ESL, Formal, General & Business Letter Writing (English language)

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Feebs11 — Sun, 04 May 2008 18:58:47 GMT

Yoong Liat
MrPedantic
I'm afraid we are a feckless and idle nation.

MrP

Hi MrP

I'm in no position to comment on what you said, but what I know is that we've quite a number of members who are British English speakers. What has happened to them? I certainly miss them

Best wishes

YL

I thought we had answered

You have to remember the time difference. Often it is very late at night or early in the morning by our time that questions are posted, and we all have our lives to lead - including getting a good night's sleep.

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Clive — Sun, 04 May 2008 18:06:11 GMT

Hi,

Send an application letter, for a job I presume, that begins with 'To whom it may concern'? Surely you jest! [:D]

For reasons that escape me, many of our learners here on the Forum seem endlessly fascinated with the idea of writing letters that start with 'To whom it may concern'.

A search will find a great deal of discussion about this, with many people telling them again and again about how rarely and in what special and uncommon circumstances this phrase is used.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Yoong Liat — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:32:45 GMT

Susankay

"In fact, I would make the salutation To Whom It May Concern

and end it with Sincerely,

Hi Susankay

Shouldn't it be 'To whom it may concern'?

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Yoong Liat — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:23:10 GMT

MrPedantic
I'm afraid we are a feckless and idle nation.

MrP

Hi MrP

I'm in no position to comment on what you said, but what I know is that we've quite a number of members who are British English speakers. What has happened to them? I certainly miss them

Best wishes

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Susankay — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:20:27 GMT

Sorry - I meant:

Greeting: To Whom It May Concern

Salutation: Sincerely,

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Susankay — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:18:35 GMT

"Yours faithfully" for an application letter? I think not; too familiar.

This is more like a business letter.

In fact, I would make the salutation To Whom It May Concern

and end it with Sincerely,

But then again, I give a US perspective.

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

MrPedantic — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:55:37 GMT

I'm afraid we are a feckless and idle nation.

MrP

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Yoong Liat — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:28:14 GMT

MrPedantic
Yes, I'd agree with the "unknown recipient"/"Yours faithfully" combination.

(Sorry for the late reply.)

MrP

Thanks, MrP

I was wondering what had happened to our members who are BrE native speakers. I was disappointed that, after a couple of days, none came forward to give a reply.

Anyway, many thanks for your response.

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

MrPedantic — Sat, 03 May 2008 21:14:59 GMT

Yes, I'd agree with the "unknown recipient"/"Yours faithfully" combination.

(Sorry for the late reply.)

MrP

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Yoong Liat — Sat, 03 May 2008 11:11:02 GMT

Many thanks, Tanguatlay, for bringing up the topic and requesting for a reply from British native speakers.

Many thanks, Feebs and Nona, for giving your authoritative reply.

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

nona the brit — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:10:17 GMT

Hello, popped in at last!

AS Feebs says, we still use the 'Yours faithfully' form when we are not writing to a named individual (Dear Sir or Dear Madam etc).

We only use 'Yours sincerely' when we are writing to a named person.

Well, formally anyway. Other less formal endings are becoming quite common in less formal situations or when you know the person fairly well.

In this case I'd go for 'Yours faithfully'.

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Feebs11 — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:54:45 GMT

Sorry.

Letters not addressed to an individual are ended with "Yours faithfully", so that is what you need for your letter.

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

tamguatlay — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:13:00 GMT

HI Feebs

You have given a detailed format of the letter. But you failed to answer when we use 'Dear Sir or Madam' should we end "Your faithfuly' or 'Yours sincerely'?

Grateful that you, a British native, has replied to my question.

Look forward to your reply.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Ashish Tiwari — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:11:48 GMT

Hi,

Yoong Liat is correct about the dictionary bit. I have the same dictionary (OALD 7th Edition).

Regards, Ashish

Re: Shall I write my name and address at the top right side of my Motivation Letter..?

Feebs11 — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:12:43 GMT

Marian4eto, re your original question:

Top right hand corner = your address [no name]

followed by the date.

Left hand side = recipient's address

All the other information they might need [telephone numbers, e-mail addresses etc] should appear either in the application documents or in your cv.

Hope all goes well.