Usage of "..." at the end of a sentence

[smithas]

Hii

I have a general doubt about whether it is correct practice to use "..." at the end of certain sentences.

For eg. Ending a letter with :
------
Awaiting your reply ...
------

Is this correct? Please let me know as soon as you can.

Thanking you in advance.

Warm Regards
Smitha

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by smithas

Hii

I have a general doubt about whether it is correct practice to use "..." at the end of certain sentences.

For eg. Ending a letter with :
------
Awaiting your reply ...
------

Is this correct? Please let me know as soon as you can.

Thanking you in advance.

Warm Regards
Smitha

I'm not 100% sure what you mean, Smitha. If you mean this,

"Awaiting your reply ...",

then no, you don't use quotation marks there.

[Wholeman]

From the Lynch Guide to Grammar:


Ellipses. The ellipsis (plural ellipses) is the mark that indicates the omission of quoted material, as in "Brevity is . . . wit" (stolen shamelessly from an episode of The Simpsons). Note two things: first, most typing manuals and house styles prefer the periods to be spaced, thus:

Brevity is . . . wit.

(In electronic communication it's sometimes convenient, even necessary, to run them together, since line-wrap can be unpredictable.) Second, and more important, is the number of periods. The ellipsis itself is three periods (always); it can appear next to other punctuation, including an end-of-sentence period (resulting in four periods).
Use four only when the words on either side of the ellipsis make full sentences. You should never use fewer than three or more than four periods, with only a single exception: when entire lines of poetry are omitted in a block quotation, it's a common practice to replace them with a full line of spaced periods.

One other thing. Although it's a matter of house style, note that it's usually unnecessary to have ellipses at the beginning or end of a quotation; they're essential only when something's omitted in the middle. There's no need for ". . . this . . ." when "this" will do: readers will understand you're not quoting everything the source ever said, and that there will be material before and after the quotation you give.
The only time it's advisable is when the bit you're quoting isn't grammatical when it's standing on its own: "When I was a boy . . ." — that sort of thing. [Entry revised 12 July 2005.]

Wholeman

[smithas]

Hiii

Really glad to see so many replies so soon .. :) This is my first time in this forum (as you may have guessed by now..).

Actually I'm sorry for the mis-interpretation .. my issue or rather query is not about using quotation marks .. it is about using ellipses.

That is, if I'm writing a letter to a person and I just want to let him know that I will be waiting for his immediate reply ... Can I end the mail like this?

==========
Awaiting your reply ...

Regards
Smitha
==========

My query was whether using the ellipses (...) at the end of that sentence is grammatically correct or if it is a correct usage.

Please let me know.

Warm Regards
Smitha

[Wholeman]

As Riverkid stated above, (Although the quotations might have been confusing.) no, you would not use ellipsis in the 'Closing' of a letter.

Wholeman

[smithas]

Hiii Wholeman

Thank you for your feedback. Do you have any other suggestions instead? I mean, can we use :
==========
Awaiting your reply.

OR

Awaiting your reply,
==========

Let me know.

Warm Regards
Smitha

[Wholeman]

I recommend that you use the last one you listed.

Awaiting your reply,

Wholeman

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by Wholeman

As Riverkid stated above, (Although the quotations might have been confusing.) no, you would not use ellipsis in the 'Closing' of a letter.

Wholeman

I didn't cotton on to the ellipsis thing at all, Wholeman. I was only discussing the quotation marks. I agree that in a letter, a formal letter, one wouldn't use <...> but I don't see anything wrong with using it in friendly letters or emails.

[Naamplao]

Originally Posted by riverkid

I didn't cotton on to the ellipsis thing at all, Wholeman. I was only discussing the quotation marks. I agree that in a letter, a formal letter, one wouldn't use <...> but I don't see anything wrong with using it in friendly letters or emails.

I am the worst offender of using too many ellipsis's. It is a very bad habit that I use in informal writing only. In formal writing, of course, an ellipsis is definitely not allowed.

I use it to show an extended pause in the middle of a sentence or as sort of a conjunction.

At the end of a sentence it is sort of a long thoughtful pause, sort of words left unsaid.

But I would be the first to agree that it is a bad habit. It is just something like smoking...hard to break!

[Wholeman]

The usage of ellipsis when writing dialog is covered via the, "The only time it's advisable is when the bit you're quoting isn't grammatical when it's standing on its own: "When I was a boy . . ." — that sort of thing." portion of the pasted text on ellipsis usage rules.

You are not writing a complete sentence, therefore you use the ellipsis to indicate that something was left unsaid.

Wholeman