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Sir My Dear Sir Dear Sir My Dear Mr. Sloan Dear Mr. Sloan Dear Joe Dear Dear Andrew
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For Women Madam My Dear Madam Dear Madam My Dear Ms. Thompson (or Mrs. Thompson) My dear Ms. Thompson (or Miss Thompson) Ms. Mops (or Miss Mops, or Mrs. Mops) Dear Jane
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| For the company, when you do not know men or women: Dear Sirs Dear Sir or Madam
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Other titles used are Dr., Prof., President. Those are titles, so it would be a mistake to write Dear Mr. President, or Dear Ms. Prof. Ivanova. The right versions are: Dear Dr. Smith Dear Prof. Swenson Dear President Mops
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Salutations
The Greeting (also called Salutation) is the part where you greet your reader. It is placed against the left margin, two spaces / lines from inside address.
You should always use conventional (formal) phrases. The most frequently used Greetings are given below in order of decreasing formality.
When you are writing to a company for the first time, and your efforts to find out the name of the head of this company did not turn fruitful, you should address the company in the following way: Dear Sirs
Please note, that the titles used in greetings go with the last names (family names), not the first names. Title Mister / Mr is always better to translate as « господин » and Mrs., Miss, Ms as « госпожа » , not « мистер » or « мадам ».
It is politically correct today to greet a woman by Ms. (+ last name). Many people today do not use the titles of Mrs. (for married women) or Miss (for single women).
You will address the person by the first name only when you have known each other quite well for some time. If you have never met the person, and if the person has not introduced himself/herself by the first name in written, you should not use the formula of Dear John or Dear Mary. Wait for them first to sign their letter so .
Please note that the first word in a Greeting is always Dear. This is a standard norm of salutation.
Closing
The way you close the letter depends on how you open it.
Dear Sir/Madam/Sirs - -----------------------------------Yours faithfully (so you can use it only in your very first letter)
Dear Mr/ Mrs/ Miss/ Ms Smith - -----------------Yours sincerely (or Sincerely yours)
Dear John -- ----------------------------------- Best wishes. Cordially yours
So you will close your first letter with Yours faithfully. All other formal letters will be closed with Yours sincerely / Yours very truly / Sincerely / Yours .