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When is it appropriate to use the terms Dear Sir or Madam and To whom it may concern?The rules I was taught state that Dear Sir or Madam should be used when you're writing a letter to a person about something that person has direct involvement in (e.g. returning a defective product to a customer service department).
If the letter begins with Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, or Dear Sir/Madam, the COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE should be "Yours faithfully". If the letter begins with a personal name, e.g. Dear Mr James, Dear Mrs Robinson, or Dear Ms Jasmin, it should be "Yours sincerely". A letter to someone you know well may close with the more informal "Best wishes".
In a formal letter addressed to one or more unknown recipients, "Dear Sir or Madam" is the customary salutation. As a German native speaker, who is used to "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren", writing "Sir" before "Madam" sounds impolite to my ear and I feel the urge to change the order.
Mar 2, 2006. #3. TrentinaNE is correct. "Dear Sir or Madam" is the correct way to address a letter to one unknown person, such as the director of the personnel department. When addressing an entire company or an entire department of a company it gets a little trickier. If you know for certain that everyone in the group is male, use "Dear Sirs."
The formal rule, at least in Britain, is that if you're writing a letter to a person whose name you don't know, you start with "Dear Sir or Madam", and you end with "Yours faithfully". If you do know the name, you start with "Dear Mr X", and end with "Yours sincerely". However, as you note, "Best [or kind] regards" is much more common these days.
The proper way to begin a formal letter to someone whose gender is unknown is with the "Dear Sir/Madam," phrase while At the end the letter use the phrase "Yours faithfully," plus your full name, like the template that follows: Dear Sir/Madam, .... Yours faithfully, Your full name. Might offend someone going through a sex change.
Mar 19, 2010. #2. If I were writing a letter of application to a job I would write " Dear Sir / Madam ". I would write " to whom it may concern " if I were writing a pamphlet or circular to the effect that "next week the high street will be inaccessible because electricity cables are being laid". Both are fairly impersonal but the latter ...
Dear All, If, actually, the email is a mailshot to a number of individuals who don't know each other, then its an individual email. Dear Sir, or possibly. Dear Sir (or Madam), Here, I prefer to use the convention that Sir is neuter.
In formal writing, for example to someone whose name you do not know, use madam in both cases. For example: When addressing a letter to the holder of a particular position without knowing the name or gender of the addressee, it is common to write “Dear Sir or Madam,” (or in the United States, “Dear Sir or Madam:”.
36. Dear Sir or Madam (some write it Dear Sir/Madam) would be an appropriate salutation when you are writing to an institution and you don't have a name. It is in common use, at least in the UK and the EU, and is considered polite and professional.