Yes, I think people still write letters, but most of them are business letters. Most “friendly” letters have gone the way of e-mails. However, there are also business e-mails. This blog post is about openings and closings of both letters and e-mails, business and personal.
Salutations
Most of us do the majority of our correspondence these days by e-mail. Yes, sometimes we do send a letter—usually a business letter—and many of the business letters we receive probably go into the junk pile.
Regardless of whether we are writing an e-mail or a snail-mail letter, the opening and closings are basically the same as far as capitalization and punctuation, which is what this blog post is about.
Much of the correspondence that is business related and e-mailed does take on a more friendly tone. However, there are still business e-mails that are more formal. Just because you are using e-mail doesn’t mean that you can address someone you have never met as “Hey, Joe.”
When you are addressing someone in a business setting for the first time, I would not recommend using just a first name unless you know it is fine with the person. (For example, perhaps they write to you first using just your first name; then it is up to you to decide. More formal is always safer at first.) If you know how someone likes to be addressed, then address them that way. If after you go formal the first time, they tell you it’s fine to use just a first name, or if they respond using your first name (unless they are “important”), go ahead and be more informal.
Please try never to use these salutations:
- Dear Sir or Dear Sirs
- To whom it may concern
Notice that I did not initial cap whom it may concern. Unless it is (of course) a name, only the first letter in a salutation is capitalized. However, usually the words are names or other words that are generally capitalized, so initial cap them.
If you receive a letter or e-mail and the sender hasn’t even bothered to find out your name, you probably would assume it was junk mail. Try to find a name to address a letter or e-mail to.
As a general rule, business letter greetings are followed by a colon. Informal and friendly communication use a comma:
- Dear Mr. Johnson:
- Hi, Joe,
- Mr. Johnson:
- Joe,
Technically, when you use Hi, Joe, there is a comma after Hi. The phrase Hi, Joe, is direct address, sort of like Come here, Joe. On the other hand, Dear is an adjective describing the name, so no comma.
If you need the plurals of some of the address abbreviations, here they are:
- The plural of Mr. is Messrs.
- The plural of Mrs. is Mmes.
- The plural of Ms. is either Mses, Mss., or Mmes.
These abbreviations are followed by a period in American English, but not in British.
Omit the comma before Jr. in a title if it is OK with the person you are writing to: Mr. Hank Jeffers Jr.
Closings
In the closing of an e-mail or a letter, only the first word is initial capped in cases where there is more than one word:
- Yours truly,
- With regards,
- Sincerely yours,
- Sincerely,
Let’s talk about “Thank you.” First, it is two separate words. Second, I don’t personally like it as a closing:
- Thank you,
Rick Mendoza
I don’t like that. If I am going to say thank you, which I generally do in a business letter, I make it its own sentence or put it in a sentence, and then I do the usual closing.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you for helping me out.
- Thank you for the fast response.
- Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.
I would do this:
Thank you very much.
Sincerely yours,
Arlene Miller
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You’ve missed out the sign-off ‘Yours sincerely’ (I’ve yet to see ‘Sincerely yours’), the one I always use when I have addressed the recipient ‘Dear Mrs Roberts’.
I know I didn’t give all the possible closings. I guess you can use either Yours sincerely or Sincerely yours. I think I use the latter more often.
What salutation is appropriate when writing to a group of people? Specifically, planning a family reunion and wanting to email everyone.
Probably the best thing to is have every e-mail addressed to that person, and I don’t know how to do that automatically. Other than that I would definitely use blind copy BCC, so they don’t see everyone it is going to. How about Dear Family Members: Or something like that, if you don’t want to email everyone individually?
On the first blush, that makes for a good lesson, to listen to, by whomsoever are so minded.
However, having admitted that even business letters have the prospects of finding their way to the litter bin (or junk pile), no guess after having been read or not, e’mails too, but for no fault of sender or addressee, with a will of own, many times find their way to ‘spam’ folder. True or False !
Anyway, Merry Christmas Greetings to All !
PS: Beg your pardon, for any grammatical error, ignorantly or inadvertently made !
Incidentally, to finish, for making the picture perfect, a PC and a mouse alongside may have been inscribed !!
Thank you for confirming that the format I use in business emails is the correct one. If I ever have to send emails to more than one Mr., Mrs., or Ms., you have given me new information as to the format.
Glad the post was helpful. I have never had to pluralize those words, but I thought it was interesting!
Superb and concise.
Thank you very much!
Wonderful blog post, Arlene. I always learn something from reading your material, and I love your books.
I disagree with you about writing letters. The days of handwritten letters are not gone! And cursive writing is good for the brain. I was raised to write proper thank you notes, among other forms of personal correspondence. They don’t take that long to write and mail, and there’s a wonderful energy about them. My daughter writes beautiful thank you notes, for which the recipients express deep appreciation. Writing is a form of self-expression, and I think should not be limited to the digital format.
Glad you liked it, Lynn! I agree, especially about thank you notes, which I do handwrite, and I think many people still do. And yes, cursive is good for the brain, which is why the teachers where I taught were all for it, despite criticism!
Thank you for covering the topic of letters. I can remember a time when I wrote letters to grandmothers, aunts, and cousins, of which there were many, living across the country from me. My mother instilled the appreciation of written communication. And remember, at one time long distance phone calls were very expensive and, so, a letter was more practical. I miss those days, but manage to write emails to favorite people and love getting letters in the mail–even those much maligned Christmas letters everyone complains about. Merry Christmas, Arlene.
Marilyn, thanks for the comment. I remember writing letters too — on pretty stationery! Those days are gone.A friend and I used to write long letters across the country. Then we wrote long e-mails. Now, we text once in a while and see each other on Facebook, but we are still close friends despite the distance and the “progress” in communication. And I used to write those Christmas letters when the kids were small. Actually, I guess I typed them and printed many copies! Have a wonderful holiday!!!