Email writing - how to start?
- Thread starter MajorMaccas
- Start date
General rule -
Miss = single
Mrs = married
Ms = unsure, or they may choose to go by Ms if they don't want to advertise their status.
I'd only use Sir/Madam if you do not know who you are addressing the email to. Remember to sign off with Sincerely if you're using her name/title, and Faithfully if you use Sir/Madam!
Miss = single
Mrs = married
Ms = unsure, or they may choose to go by Ms if they don't want to advertise their status.
I'd only use Sir/Madam if you do not know who you are addressing the email to. Remember to sign off with Sincerely if you're using her name/title, and Faithfully if you use Sir/Madam!
"Sir" is appropriate if you don't know who you're sending a letter to (presumably the same thing applies to emails), "Sir/Madam" should never be used.
- Joined
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- Joined
- 20 Oct 2005
- Posts
- 1,900
- Location
- Suffolk, UK
Men can't be midwives? I was taught that it's always "Dear Sir" if you don't know the name.Only Dear Sir? What if you're writing to a Sorority, or a Midwifery?
Ms
Always use formal at least until you know you can get away with it. I always go from formal whenever I have a new business partner until the point where I have been using a contractor for ages and now my e-mail to him simply starts "Mike" and hardly even bother signing them off either.
Always use formal at least until you know you can get away with it. I always go from formal whenever I have a new business partner until the point where I have been using a contractor for ages and now my e-mail to him simply starts "Mike" and hardly even bother signing them off either.
These days in the land of sexist political correctness, you're best off putting /Madam, even though traditionally you would use Sir. As an additional consideration, you are far more likely these days to encounter women in senior positions than you were 20 or 30 years ago. As a part of "winning them over" it would be advisable not to ignore their gender to start with!
I'd still put Dear Sir as it's formal. Dear Sir/Madam sounds lazy, not only haven't you bothered to find out anything about the recipient but you aren't even following generally accepted protocols for letter writing.
To be honest, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to find out the name of the recipient.
I use 'Ms' for two reasons:
i) It's an ugly made-up mess of a word, but it serves a reasonable purpose.
ii) A woman who wants you to use 'Ms' is more likely to be more offended if you don't use it, compared with a woman who wants you to use 'Miss' or 'Mrs'. A formal context usually means that you have to work with them in some manner.
i) It's an ugly made-up mess of a word, but it serves a reasonable purpose.
ii) A woman who wants you to use 'Ms' is more likely to be more offended if you don't use it, compared with a woman who wants you to use 'Miss' or 'Mrs'. A formal context usually means that you have to work with them in some manner.
Rather than changing the meaning of 'Madam'(*), we may as well make a new word.
* It refers to the mistress of a house, hence its use in referring to a woman who runs a brothel. It could fit when referring to a woman who runs her own business, with that businesses being her house in a sense, and it traditionally fits married women...and then you're back to the Miss/Mrs thing again.
* It refers to the mistress of a house, hence its use in referring to a woman who runs a brothel. It could fit when referring to a woman who runs her own business, with that businesses being her house in a sense, and it traditionally fits married women...and then you're back to the Miss/Mrs thing again.
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I think e-mails are OK to be a bit less formal. How about starting with:
Hello,
I was wondering...etc...
Then sign off with your own first name. No-one could be offended by that!
Hello,
I was wondering...etc...
Then sign off with your own first name. No-one could be offended by that!