Usage of 'Hi' and 'Dear' in Formal Communication [closed]

You could start your first mail or two with "Hello [name]" and then switch to "Hi [name]" in future mails once you have established some ... EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore Usageof'Hi'and'Dear'inFormalCommunication[closed] AskQuestion Asked 8years,10monthsago Modified 7years,3monthsago Viewed 94ktimes 9 2 Closed.Thisquestionisoff-topic.Itisnotcurrentlyacceptinganswers. ThisquestiondoesnotappeartobeaboutEnglishlanguageandusagewithinthescopedefinedinthehelpcenter. Closed7yearsago. Improvethisquestion Ialwayshesitateusing'Hi'informalmails.IsitOKtouseitlike"HiSir,..."? Samewith'DearJunior,...'. Anyhelpwouldbeappreciated. formalityemail Share Improvethisquestion Follow askedSep12,2013at14:29 NiravRadiaNiravRadia 12711goldbadge11silverbadge66bronzebadges 2 Yourcontextisabitscant.Perhapsyoucanprovidesomemoreonwhatusageshapesyourquestion.Welcometothesite! – NewAlexandria Sep12,2013at16:39 2 I'mvotingtoclosethisquestionasoff-topicbecauseitisrequestingwritingadvice. – EdwinAshworth Apr17,2015at9:46 Addacomment  |  3Answers 3 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 5 Youcouldstartyourfirstmailortwowith"Hello[name]"andthenswitchto"Hi[name]"infuturemailsonceyouhaveestablishedsomerapportwiththeperson.Ifyou'reinanenvironmentwhereinformalexchangesareencouraged,thenyoucouldstartwith"Hi[name]"inyourcommunications. "DearSir"or"DearMadam"isalwaysforformalcommunicationwhereyoudonotintendtogettoknowthepersonwellorcannotreallyformapersonalrapportwiththeperson(likeforexample,inthecaseofyoubeingaserviceprovider,sayabank,andaddressingacustomerormaybeyou'reinHRandareaddressinganemployee). Foraddressingjuniors,youcoulduse"Hello"ifyouwishtobeformalor"Hi"forinformalcommunication. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredSep12,2013at15:01 MKMK 16633bronzebadges Addacomment  |  6 HiisinformalandDear....isformal,butSirisformalandJuniorisinformal.ItfollowsthatHiSirandDearJunioraremismatched.(IhavetoqualifythatbysayingthatIcan’timagineanyoneaddressinganyoneelseinwritingasJunior,butthatisperhapsbecauseit’snotusedinBritishEnglish.) Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredSep12,2013at14:34 BarrieEnglandBarrieEngland 138k1010goldbadges234234silverbadges394394bronzebadges 7 Juniorcanbe(effectively)agivenname.Bywayofcomparison"DearBarrie"wouldnotbeformal,butatleastsoundssensible. – ChrisH Sep12,2013at14:37 3 UnlikelyinBritishEnglish. – BarrieEngland Sep12,2013at14:38 IknewoneinLondon-hehadthesamegivennameashisfather,andwasalmostuniversallyknownasJunior,byschoolteachersforexample.Thatexplainsmy"(effectively)".Ithinkitwasactuallyamiddlenameratherthanasuffix,butitwasalongtimeago.Ofcourseusingamiddlenameasthepreferredgivenname,forexampleinyouremail"from"field,isnotuncommon. – ChrisH Sep12,2013at14:42 2 @NiravRadiaThenamethatyouuseafter"Dear"hasasignificantimpactontheformalityofthegreeting,soit'shardtouseasingleplaceholderwhenaskingyourquestion."Junior"clearlyhasconnotationsotherthanwhatyouintended.Youcouldalsowrite"DearSo-and-so"(somewhatgeneric)or"DearSir/Madam"(formal)or"DearNirav"(lessformal)or"DearDaddy"(someoneyouhaveacloserelationshipwith). – lmjohns3 Sep12,2013at15:07 1 Idon'tthinkthat'ssounusualthesedays. – BarrieEngland Oct23,2013at14:08  |  Show2morecomments 2 Ifyouknowtherecipient'stitle,thenstartingtheconversation"DearMr/Ms/Dr/(whatever)Surname"isunlikelytobewrong.Ihavebeenknowntouse"DearFirstnameSurname"butdon'tlikeit.Afterthefirstexchange,seehowtheysignofftheirreply-Iftheysignoffwithagivenname,anduseafairlyinformaltone,thenswitchto"HiFirstname"byallmeans.Bywayofcontext,Inormallysignemails"Chris",andexpect"HiChris"or"DearChris"astheconversationprogresses. Ofcourse,whendealingwitholdercorrespondents,orsomecultures,youmayneedtostaymoreformal. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredSep12,2013at15:16 ChrisHChrisH 21k55goldbadges4242silverbadges8989bronzebadges Addacomment  |  Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedformalityemailoraskyourownquestion. FeaturedonMeta AnnouncingtheStacksEditorBetarelease! Related 9 Shouldcontractionsbeavoidedinformalemails? 4 HowtopolitelyrequesttobecalledbyfirstnameinsteadofMr.Surname? 4 Isitappropriatetouse'eagerly'whileendingaformale-mail 11 Appropriatetostartbusinessemailorletterwithjust"Dear,"? 0 WhichvaledictionshouldIusewithmyboss? HotNetworkQuestions Undefinedbehavior(accordingtoclang-fsanitize=integer)onlibstdc++std::randomduetonegativeindexonMersenneTwisterengine ClosestequivalenttotheChinesejocularuseof职业病(occupationaldisease):jobcreateshabitsthatmanifestinappropriatelyoutsidework Triangleareafromsidelengths Howtoachievefullscaledeflectionona30Aammeterwith5Vvoltage? 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