Karmele3 Senior Member Spanish - Spain. Can anybody tell me the difference in use between "yours sincerely" and "yours faithfully"? Karmele3 , Dec 3, Dimcl , Dec 3, Thomas1 , Dec 3, I agree with Thomas: I have be taught at school that there is a distinction between the two expressions depending on the personal details of the person you are writing to. In England these are the most usual ways of signing off a business or formal letter.
It is very rare indeed to use anything else unless writing to friends. Thomas1 describes the use correctly, but it is not only textbook, it is the norm in England. Hermit , Dec 3, Hockey13 , Dec 3, It's not a rule, it's a convention in formal letter-writing. It is still the norm here and no one thinks anything of it.
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LouisaB , Dec 3, I think that this distinction is generally observed in the UK as do many of my compatriots above, I see and I see nothing quaint or old-fashioned in it - if I were to be formal enough to call someone " Mr whatever" at the start of the letter I would view it normal to end with "yours sincerely" and I would suggest that you observe it if writing to this country.
I might be a bit of a pedant but I would notice if someone got it "wrong". Janka Senior Member Slovak. Dear friends, I was taught that if you know the person you are writing to, you use yours sincerely at the end, and if not, you use yours faithfully.
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But, a few days ago, I found a sample cover letter on the official BBC website where they started with dear Sir and ended with yours sincerely. So, is it strictly as I've written above, or the rules and English are changing? Janka , Mar 16, As far as I know, it should strictly speaking be as you described.
However, many thousands of native English speakers use "Yours sincerely" and "Yours faithfully" interchangeably - if you wrote the wrong one on a letter, it's unlikely that they would criticize you for it or even notice.
Who can I trust? I have to apologise to the BBC. I checked it once more and I was wrong. I can trust them. Thomas Tompion , Mar 16, Just to confuse things a bit more, I'll add my opinion. I was taught to use 'yours sincerely' on all formal letters regardless of whether or not you know the person's name or have met them. I was told that you only use 'yours faithfully' when you are expecting a reply from the person. I would say that 'yours sincerely' is much more prevalent in BE formal correspondence than 'yours faithfully', but these days thanks to email 'kind regards' or 'best wishes' seem to be the norm.
Orange Blossom Senior Member U.
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I have never heard of any of those rules or conventions. I have never used: Addressed to a fellow and sincere Christian I might say: Yours in Christ, Orange Blossom Addressed to believers of other faiths with whom I've had religious discussions or with fellow Christians.
Peace and blessings be upon you, Orange Blossom Addressed to other friends. Take care, Orange Blossom In some situations I might use: My sincere thanks, Orange Blossom There are other closings I might use with friends, but this covers the more formal ones that I might use. Orange Blossom , Mar 17, Dear Non-Natives, You may by now be hopelessly confused. Let's try to sum up. Yours faithfu lly and Dear Mr Snooks If you are faced with the question in an exam, this is probably the answer they are looking for. There are regional, generational and individual variations.
Hermit says it's 'very rare indeed to use anything else' , whereas I have not used either phrase any time this last 20 years! The convention appears to be breaking down - at least in some times and in some places. And as I've said before - threads passim - Dear Sir or Madam is dubious too. What are they actually for? In my humble opinion, they are empty phrases, worn out by time and overuse until they are now semantically Teflon-coated: So one wonders what is the point of them?
As bartonig says, throw them out and put in what you mean. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Best wishes to you. Or any formulation you fancy. Thomas Tompion , Mar 17, Consciously breaking rules can be an effective technique; unconsciously breaking them just reveals ignorance. Is it a convention or a rule not to draw consciously conclusions from statements?
This is what my dad says concerning the use of signing letters with 'sincerely' or 'faithfully'.
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Sincerely is used strictly for letters of business and when the letters are impersonal. Often, the writer won't know who the person is. Faithfully is used when there is something involving trust or faith in the interaction between the two people. Respectfully yours, Cordially yours, Orange Blossom. Orange Blossom , Mar 18, Hi, Yours sincerely - is used if you don't know the person Yours faithfully - is used when you know the person Hope this help!
I never heard of that rule before reading this thread, and I have a degree in English with a masters in Language Education. What's more; my father who is 85, has 2 doctoral degrees, and studied 4 languages in addition to English; never heard of that rule. Additionally, neither of us follows that rule when signing letters, and I've never seen that pattern followed in letters addressed to me.
I personally have never used faithfully when closing letters.
Faithfully Yours - Wikipedia
May 16 '17 at Both versions were used to close correspondence long ago, but they are pretty archaic. There's nothing grammatically wrong with either one as a stand-alone phrase. Either phrase could potentially be used improperly within a sentence, though. Also, what kind of correspondence? Such as business or personal.
That's something you'd see in a 19th century novel. I assume that by "Your faithfully" you actually mean "Yours faithfully. Are you saying that google books is not a representative sample of usage? If so, I'm skeptical and you'll have to convince me. If not, I don't know what sort of "referenced material" you would like me to provide, that is of more relevance than actual usage, the implied authority of "dictionaries and style manuals" notwithstanding.
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I don't see a link between commonality and correctness. Just because an expression is more common, idiomatic, or trite doesn't make it more correct. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password.