Mr or Mr. || Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely || Letter writing

[sabraina]

Letter writing questions

I have to write some letters in school. In our school, our English is based on British English. What is important to know about the letter writing topic? and what is considered typical british (and NOT American) in letter writing?

I know there is something with Mr or Mr. One of them has to be the British version, right? 

What about Yours faithfully and Yours sincerely?

[John Dawn]

Good morning there

Yours sincerely and Yours faithfully are both British. If you don’t know the recipient, then you should use Yours faithfully. On the other hand, if you do know the recipient, the correct closure is yours sincerely. The American tend to use Yours truly instead of yours faithfully ( correct me if I am wrong dear American native speakers *-*) Instead of Yours sincereley, the Americans usually reverse it and say Sincerely yours.

The question: „ Mr or Mr“ is easier to answer. Mr is standard British English, Mr. is standard American English.

[Kristi]

I think the easiest way to memorize this is

if the letter with "Dear James, Sara etc." use Yours Sincerely

if it starts with "Dear Sir/Madam" use Yours Faithfully

Sometimes people tend to use "Yours Faithfully" even if the person's name is known, but you haven't yet met in person previously.

[cefmac]

Mr is British, Mr. is American. Same goes for Mrs/Mrs., Dr/Dr. etc.

"Yours sincerely" is used when you know the person's name i.e. have adressed it to Mr/Mrs blah blah blah. "Yours faithfully" is used when you've used a generic salutation, like "sir" or "madam". Youc ould also sign it off with "best wishes", "kind regards" or even simply "regards" - these are still considered polite.

[Guest Ames]

This is an interesting discussion because I never realized just how very different British English was from American English. I thought it was mostly vocabulary, but it's much more than that. I actually failed a test on basic British English; it was a humbling experience for someone who considers language one of her strong suits.

Oh, and it's appalling how many Americans can't even speak and/or write in their own language! They wouldn't stand a chance with British English.

[Guest akasha24]

This is always something that confuses people. My mother is an English teacher and she taught me that it's correct to use "yours faithfully" if you don't know the person you are writing the letter to. If you do know the person and you are writing a formal letter, then the correct way to end the letter is by saying "yours sincerely".

[lizbeth19hph]

Standard letter writing  uses "Sincerely yours", "Faithfully yours" not the other way around but we use "Yours truly" for they are grammatically correct to be used in closing remarks. Using "Yours sincerely" or Yours faithfully" is not usual.

[sidney]

I never knew those things, I just always end my letters in "Yours Truly" or "Sincerely", so this is added knowledge for me. Before reading this, I had no idea that mister in British does not require a period if you write it.