Dear Sirs and Madams

[Allen165]

Is it ok to use "Dear Sirs and Madams" as the salutation in a formal letter or email? I don't like "Ladies and Gentlemen" because it sounds like something you'd say at the beginning of a speech.

"Dear Sirs and Madams" gets quite a few hits on Google.

Thanks a lot!

 

[emsr2d2]

How often would you address a letter to a whole group of people of mixed gender? I can't really imagine a circumstance which would require this.
If you don't know the gender of the person to whom you are writing, then "Dear Sir/Madam" is still appropriate as far as I'm concerned.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Allen:

1. When I was young, I occasionally communicated with businesses in England, and they would quite often

start off with "Dear Sir/Madam" -- as emsr told us.

2. I know that you appreciate very honest (and courteous, of course) answers. So I have to tell you that in

my opinion, if Americans received a letter from you with the saluation "Dear Sirs and Madams," their first reaction

would be to laugh. (Americans have been taught since childhood that everyone is "equal," so the idea of being

so formal seems so out of place for many Americans; furthermore, some Americans only know the word "madam"

as referring to a lady who runs a certain type of establishment.)

3. On a more serious note, any American who received a communication with that salutation would immediately conclude

that the writer was not a native speaker of the language, IMHO.


HAVE A NICE DAY!

 

[Allen165]

How often would you address a letter to a whole group of people of mixed gender? I can't really imagine a circumstance which would require this.
If you don't know the gender of the person to whom you are writing, then "Dear Sir/Madam" is still appropriate as far as I'm concerned.

Actually, at the company I work for you often write emails to a group of people composed of males and females (e.g., when emailing the company's board of directors). I don't think "Dear Sir/Madam" is appropriate in such a situation.

 

[Tdol]

Depending on the degree of formality, Dear all or Dear All might work.

 

[CarloSsS]

What about "to whom it may concern"? Would that do? I know it is nothing special, but maybe it is what you are looking for.

 

[emsr2d2]

In a company email, I wouldn't start with "Dear" at all. That is (to my mind) reserved for actual letters. The list of recipients is clear from the list of names in the "To:" line of an email. I would simply launch straight into the body of the email.

 

[Allen165]

In a company email, I wouldn't start with "Dear" at all. That is (to my mind) reserved for actual letters. The list of recipients is clear from the list of names in the "To:" line of an email. I would simply launch straight into the body of the email.

"Dear" is very much used in emails, and I don't see why it should be reserved for letters.

Emailing someone without including a salutation is rude, in my opinion. If I were to write such emails, it would only be a matter of time before I got fired.

 

[Allen165]

What about "to whom it may concern"? Would that do? I know it is nothing special, but maybe it is what you are looking for.

"To whom it may concern" is too impersonal, especially when you know the names of the people you're writing to.

 

[Allen165]

Depending on the degree of formality, Dear all or Dear All might work.

Too informal.

"Ladies and Gentlemen" seems to be correct (see Business Letter - Salutation), but I don't like it.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Dear" is very much used in emails, and I don't see why it should be reserved for letters.

Emailing someone without including a salutation is rude, in my opinion. If I were to write such emails, it would only be a matter of time before I got fired.

Perhaps, then, it depends on the company or department. When I worked in the Civil Service, if I were emailing an individual in a formal way, I would start it "Dear Steve" or "Dear Mr Smith", but if it were being sent to more than one recipient I would probably dispense with the salutation because I can't think of a neat way of saying "Dear Mr Smith, Mr Jones and Miss Jenkins" or similar. At a push, I suppose "Dear Directors" might work if the email were going to the entire board of directors.

 

[Rover_KE]

For a formal letter or email – sent to a number of unnamed people of both sexes – you can't go wrong with 'Dear Sir or Madam'.

Rover

 

[Allen165]

I found an interesting forum thread on "Dear Sirs and Madams" and other related salutations here: LEO Forum.