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Dear Sir or Madam...
- Thread starter Tdol
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N
nicolas
Guest
Some questions
Dear All,
I am a beginner at English :wink:
I have some questions as below:
1. What does the "yours" mean in those sentences?
2. Yours ever ?? What does it mean?
3. Do "Love" and "With Love" have the same meaning?
Thanks for your answer and have a nice day
Dear All,
I am a beginner at English :wink:
I have some questions as below:
1. What does the "yours" mean in those sentences?
2. Yours ever ?? What does it mean?
3. Do "Love" and "With Love" have the same meaning?
Thanks for your answer and have a nice day
RonBee
Moderator
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2003
- Member Type
- Other
- Native Language
- American English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
Re: Some questions
On the whole, closings have very little real meaning. Whatever is used, a closing is basically just a polite way of ending a letter. If I should, for example, close with Sincerely yours what I say in the body of the letter might nonetheless lack sincerity.
Yours ever might mean I will be yours forever or it might mean nothing at all.
I think love and with love have substantially the same meaning.
[Edited for punctuation.]
nicolas said:Dear All,
I am a beginner at English :wink:
I have some questions as below:
1. What does the "yours" mean in those sentences?
2. Yours ever ?? What does it mean?
3. Do "Love" and "With Love" have the same meaning?
Thanks for your answer and have a nice day
On the whole, closings have very little real meaning. Whatever is used, a closing is basically just a polite way of ending a letter. If I should, for example, close with Sincerely yours what I say in the body of the letter might nonetheless lack sincerity.
Yours ever might mean I will be yours forever or it might mean nothing at all.
I think love and with love have substantially the same meaning.
[Edited for punctuation.]
N
nicolas
Guest
Re: Some questions
Dear RonBee,
Thanks!
Dear RonBee,
Thanks!
- Joined
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- British English
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- UK
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- Japan
'Yours ever' is used in BE by some to show that they will always stick by the person they are writing to. Tony Blair uses it in some of his letters to close colleagues.
;-)
;-)
RonBee
Moderator
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Re: Some questions
You're welcome!
And welcome, I say, to our friendly forum! :hi:
I like your peach. (I never had a peach wink at me before.)
:wink:
nicolas said:
You're welcome!
And welcome, I say, to our friendly forum! :hi:
I like your peach. (I never had a peach wink at me before.)
:wink:
N
nicolas
Guest
Dear tdol,
>Tony Blair uses it in some of his letters to close colleagues.
Thanks you tell me that. It's very interesting and funny!!
And let me know who is Tony Blair (The Prime Minister of UK),thanks!
Dear RonBee,
I like this friendly forum
Thanks that you like the peach
I made it yesterday, and actually it's an orange.
But it's OK. Peach is cute,too.
>Tony Blair uses it in some of his letters to close colleagues.
Thanks you tell me that. It's very interesting and funny!!
And let me know who is Tony Blair (The Prime Minister of UK),thanks!
Dear RonBee,
I like this friendly forum
Thanks that you like the peach
I made it yesterday, and actually it's an orange.
But it's OK. Peach is cute,too.
N
nicolas
Guest
Dear tdol,
Yes, I think it's a cute hybrid. :cheers:
Yes, I think it's a cute hybrid. :cheers:
yours sincerely
I wanted to vote on this and clicked around but nothing would let me vote. I am pretty sure that to end an official letter with no name, yours faithfully, is correct, or was, I know language changes. Yours sincerely, goes together with a name, Dear Mr. and Mrs Jones, for instance would end with yours sincerely.
I wanted to vote on this and clicked around but nothing would let me vote. I am pretty sure that to end an official letter with no name, yours faithfully, is correct, or was, I know language changes. Yours sincerely, goes together with a name, Dear Mr. and Mrs Jones, for instance would end with yours sincerely.
N
nicolas
Guest
Dear valtango,
:?:
So what you mean is that if I write a letter to Mr. Jones,
I might end a letter with "Yours sincerely, Mr. Jones" ?
:?:
So what you mean is that if I write a letter to Mr. Jones,
I might end a letter with "Yours sincerely, Mr. Jones" ?
RonBee
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nicolas said:
Yes, indeed! Or:
- Sincerely yours,
Sincerely,
Yours truly,
Regards, or
Best regards
(I cannot imagine why anybody would not sign his name to a letter.)
- Joined
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Re: Some questions
1) The yours is an abbreviation for a formula used hundreds of years ago: 'your [[humble and] obedient] servant'. But I doubt whether many native speakers are aware of the derivation.
2) There were also other, less formal, forms of words: '[ever] your [devoted] friend/admirer' - 'yours ever' came from these. There were even formal uses of 'ever'. The most effusive would be 'ever your humble and obedient servant'. But most uses for 'ever' are less formal. You would not, today, write 'yours ever' in a formal letter.
3) :up:
b
Dear All,
I am a beginner at English :wink:
I have some questions as below:
1. What does the "yours" mean in those sentences?
2. Yours ever ?? What does it mean?
3. Do "Love" and "With Love" have the same meaning?
Thanks for your answer and have a nice day
1) The yours is an abbreviation for a formula used hundreds of years ago: 'your [[humble and] obedient] servant'. But I doubt whether many native speakers are aware of the derivation.
2) There were also other, less formal, forms of words: '[ever] your [devoted] friend/admirer' - 'yours ever' came from these. There were even formal uses of 'ever'. The most effusive would be 'ever your humble and obedient servant'. But most uses for 'ever' are less formal. You would not, today, write 'yours ever' in a formal letter.
3) :up:
b
Ouisch
Key Member
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Complimentary closings vary from country to country, but in AmE, the traditional closings for a business letter (which I presume this example to be, as it's not particularly romatic to begin a love letter with "Dear Sir or Madam" ;-) ):
Sincerely,
Sincerely yours,
Very truly yours,
Regards,
Best regards,
Respectfully,
Politicians running for office will often sign their correspondence "Yours faithfully." They're dangerously close to Tony Blair territory....it probably won't be too long before "Yours ever" catches on over here. :lol:
Sincerely,
Sincerely yours,
Very truly yours,
Regards,
Best regards,
Respectfully,
Politicians running for office will often sign their correspondence "Yours faithfully." They're dangerously close to Tony Blair territory....it probably won't be too long before "Yours ever" catches on over here. :lol:
blueabell2go
Junior Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2006
- Member Type
- Other
In standard British business usage:
If the letter starts with Dear Sir or Dear Madam the complimentary close is
Yours faithfully (note no capital F).
If the letter starts with Dear Mr Smith or Dear Miss Jones the complimentary close is Yours sincerely (note no capital S).
The issue is not whether you know the name or not, it's whether it is used in the salutation (the Dear ... part).
If the letter starts with Dear Sir or Dear Madam the complimentary close is
Yours faithfully (note no capital F).
If the letter starts with Dear Mr Smith or Dear Miss Jones the complimentary close is Yours sincerely (note no capital S).
The issue is not whether you know the name or not, it's whether it is used in the salutation (the Dear ... part).
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