4 replies to this topic

[spereira14]

Hi everyone, quick question! I'm writing an application letter for this summer program I'd like to attend, and I'm having trouble on how to word the end. Is it "Yours Faithfully", "Sincerely" or other? It's to the "Dear Members of the Oxbridge Academic Program". Is the "Dear" right??

Thanks! I just don't want to seem disrespectful/stupid (even though I know this question is dumb)

[Desy Glau]

I think all letters must start with "Dear ____" so you're right. when writing to a company I usually say "Dear Sir or Madam" or "Dear <company name>" for example "Dear IB Survival"

if your Dear ____ is followed by the name of a person, you write "Sincerely yours" or "Yours sincerely" at the end of the letter, followed by (your signature and) your full name.
if your Dear ___ is followed by Sir/Madam or the name of the institution, you write "Faithfully yours" or "Yours faithfully" at the end of the letter, followed by (your signature and) your full name.

note that "Best regards" or "Regards" are for less formal letters. usually I use those when writing to my teachers informally.

well I'm not completely sure but that's how I always do it. would appreciate it if anyone could confirm that it's right or correct me.

[Sandwich]

I think that either of those sound fine to me. In English, provided you don't end with "cheers", "thanks" or something informal, there's no hugely strict protocol for what to say which is probably why it's confusing Maybe there is in Debrett's somewhere, but on the whole they're pretty interchangeable. "Yours faithfully" or "Yours sincerely/Sincerely" are what I'd go for - "Faithfully yours" and "Sincerely yours" do make sense but I think that they sound a bit creepy! It's certainly far more common to use the first ones.

[Award Winning Boss]

"Merry Christmas, I hope Santa gets you the pogo stick you wanted"

"See you during the summer "

"Dankeschön für deine Zeit"

Or you could use a generic response like "yours sincerely"

Edited by Award Winning Boss, Dec 22, 2011 - 12:20.

[ChikkyD]

spereira14, on Dec 22, 2011 - 03:11, said:

Hi everyone, quick question! I'm writing an application letter for this summer program I'd like to attend, and I'm having trouble on how to word the end. Is it "Yours Faithfully", "Sincerely" or other? It's to the "Dear Members of the Oxbridge Academic Program". Is the "Dear" right??

Thanks! I just don't want to seem disrespectful/stupid (even though I know this question is dumb)

I would have actually used "To whom it may concern," to start off . Though maybe that's just me. To end, I'd say "yours sincerely" or "kind regards"