How to write letters - Part 2 Greetings & Endings

Greetings & Endings. 

In letters, there are multiple ways in which you address the concerned person. It's either going to be a formal greeting or an informal one. 

In English, it is common to begin both personal & business related letters with "Dear ___." In Spanish, however, there are more variations depending on how formal you’d want to be.

In English, as we call it "dear" is querido or querida depending upon the gender of the person. Querido is used for a male & querida for a female; plural forms queridos and querida can also be used. In Spanish, it's a rule to follow the greeting with a colon rather than the comma which we use in English.

· Querido Jeet: (Dear Jeet,)

· Querida Aahana: (Dear Aahana,)

· Queridos Jeet y Aahana (Dear Jeet and Aahana,) 

*Note that in Spanish the masculine form, queridos, is used if the recipients include people of both sexes.

But querido is too casual for business related content, especially where you aren't quite acquainted with the receiver. Use estimado or estimada instead. The word  means "esteemed," but it is understood the same way as "dear" would be in English:

· Estimado Sr. Morata: (Dear Mr. Morata,)

· Estimada Sra. Nikky: (Dear Mrs./Ms. Nikky,)

· Estimada Srta. Nisha: (Dear Miss Nisha,)

In Spanish, the distinction between señora and señorita, traditionally translated as "Mrs." and "Miss," respectively, can be used considering factors such as age rather than the marital status.

Additionally, If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to, you can use the following formats:

· Muy señor mío: (Dear sir,)

· Estimado señor: (Dear sir,)

· Muy señora mía: (Dear madam,)

· Estimada señora: (Dear madam,)

· Muy señores míos: (Dear sirs, dear sirs/madams,)

· Estimados señores: (Dear sirs, dear sirs/madams,)

Now, I shall move on to how we should be ending the letters. Instead of the Yours faithfully/sincerely we go with the following in formal letters:          

·         Atentamente (Sincerely)

·         Muy atentamente (Yours sincerely)

·         Saludos cordiales (Kind regards)

·         Cordialmente (Regards)

·         Muchas gracias (Many thanks)

And the following for Informal letters:

·         Un saludo (greetings)

·         Un abrazo (Hugs)

·         Un beso (Kisses)

·         Muchos besos (Lots of kisses)

·         Muchos abrazos (Lots of hugs)

·         Con carino (with affection)

·         Carinosamente (affectionately)

·         Con amor (with love)

·         Mil gracias (many thanks)

In the next post I'll be covering the formats for Formal & Informal letters.

Bro tip: Keep writing and practicing letters from past papers of your respective courses in your free time. It improves your vocabulary.



Sources: thoughtco.com