Mr Smith – in a formal or business letter, this seems to me to be aggressive and rude. If you're in doubt as to which email greeting to use, stick to a more formal version. By : www.markedbyteachers.com. Dear comes across as too formal–or simply plain creepy and overly intimate. Many translated example sentences containing "Dear Mr. Smith" – Spanish-English dictionary and search engine for Spanish translations. Very formal (for official business letters) To Whom It May Concern: Use only when you do not know to whom you must address the letter, for example, when writing to an institution. The choice of an email salutation depends on your relationship with a recipient and the context of your message. Their company’s website or LinkedIn page can help you with this task. So and So) And find it to be a form of respect, but…I find that when I am sending an email to a friend, I will start out with “Hey” or “Hiya” (Depends on the friend) Or just “Hello”. If your research wasn't successful, a generic email greeting can back you up. I don’t care what has been used for years etc It just doesn’t make sense. Plus it's extremely generic. Welcome to the forum. 4. General. MENU. As we move from communication via pen/press & ink to electronic written communications, the formal SALUTATION (Dear Ms. Maddox[,]…) eventually and conventionally may be replaced, with a GREETING (Hello[,] Ms. Maddox……) even in formal correspondence thereby breaking down the walls of formality even further. My dear Mr Smith – less formal, emotionally closer; depending on context, can be ironic/sarcastic Dear Sir/Madam, Use when writing to a position without having a named contact. For a knighted MP, you’ll need to use “Sir” in conversation, on an envelope address, and in a salutation. I think if you have close, rather "informal" relationship with Mr. Smith, you can also say "Querido Señor Smith". British and Irish address format: Name of recipient Company name ... Dear Mr. Smith, Bäste herr Smith, Formal, male recipient, name known. No indication that it might be intimate or effeminate though. If one wishes to avoid “Dear” in business letters (such as in “Dear Sirs”), we always have the logical alternatives of “Gentlemen:” or even “Ladies and Gentlemen:”. A.) You can use it as an alternative to "Greetings" when you're not sure about a recipient's name. Compared to "To Whom It May Concern" and "Dear Sir/Madam," this greeting is a bit more specific. Chris C. dear mr and mrs smith  . The Senate; “Dear Mr. Smith et al.,” is an acceptable way to begin an email when more than one person is addressed in that email. But I started having an issue with it a few years ago when updating my cover letter, because I asked myself what the literal meaning of “dear” is, and it’s anything but formal (e.g., “My dear wife”). There's no place for such a greeting in business emails. Dear mr Smith. I believe there is not an alternative to “dear” other than “hi”. “Hello, Mr. President”, “Hello, Madame Secretary”, and “Hello, Jack”, all look well to me. I think that the omission of the “Mr” was intentional based on the tone of what followed. Dear means dear. For example: When you're not sure about a person's gender, omit an honorific and use their full name in your salutation. "Dear Mr. Mill," is the appropriate salutation. I find it comes across as manipulative when I read “Dear Friend” as a salutation. App Store and Mac App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. We've looked through the best email greetings for different situations and the ones you'll want to avoid. I don’t think it’s a generational thing either…. Dear Mr Smith, Use when you have a named male contact. Though choosing the best email greeting can be tricky, that doesn't mean you can omit it. Formal letter of application (for a job) If you don’t know the person you’re writing to, you can start … “Hey, So-and-So” is worse. A letter to Attorney Joe Smith with the letter being made to the attention of "Sue". Commas can be used after informal salutations that include an adjective such as “ And between men, the use of it can appear a bit too effeminate. “Hi, So-and-So” is not a suitable way to address an unknown recipient from whom you want something. What is polite and respectful for your university professor, can make you sound stiff and old fashioned for your fellow coworkers. Keep threads on topic, and no personal abuse of other members,including via PM! So does your recipient. My educational background ,skills and … Full disclosure – I am over 65, so possibly outmoded in my views. Brexit and General election . Dear Sir is possibly a little over-formal these days, but the choice between Dear Rector, Dear Rector Smith, Dear Professor/Dr/Mr Smith/ and Dear Egbert will depend on the conventions in the institution in which you are studying/working. You can use "Hello" instead of "Hi" to make your email greeting a little more formal. When a person writes back and greets you with "Hi," you can go more casual as well to match their style. I have enclosed a copy of our receipt. Dear Mrs. Smith, Bästa fru Smith, Formal, female recipient, married, name known. "My dear Mr. Smith" London Medical Gazette (29 August 1851): 370 This note from Snow, undated, was imbedded in a letter to the editor written by Henry Smith, FRCS. Is it better to address a person by their first or last name? Apple, the Apple logo, MacBook, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. And, if a person signs off their letter/email with Warmest, Kindest or what ever, I do the same. © 2007 - 2020 Readdle Inc. Especialy when the context of the communication is serious in nature. We've built it to make people love their email again and spend less time managing their inboxes. Time to leave the office, it’s 6pm! Again, the egalitarian nature of standard American English leaves us with few appropriate words expressing courtesy. Dear Mr. Smith, I’d like to start this off by saying thank you. From a teacher Demands for payment, letters giving dates for doctor’s appointments, even letters telling you your application for a job was unsuccessful usually begin “Dear…”. As the professor says in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, “Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools!”, Related posts: My dear Mr Smith – less formal, emotionally closer; depending on context, can be ironic/sarcastic 3. E.g., "Dear Mr. Smith," or "Dear Professor Green." Even now, on the few occasions that I write a letter to a friend with the intention of putting it in an envelope and mailing it, I still begin with “Dear.” It’s a convention. From a business consultant In that context, it has always been regarded as “emotion-neutral” as you correctly point out. It’s courteous. Using a true letter format is now far less frequent than an email memo one. Next time I’m at the library, I’ll try to ascertain the original punctuation. However, don't put a chosen greeting in every message mechanically. Just leave this greeting for your friends and close acquaintances. Dear Mr Smith – formal, polite, emotionally neutral, appropriate under most circumstances 2. Several years ago, when a reader said he refused to use “Dear So-and-So” to begin a business letter because dear is too intimate a word to use with a stranger, I assumed that he represented a minority of one. Email greetings are all about the context of your message. Certainly, email has changed the way people communicate in writing. Just as bizarre as saying that one rarely begins a letter to a friend with Dear is the idea that using Dear to address a business acquaintance is a source of stress in grown men. The use of the first name, unthinkable when I was at university many years ago, is becoming more common, at least in British universities. I am interested in reserving a booth because we are looking to hire two new designers. What is appropriate for your friends, can cost you a job interview at a big company. Dear Mr. Smith, My family and I recently took a vacation to San Antonio. Lewis mess it up, or is there a way of writing which doesn’t necessitate the question mark? I welcome the opportunity to show you how my educational background and internship experience will benefit your company. We use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites. You could do the greeting in several ways, by sex, for example: "Dear Ms. Wilson and Messers Smith, Jones, Williams and Davis:" It would look odd to keep using "Dear Mr. .." in your emails. Salutation will provide an opening for a letter such as "Dear Mr. Smith". Often go through your letter when you are concluded. I like that one. Set the tone and lose the dear. Dear X is a generally accepted courtesy opening for formal correspondance, whether via snail mail or email. A recipient may feel as if you're about to shout at them. Date. Your talent. Dear Mr Smith – formal, polite, emotionally neutral, appropriate under most circumstances It seems that the way we write emails is constantly changing. For this kind of writing, a formal salutation is out of place. Just like with "To Whom It May Concern," this salutation is a way too formal. As the professor did not expect an answer, I chose to punctuate it as an exclamation. When you're emailing someone you don't know, always do your best to find out their name. As the OED says, uses of “dear” in letters—as in “Dear Father,” “Dear John,” and so on—“are still affectionate and intimate, and made more so by prefixing My.” But, Oxford continues, “Dear Sir (or Dear Mr. Yes, some of us are starting to feel awkward for “Dear XX” in emails and we would use “Hi, XX”. It also feels like you have no idea who you're writing to and why you're doing it at all. This email greeting sounds too cold and archaic. This email greeting works well when you're writing to a group of people. But to play safe, many still use “Dear XX” in emails to customers and bosses. Your email greeting sets the tone of your communication, influences how a recipient perceives you, and even defines if a person reads your message or instantly moves it to Trash. Every one of those letters began with “Dear So-and-So.” Mind you, they were also written by hand with a fountain pen. In the quote from your final paragraph, shouldn’t the sentence end with a question mark, since, even if rhetorical, a question is being asked? 1. I live and work in Hong Kong. But now that I’m more aware of the word’s general meaning, it’s made me think twice about using it in formal correspondence. Although, many emails I receive begin with ‘Hi Georgia’ or simply ‘Georgia’. (On the other hand we can all be friends and just address each other with dear and kindest; just a thought from your average New Yorker/Bklynite.). When writing business letters, it is crucial to contain the best phrases at the starting. I found it punctuated with a period, a question mark, and an exclamation point. You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed! Old and new members are welcome, but rules and regulations stay pretty much the same as previous. “Dear …” as a from of address is simply formal and polite and doesn’t imply any special affection for the person so addressed. If you want to make emailing more fun and pleasant, try our email client Spark. LASTNAME,” which to me is more universally neutral than “Dear.”. But we strongly recommend you to find out the recipient's name and personalize your salutation. Best to be safe than to waste time thinking about this. There will be occasional resurgences of its use by the young who will use it in a humorous, retro way, but other than that, it will be as common as ending a letter with things like “Your faithful servant.”, I have always, and still do, use “Dear” When writing a letter (pen and paper) and in business, (Dear Mr./Mrs. Anyway, a "Dear Hiring Manager" won't be happy that you haven't taken an extra step to find out their name. Confession: I didn’t have a copy of the book at hand, so I Googled the quotation. I was amazed to find comments like these: From an English professor E.g., "Hi Sandy, Tom, Mark.". In Italian, the choices are wide ranging: Caro/Carissimo (Dear/Dearest-informal), Gentile/Gentilissimo (friendly/more formal), and Egregio (Distinguished/most formal) (not be confused with the modern meaning of egregious!). So, what other options do we have? How do you start an email? Learn more about Careers Opportunities at CIA. I believe I ended up using a simple “Hi, Mr./Mrs. If you happen to learn that the first Mrs. Smith prefers Ms. as her title, change your records and the greeting. No. Include “Sir” if your MP is a knight. To my mind, there are four possible ways of starting a written communocation: If you're going to email your professor, our guide can help you. I’ve recently stumbled across numerous articles with titles like “Is ‘Dear’ Dead as a Salutation?”. Would it be Dear Mr. Smith or Dear Sue? It should also be surprising to all of the resistance of those academics who argue to use anything but without consideration of an alternative. Answer these questions to select a proper email greeting: Below, you'll find the best email greetings, both personal and generic ones. … and yet, it is such a challenge to find a salutation which departs from the traditional ‘Dear’. This makes the use of “dear” stand out as an exception rather than a rule. What I find “simply plain creepy” is the notion that the salutation Dear can be construed as “intimate” or “effeminate” in the context of a business letter. Hello. Dear Mrs. Obama: Dear Mrs. Bush: Specific Examples. It’s respectful. After selecting an email greeting, check our step-by-step guide on how to write a professional email. Spark lets you save time on email and gives you superpowers like snoozes and follow up reminders. !” If you don't know a person's name, it's appropriate to address them with "Greetings." As the writer said, email has changed the way we communicate in writing. Write “Dear Mr. Smith,” or “Dear Mrs. Doe,” then follow with the body of your letter. That in itself is enough to question it’s use given the multitude of alternatives for any other word we would wish to use in the English language. Dear Mr./Ms./Dr./Professor [Last name], If you're writing a formal email to a respectable person, use "Dear" followed by an honorific or a title and a person's last name. It … Creepy and effeminate? Search Browse; Resources. "Dear" is appropriate for an initial email, but it may sound stuffy and repetitive if you add it to every message in a long email chain. Example. Once I even came across a letter from a lawyer to an alleged perpetrator of injury that commenced: “Dear Fitzmaurice”. Someone pointed out to me that even in letters of complaint such greetings are far better than “Listen, you S.O.B. There's a good chance a person who opens such email assumes it doesn't concern them. After looking at some of the synonyms and based on the limited choices of our language, “Dear” seems to be the most neutral. If you're emailing multiple people at once, make sure you're not writing "Hi Mark," in your email to Johnny. We chose to stay at the (hotel name) located at (hotel address). We stayed there from Friday, May 14th to Tuesday, May 18th. Intended for healthcare professionals. This greeting is a more formal way to start a professional email. I recognize that “Dear” is time-tested and so prevalent that almost nobody thinks twice about using it. On occasion we’ll use the term “Honorable” for a judge or some other high ranking official, but that’s about as high as it goes for a culture without royalty. Saved threads. I feel it’s like looking someone in the eye when you are talking to them. There are times when a more casual approach is appropriate; people just need to take the time to evaluate the context and determine the right tone. I’d bet that people under thirty begin letters with “dear” far less frequently those over thirty. You might be surprised that, in fact, this “Dear XX” salutation was adopted in Chinese writing, I mean, for the entire Chinese population on earth, since the vernacular movment a hundred years ago (at turn of 20th Century) when Classical Chinese writing became obsolete. Contact Name Title Company Name Address City, State Zip Code. and John Smith." Mr. Jones I am writing…… End of story. An email greeting with just a name looks abrupt and even rude. Cost-effective Include Letter Dear Mr or Mrs 354710 Resume Suggestions  . Try to match the tone of your email to their communication style. Always double-check a person's name before emailing them. By using our website, you agree to the use of cookies as described in our Privacy Policy. Answer: The student should write two thank-you notes, one to "Dear Mr. Smith," who donated the scholarship, and the other to "Dear Mrs. Smith" (the first one), who also donated. There seems no other proper way to start a formal letter, i.e., business, marketing, except with the “Dear XX” salutation.