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Formal letter: capitalization after salutation?

Asked by: Mike Smith

The line directly after the greeting is considered to belong to a new sentence and therefore begins with a capital letter: Dear Ms. Schmidt, Thank you very much for your letter.

Do you capitalize after a salutation?

Use capitals for the first word and for all nouns in the salutation of a letter: Dear Madam. My dear Sir.

What should be written after the salutation?

There should be a comma after the salutation and a colon after “To Whom It May Concern”. No full stop is needed after Mr, Ms, and Dr. The form Mrs is outdated.
Informal (personal letters)

Hello guys, Use when writing to a group of people you know very well.
Hi, Use when writing to one or more people you know very well.

Do you capitalize all first letters in a greeting?

Capitalize the first words of greetings and closings of letters. Sometimes family relationship titles are used in place of names. Remember to capitalize them. If the greeting or closing is more than one word, only capitalize the first.

Should all words in a greeting be capitalized?

In general, greetings are not capitalized in a sentence, but when used as salutations in email greetings they are capitalized. You do have the option of only capitalizing the first word in the phrase of a salutation, but the choice is ultimately up to you.

How would you write the salutation in formal letter?

You can address the recipient by starting with “Dear” followed by a personal title, such as “Mr.” or “Ms.” If you have the full name of the recipient of your business letter, you can enhance the formal nature of the letter by starting with “Dear” followed by a personal salutation, such as “Dear Ms. Levatson.”

What are 3 examples of salutations?

Formal salutations

  • Mr.
  • Ms.
  • Mrs.
  • Dear.
  • Good morning.
  • Good evening.
  • Good afternoon.
  • Hello.

Is sir capitalized in good morning sir?

Conclusion. You need to capitalize sir when you are starting a letter or email. You also need to capitalize sir if you are using it as an honorific before the person’s name. In every other case, sir should be lower case.

Is Good morning capitalized in a salutation?

Typically, “good morning” is capitalized only when it’s used as a salutation at the beginning of a letter or email. The same rule applies to “good afternoon.” Don’t capitalize it unless it’s a salutation in a letter or email.

Do you capitalize family in a salutation?

Whether you choose to capitalize the word “family” is up to you, but the family’s last name should always be capitalized.

What is the rule for capitalization?

In general, you should capitalize the first word, all nouns, all verbs (even short ones, like is), all adjectives, and all proper nouns. That means you should lowercase articles, conjunctions, and prepositions—however, some style guides say to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions that are longer than five letters.



Is your friend capitalized at the end of a letter?

The first word is typically the only one capitalized in a personal closing; however, hard-and-fast rules do not govern this area. Also note that personal closings are followed by a comma (e.g., Your friend,).
Personal Correspondence.

Keep smiling Till we meet again
Your friend Wishing you well

Is all capitalized in Dear all?

The rule I’ve always followed is: When a word is used in place of a proper noun, capitalize. In this case, you are directly addressing “All,” so I would capitalize: “Dear All.” Show activity on this post.

Do you capitalize dear?

If you use the word as a formal address (as a nickname or substitute for a name), then it’s capitalized. So in the phrase…”Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” the word “dear” is not capitalized because it’s prefaced by a possessive. Change that to: “Frankly, Dear, I don’t give a damn,” and you capitalize.

Should I capitalize colleagues?

Common noun – is a noun used to refer to a person, place or thing in general such as colleagues, all. It is usually written as a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence only. When using colleagues in a title you would use a capital letter such as Dear Colleagues.

How do you start a professional email greeting?

Appropriate salutations



  1. 1 Dear [Name] This email greeting is an appropriate salutation for formal email correspondence. …
  2. 2 Hi or Hello. As far as email greetings go, an informal “Hi” followed by a comma is perfectly acceptable in most work-related messages. …
  3. 3 Hi everyone, Hi team, or Hi [department name] team.

What are the best opening lines for a formal letter?

10 good opening lines

  • With reference to your letter of 8 June, I … .
  • I am writing to enquire about … .
  • After having seen your advertisement in … , I would like … .
  • After having received your address from … , I … .
  • I received your address from … and would like … .
  • We/I recently wrote to you about … .

How do you start a formal business letter?

While “To whom it may concern:” and “Dear sir” or “Dear madam” are appropriate ways to start a business letter, using the recipient’s name in your salutation will make your business letter feel much warmer and more personal.

What is best salutation for email?

Starting your email with “Dear,” is always a good, professional option—especially if you know the name of the person you are addressing.

Is with gratitude formal?

You can send these for both formal or informal occasions. People often have questions about how to write thank you notes.
These include:



  • Respectfully.
  • Sincerely.
  • Kind regards.
  • Best regards.
  • With gratitude.
  • With thanks and appreciation.
  • Thank you.

What is a salutation example?

An example of a salutation is when you write “Dear Dean..” at the top of a letter. An example of a salutation is when you say a formal hello to someone. The title in your name, such as Mr, Mrs, Ms., Dr. or Rev..

Do you put a comma after regards in an email?

Some even sign them off with Kind regards or Regards. As with the greeting, you do not need any commas after the sign-off. The way you use greetings and sign-offs in your emails depends largely on your relationship with the person you are emailing.

Do you capitalize both words in best regards?

When you are using “Best regards” as a closing to an email or letter, it is advisable that only the first word should be capitalized. That is true for “Best regards” and every other phrase that comes at the end of a letter or email, such as Sincerely yours, etc.



Should there be a comma after sincerely?

Formatting “Sincerely Yours” in Correspondence

Capitalize only the first word in “Sincerely yours” or “Yours sincerely.” Closings are always followed by a comma and a space for the signature.