Beginning and ending a letter

AimTo revise the common salutations

and valedictions (or complimentary closes) used in

letters and emails

Recap

What ways can you think of to:

• Begin a letter/email?• End a letter/email?

Salutation & valediction match• Find a salutation (beginning) or

valediction (ending) which match together:

- formality- appropriateness

• Decide whether you are a formal or informal pair

Dear

• FORMAL, SEMI-FORMAL and INFORMAL

• It is the most commonly used salutation.

• Dear Sir/Madam = most formal• Dear Mr Tan/Ms Rhodes = still very for

mal, but name is known• Dear Jenny/John = informal

Hi/Hello

• VERY INFORMAL• Only used with friends and not advisa

ble in situational writing tasks!

Yours faithfully

• MOST FORMAL• Used when you don’t know the

name of the person you are writing to, only their title e.g. Sir/Madam/Doctor/Principal/Editor

Yours sincerely

• FORMAL• Used for formal letters• Used when you address the person yo

u are writing to by name to e.g. Dear Mr Tan

• Remember by ‘S and S never go together’ (e.g. Dear Sir does not end with Yours sincerely)

Yours truly

• FORMAL• Used in formal letters/emails when yo

u know the name of the person you are writing to (e.g. Dear Mr Tan), but when you are signing it on behalf of a group of people e.g. ‘Yours truly, 2 Opal’

Yours hopefully

• FORMAL• Not used very often – only really in for

mal letters of respect or complaint (in expectation of getting something from your complaint)

• You will know the name of the person you are writing to e.g. Mr Tan

Regards/Kind Regards

• SEMI-FORMAL• Used in informal letters with people that

you don’t know who you are communicating with in an informal way or with people who are higher in status than you.

• Increasingly used in formal emails as ‘sincerely or faithfully’ can sound odd.

Best wishes

• INFORMAL• Used in informal letters or emails

to friends, never to someone that you don’t know

Love/Bye

• VERY INFORMAL• Usually used in informal letters to

friends, postcards, informal emails• Usually best to avoid in situational

writing tasks – keep for outside school!