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

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Clive — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:38:12 GMT

Hi,

Never address a CV to a receptionist. As discussed above, address it to her boss, or to some other management-level person.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:58:48 GMT

Never begin a cover letter with "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To Whom it May Concern." Correspondence with generic salutations often signal to potential employers that you lack the initiative to locate the appropriate contact. If a job listing does not include the name of the hiring manager, call the company's receptionist and explain the position you are applying for to see if he or she can help you fill in the blank.After just send her your CV and cover letter in one file.

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:28:30 GMT

what should you write if you know its a woman but don't have a name? I spoke to the receptionist this morning but forgot to ask her name and now I need to send her a CV!!!

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 01:18:40 GMT

Dear Sir/Madam, im not english native spoken and really im learning the language but your post and the form of you answer the questions is amazing. i really appreciate your help and want to leave in the record.

Yours faithfully,

Chadd

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:10:53 GMT

it should be Ms. if you do not know whether she is married or not

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Thu, 03 May 2007 18:57:58 GMT

i wonted to wright about formal confermation letter like, if i know someone for long time and to say i know him or her for five or four years time. plese help me how can i start?

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:21:56 GMT

If you write to someone you don't know, or anyone else for that matter, get your spelling right. The messy message you sent to the forum looks awful.

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:49:07 GMT

Hello I am Ness or Naise. I am Thai. I would like to have a new friend. Are you glad to be my friend. You are very kind of me.

Thax

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Yohanna — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 23:41:33 GMT

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 20:07:32 GMT

I am writing to one woman and five gentlemen (I know all of their names). What salutation do I use?

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

nona the brit — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 00:31:32 GMT

Anon,

Do you really think it looks better to have 'Dear Miss/Mrs Smith' than 'Dear Ms Smith'? I don't think I have ever seen Miss/Mrs used in an address before....

Dlb - If you only have the surname then that is the only name you can use, with a title: Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms.

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Dlb2005 — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 00:47:58 GMT

What if you have the last name but not the first name. Is there anyway to personalize the greating?

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 17:16:05 GMT

I simply write Mrs/Miss before her last name. Why do women suddenly get offended with that? How did they feel before this stupid "Ms" thing? Big deal, just write Mrs/Miss X!

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

nona the brit — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 16:20:02 GMT

Dear Smith is not quite right.

You need to use Mr Smith, Mrs Smith or Ms Smith.

Re: Writing to someone you don't know

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 12:54:12 GMT

I'm learning English. I've got a task in the class. I need some informaton.

The task is that I have to collect information for my boss who is going to write a letter to the prime minister and the mayor of the city. He needs the most suitable salutation for this.

You mentioned that you usualy use 'Dear Smith', if you know the person's name is 'Smith'.

In this task, we definitely know the name of the prime minister. Could we use the name in this letter? Should we use other salutation?