To Whom it May Concern

Anonymous wrote:

Please can anyone tell me if the sentence 'To Whom it May Concern' should have everything except the 'it' capitalised or should 'May' be lower case? Many thanks Linda

Hi, 

This is certainly an intereting topic. Personally, I am not sure if I have been using it correctly but I was taught to capitalize all the words in that salutation. After some googling, I am no closer in finding the real answer as I saw both version used, one with just capitalizing the first word "To", and the completely capitalizing version which seem to me is the more prevalent. Some "experts" claimed the correct form should be just the first word that needs to be capitalized. The google results show otherwise. So until I am convinced, I will keep using the fully capitalized version.

Hi,

I don't remember the last time in my life that I started a letter with 'To whom it may concern' (with or without the capitals).

My guess is that you should probably not be using this phrase. What kind of letter are you writing? It's only appropriate in a small number of situations.

Best wishes, Clive

Clive wrote:

My guess is that you should probably not be using this phrase. What kind of letter are you writing? It's only appropriate in a small number of situations.

Hi,

Uh, really? I was going to use it in a letter... I have to write an email to the Munich turist office... Should I say: "Dear German office workers..."? LOL
So I was thinking of using "To whom it may concern".

Email is much more informal than 'regular' mail. You don't usually need any salutation at all. Just use politeness.

eg Just say simply

I would be very grateful if you could send me some information about hotels and tourist attractions in Munich.

Thank you

Best wishes, Clive