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Yours sincerely or Sincerely yours?

This question has been answered _· 37 replies

Forums _· ESL Reading and Writing _· Formal, General & Business Letter Writing

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Guest:

Is there anybody who might be able to tell me the difference of "Yours sincerely" and "Sincerely yours"? Is it a difference between British English and American English?

I am looking forward to reading your ideas,

Alexander

Approved answer (verified by hitchhiker)

bluefish:

Alexander
I've just checked some letters I received from English and American Universities,sending me their prospectus.
The letters from UK are signed with "yours sincerely" and these from the USA are signed with "sincerely".
I hope this will help...

New Member25

Approved answer (verified by Ruslana)

nona the brit:

In British English that is incorrect.

If you know the name use Yours sincerely; if you do not know the name use Yours faithfully.

We have covered the Yours sincerely/Sincerely yours topic before and came to the conclusion that the first is British English word order and the second is American English word order.

Veteran Member11,782

Approved answer (verified by hitchhiker)

Anonymous:

Though both are one and the same, the latter shows little more intimacy.

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Clive:

Hi,

Generally speaking, 'yours sincerely' is the standard way to end a letter. 'Sincerely yours' is a somewhat less common variant.

Let's say I receive a letter from someone I don't know.

If it ends 'Yours sincerely', this tells me nothing about the feelings of the writer.

If it ends with 'Sincerely yours', it doesn't tell me much, but it does suggest a bit that the writer is trying to 'be my pal'.

Best wishes, Clive

Veteran Member62,152

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Anonymous:

Yours sincerely
In the UK, traditional valedictions have largely been replaced by the use of "Yours sincerely " or "Yours faithfully", a shorter form of the archaic "I am yours sincerely". Yours sincerely is typically employed in British English when the recipient is addressed by name and is known to the sender to some degree, whereas Yours faithfully is used when the recipient is not known by name (i.e. the recipient is addressed by a phrase such as "Dear Sir/Madam"). One way to remember this is the saying "S and S never go together" (for Sir and Sincerely respectively). When the recipient's name is known, but not previously met or spoken with, some people prefer the use of the more distant Yours faithfully, at the risk of annoying the recipient.

In the US, "Sincerely yours" or "Sincerely" is commonly used in formal correspondence. "Faithfully yours" is rare. Other formulas such as "Best wishes" and "Best regards" (see below) are also common in formal correspondence. In contrast to British English (see above) there is no special convention for combining these with any particular salutation.

ALL REPLIES

Guest:

Hello dear readers,

well I am glad my question so complicated, nobody could answer.

At last I was not totally wrong signing my letters with "Yours sincerely".

Yours sincerely,

Alexander

bluefish:

you should post your question in the "free english grammar help" forum.you could get an answer there from a moderator.
my opinion is that both are the same.

belldandy29:

if you know the name of the person with whom you write then it is "sincerely yours", if not it is "yours sincerely"

New Member06

Anonymous:

one is formal and one is informal love jessica beach

Anonymous:

my english teacher (she was from the uk) taught us to avoid "sincerely yours" and to use only "yours sincerely", because "sincerely yours" sounded too much like "all yours"...

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