Yours Sincerely??

[purplehair]

Sorry don't know where to post this q! If i put "yours sincerely" at the end of a letter do i put "to whom it may concern" at the start? I haven't got a personal contact to write to.

[4getmenot]

I think sincerely is for Dear Mr & Mrs and faithfully is for dear sirs. or other way round, but you're probably better putting this in literature section

[robbo82]

No, if you don't know the name, you should end the letter 'yours faithfully'.

[admarlow]

I always thought it was sincerly if you have spoken to them and faithfully if you havn't?

[Quickstep]

If you don't have a contact name to write to you should use 'Yours faithfully' to close the letter. Hope this helps x

[4getmenot]

yes I was right the first time then :-)

[4getmenot]

But put Dear Sir/Madam

[WaldoMcFroog]

If you do not know the name of the person to whom you are writing, you should address it "To whom it may concern," (or 'Dear Sir' or 'Dear Madam' if you know the gender) at the top and sign it "Yours faithfully,".

If you know the person's name, use it at the top and sign it "Yours sincerely,".

[Carakeel]

If for instance you are writing a reference for someone, but don't know the name of the individual person it is to be sent to then generally you would put "To whom it may concern " and then sign off using "Sincerely" at the bottom, not "Yours sincerely " as you are not actually writing to a specific person. Hope that helps.

[4getmenot]

you put yours sincerely carakeel, because if you're not writing to anyone specific it should be faithfully.

[purplehair]

Thanks all!

[4getmenot]

You are welcome :-)

[curlyfilm]

a friend taught me the best way too remember is

you don't have two sirs together

so no sir and sincerely together, i find it easy too remember this way

[Carakeel]

4getmenot, I am sure you are right.
I tend to forget that I only worked abroad so in an international field where things can be a bit different. I worked for diplomats abroad and in those circumstances the word "faithfully" is rarely used as it has a certain connotation. In those circumstances a simple "Sincerely" is mostly used.

[Dassie]

If you don't address your letter to anybody in particular e.g Dear Sir/Madam or To whom it may concern, a letter should always be ended with Yours faithfully. If it is addressed to a person e.g.Dear Mr Smith then it is ended with Yours sincerely.

[TheTemptress]

i teach my trainees a simple way to remember...theoretically if you knew someone by name they would be dear to you. so remember this simple rule...'be sincere to those who are dear' :)
it works for them anyway.

[smudge]

Dear Mr/Mrs Bloggs - Yours sincerely.

Dear Sir/Madam - Yours faithfully.

[Quizmonkey]

Just remember it as the F/S rule: you always need one F and one S so:

Dear Fred = Yours sincerely

Dear Sir = Yours faithfully

[madham]

If you don't have a name - for instance Mr, Mrs, Sir, Madam, To whom it may concern then you should use yours sincerely. If on the other hand you have a name, Mrs Smith, Dr Jones, Master Roberts you then use yours faithfully.

This is the gospel according to Madham. This is what I was learnt at school and on my English and Secretarial courses.

[ugly_bob]

that's the total opposite of what I was always taught madham.

'You don't sin with someone whose name you don't know'

So, no name = Yours faithfully

[smudge]

Ditto ugly_bob!