The beginning of your letter is called the greeting and the end is called the salutation. So if you would like more help from the internet, a search on ‘greetings and salutations’ should give you lots to go on.
Formal emails and letters
- Dear Sir/Madam……Yours faithfully (formal. You don’t know their name)
- Dear Mr Last Name…..Yours sincerely (formal. You do know their name)
- Dear Ms Last Name …..Yours sincerely (Use Ms instead of Mrs or Miss)
- Dear Firstname …….Regards, Best regards, Best wishes, All the best, Kind regards
- Dear Title Lastname….. (as for Dear Firstname)
Miss, Mrs, Ms
- I was Miss Janet Carr
- When I married I became Mrs Mark Comerford
- When we divorced I became Mrs Janet Comerford
- If I had been widowed I would have been Mrs Janet Comerford
- When I returned to my maiden name I went back to Miss Janet Carr
……. so to avoid that potential minefield use Ms for a woman unless it is a very formal diplomatic letter and protocol dictates you must use the form of address above.