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How to start and end letters and emails in AE:
Formal letters and emails, where you are writing to an institution or an unnamed person:
• These start with the following salutations:
Dear Sirs: (when you write to a company, organization, university)
Dear Sir: (to an unnamed person, who you know is male)
Dear Madam: (to an unnamed person, who you know is female)
Dear Madam or Sir: (always the safe option for an unnamed person)
• These often end:
Sincerely, / Sincerely yours,
• Note the use of the colon after the salutation in AE. Some American letters and emails of this type also omit the Dear in these types of salutations, and just open Madam or Sir:
Another such salutation is Ladies and gentlemen: (to a company etc.) Many feel that Truly has become overused as an ending and should be avoided. Respectfully is very formal and is rarely used today.
Normal business letters and emails, where you know the recipient's name:
• These start:
Dear Mr. Jones: (to a named male, never use 'Mister' in a letter)
Dear Mrs. Jones: (to a named female, who is married)
Dear Miss Jones: (to a named female, who is unmarried)
Dear Ms. Jones: (to a named female, with unknown marital status)
Dear Professor Jones: (use for all professors: also assistant and associate professors: Write Professor in full, do not use the slangy Prof.)
Dear Dr. Jones: (can be used for someone holding a PhD, or other doctoral degree)
• These often end:
Sincerely, / Sincerely yours,
• Note that in American English, a stop is used after abbreviations like Mr., Ms. (pronounced /miz/), Mrs., and Dr, and a colon placed after the name (as an alternative, a comma is sometimes used). Some Americans use just Dear M Jones: to avoid the gender specific greeting Dear M/M. Jones: is also sometimes used for the same reasons in place of Mr. and Mrs. in letters and emails.
Letters and emails to colleagues, associates and friends:
• These start:
Dear Jim, (if a person signs his letter with Jim, use this in your reply. If you use Dear Mr. Jones, you signal coldness and distance to Jim)
Dear Mary, (same comments as for
'Dear Jim')
Dear colleagues, (useful in group
Mailings, but you could be more personal)
• The endings vary on a scale that indicates a business tone to close friendship:
Sincerely, (Even though you start Dear Jim, you show that this is a business-like letter, fax or email)
Regards, (although frequently used in emails and faxes, this is too informal for most business letters)
Kind regards,
Best wishes, (used to signal friendliness)
Warm regards, (getting slightly 'hotter', frequently used for friends)
Love, (only used for close friends)
• Note that a comma is very frequent after such salutations and endings.
Source: Word for Word. By Stewart Clark, Graham Pointon. Publisher: Oxford university Press ©.  |