North American's Zone

Hello Pals!

There are many rules and regulations in writing a business letter.  First of all, unless if you know the person whom you are writing a letter, it is also best to use a title and the person’s last name, for example Dear Ms. Jones, Dear Mr. John.  Generally, it always better to use Ms. for a woman unless you know that she prefers Mrs. or Miss.  If you cannot analyze from the name, whether the person is a man or a woman, it is good enough to use the person’s full name in the salutation, although it is also better to find out their sex.  Most of the American’s don’t frequently use the British method, but actually is found to be a nice solution.  In case of writing a letter to some unknown persons, like a letter to a company or some complaint about something, it is better to use Dear Sir or Dear Madam.

Likewise, if you are responding to a letter, which someone has sent to you, it is good to start by thanking them like, for example, Dear Mr.  Thank you for your letter of November 10.  When ending a business letter, close with yours truly or yours sincerely.  If you started your letter with Dear Sir or Dear Madam, then you are supposed to finish the letter by using Yours faithfully, but most Americans do not do this, they use Yours Sincerely or Sincerely.