hasan I also was waiting till the end of the lesson. I don’t think I heard anything about it. Q2 is a bit tricky. I should have been more careful for each word. Thanks a lot.

Thank you so much Adam. You are as always, marvellous. But you forgot to explain the fourth dot in …(.)

thank you so much

thanks Mr Adam, I wish you a Merry Christmas.

Very helpful lesson. Besides your teaching skills, you look like a typical english man.

Hello Adam,
Thank you for this lesson.Could you please explain me where we can use the word “over”?.You said that “my friend came over to my house”.i know this question is not related to this lesson.I have heard many people use this word with there(over there),here etc.,but you used different.Thank you in advance.

Actually, I could have said “My friend came to my house.” ‘Over’ is just an extra word we use. Basically, it means a little like ‘here.’ When we say “over there,” seems to make it a little more specific, like ‘in that place’ as though you are pointing. But if you take it out, it doesn’t affect the meaning.

Thank you for the lesson Adam, it was very useful.

PS: The gnocchi’s recipe was great, and it made me hungry…

You lesson was not ‘blah’ at all. That made me interested, open, happy, and so on…

Good teacher, thank you so much.

Adam, what about the fouth dot […(.)]? And the lesson was really good. The way you explain is really easy to understand :). Thank you.

Thanks a lot Mr Adam. It was really helpful and interesting.

Thank you too much .it was the first time that i’ve checked your site and i should say it’s very good

Thanks a lot Adam, it’s very clear. But I’m little bit frustrated, you wrote three dot and you said, sometimes it’s possible to write four dot but you didn’t say the meaning of four dot… ;-)

this vidoe is good thanks adam!

Sorry about forgetting to mention the 4th dot.

It’s actually pretty simple:
The 4th dot is a period. That is, it ends the sentence.
example: I like all kinds of fruit, such as apples, bananas, strawberries….
The last dot is a regular period for an end of sentence marker. If you list ends at the end of the sentence, you can’t use one of the dots as your period. That’s why you would have the fourth.

If you’re not sure about this, ask me.

I’d like to take this chance for telling you
” HAPPY NEW YEAR ” for every things that you did for us .
I wish you all the best and enjoyable time with. * MERRY CHRISTMAS FOR ALL *
Yours faithfully,
Ameen

Hello dear Adam,
I couldn’t catch ur last sentences completely,
“If u list ends at the…….”
What do u mean exactly plz?!
Tx in advance.

First, an apology. I meant ‘your’ list.

example: “I like fruits like apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries, pineapples, plums, and others.”
or:
“I like fruits like apples, bananas,…
The second one is wrong because only three dots means it is missing the period, so the sentence hasn’t ended. It should be:
“I like apples, bananas,….”
Last dot is the period.

“blah” is only used in spoken english?

PD: Happy Holydays engVid Team!

Adam you rock, thank you for the lesson.
BTW
In Russian language “blah” sounds like shit.)

I’ll keep that in mind :)

No, it’s not sounds like “shit”, it sounds like “whore” on russian language.Russians like to say this word :\

well thanks for your lesson sir. I just need to know the difference between “it’s been a long time and it has been a long time” pls help me out sir

It’s been… = It has been…

The ‘s is a shortened form.

Thank you very very, Adam! Could you please explain the origin of that mute “h” at the end of such words like “blah”, why not just write “bla” and be happy?!

Good question. Hard to answer with quiet words on a screen, but basically, the ‘h’ extends the ‘a’ sound, making it longer.

Thank you! One would never think about such things. Such a good lesson Adam! Many thanks.

Dear teacher thank you very much for very useful skills that you have provided us to help us to write proper sentenses and symbols.WISHING YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND PROSPERIOU NEW YEAR 2013.

thank you Adam, you are very simple to teach English

Adam,I have a request.Could you teach us the active and passive voice of causative verbs and present,past and future conditionals?Please,please,please.

Kinds regards
Farooq

I’m sure some of these are already on engvid, but I’ll see what i can do for you Farooq
:)

I am a publisher living in Toronto. I came across this site while browsing,and I think it provides an excellent learning opportunity for all kinds of people. I was impressed by your teaching methods in particular, and found it educational and engaging.

I would be very interested to speak to you further and possibly discuss some very rewarding business ideas.

I look very forward to hearing from you.

I appreciate the thought but can’t take on anything at the moment.

Perhaps in the near future.

Excellent communication demonstrated by you.I loved watching it.Today is 25th Dec 2012(Tuesday)I want to say merry Chrismis to you and to all of engvid team.Mazhar Jamil (Pakistan)

hi Adam
this is my first time watching your video and i have to confess that the lesson’s topic was my question also.
thanks for your assistance.

here is another question :Don’t we use “etc” solely in writings and so on in speech ?

We can actually use both expressions in writing and speaking. In writing, though, etc. is more common; however, keep in mind that it is pretty informal.

thank you so much!

Thank you so much!
I’m a Korean. I hope I am good at English in the near future:-)

me too :) looks good so far

u are perfect man.

thanks adam i learn t which i was totally unawared till date

thanks for the lessons!
I wanna know if you can do a video about common poetic expressions or its rules?
have a great time!
=)

hmmm… You’ll have to give me an example of what you mean.

thanks thanks thanks … :)

What is the difference between “dot” and “period”?

I’m not 100% but I think the “dot” is a dot, :), a circle symbol and used in domain of website not in sentence. The “period” is a dot, used to end a sentence.( period, not dot).

I found this info , `AE` they called it period ,`BE` they called it full-stop .
The dissimilarity between dot and period ?
Is that dot used in computer filed names , internet addresses ,and email addresses such as www.(dot)EngVid.(dot)com,,also , it said that it used in name of IP addresses 145.260.123 , it pronounced dot .
on the other hand, period or full-stop it used in the end of sentence .

but there is something it still questioning me . We know that in BE it`s not used while in AE it`s necessary to used it after abbreviation .
such as = ^AE^ co. ,,S.S. St. ^BE^ co ,, SS,,St what we called it here dot or period and why ? what is the differen !!

Too Right! :)
I’ve found the same.
But,about ur ? ,in my book it is dot after abbreviations like WWW.(dot) & as we know,we use full stop o period at the end of a statement.Right.
Have Fun!

yep, you have point here^^ it is dot not period
but I would like to know why BE never used and AE t

different
notwithstanding
yep,,you have point here , it is dot not period. But I would like to know why BE never used the dot after abbreviation while AE it is necessary to used it. is it kind of rules in AE or what .

Ok, but what if we have this situation:

I see something in the distance, a text, and I’m not sure if there is a comma or a dot(period). For example: “… , I …” or “… . I …” So, should I ask my friend: “Is there a comma or a dot” or “Is there a comma or a period”?

right it is somehow confusing . but I think there is nothing to special to distinguished between them ,so you showed came near to see it well

Nice dialogue here :)

Period for ending a sentence. Dot for everything else.
ellipsis always have at least 3 dots. If you use with a comma within a sentence, 3, but to end a sentence, 4.
It’s actually pretty complicated. This is the stuff of editors. But, if you are interested, it’s best to consult a style guide.