When "etc." is at the end of a phrase, do you place a period after it?

Question

Example:

It's all about apples, oranges, bananas, etc.

VS.

It's all about apples, oranges, bananas, etc..

Update

What happens if the abbreviation is inside parentheses, do you place a dot after and before the closing parenthesis?

It's all about fruit (apples, bananas, etc.).

Jimi Oke · Accepted Answer

The correct form of your example:

It’s all about apples, oranges, bananas, etc.

Jack Lynch’s Guide to Grammar and Style states:

This one is simple enough: never double up periods. If a statement ends with “etc.” the period in the abbreviation does double duty, serving as the full stop to end the sentence. If, however, you need another mark of punctuation after an abbreviation, you can put it after the period. So:

This was her first trip to the U.S.
  (The period does double-duty, ending both the abbreviation and the sentence.)
  Is this your first trip to the U.S.?
  (The period ends the abbreviation, but the question mark ends the sentence.)
  On her first trip to the U.S., Kristina lost her passport.
  (The period ends the abbreviation, but the sentence keeps going after the comma.)

The only thing to remember: don't double the periods. Everything else is logical enough.

JSBձոգչ · Answer

If etc. occurs at the end of a sentence, then you do not add another period.

It's all about apples, oranges, bananas, etc.

However, if etc. occurs at the end of a clause, you can add a comma or other punctuation mark after it.

I bought the apples, oranges, etc., but they were all rotten.

Grammar.ccc.com gives the following rule:

When an abbreviation with a period ends a sentence, that period will suffice to end the sentence.

Barrie England · Answer

Note also that, when an abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence,
  only one full stop is written. You should never write two full stops
  in a row.

'Guide to Punctuation' by Larry Trask.

gam3 · Answer

If is was not a question, then you would not need two periods at the end of the sentence, but you do seem to need the period before a question mark.

You might just use the full et cetera.  Then you don't have to worry about the problem at all.

David · Answer

Rules, rules, rules! Who made that rule? It’s punctuation of a type that is just a style thing. If you want to double the stop, do so. You may be bucking the contemporary trend, but nobody will have any difficulty reading what you have written as a result. Most house styles are against it merely because it looks untidy on the page. That’s all.

Answered by David on April 17, 2021

Green Grasso Holm · Answer

No, which I say because we just don't and I learned that we don't, but since references are desirable, here's what Grammar Girl has to say.

niamulbengali · Answer

You simply do not put another period after "etc." when it ends a sentence.

When "etc." is at the end of a phrase, do you place a period after it?

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