Yours sincerely/ yours faithfully

Yours sincerely and Yours faithfully
In the UK, traditional valedictions have been mainly replaced by "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully".
Yours sincerely is used when the recipient is addressed by name and is known to you to some degree, and 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").
When the recipients's name is known, but not previously met or spoken with, some people prefer the use of the more distant Yours faithfully, but most prefer to use Yours sincerely.
In the US, "Yours sincerely" is properly used in social correspondence. "Yours faithfully" is properly used in business correspondence with someone whose name is unknown to the writer (i.e., in a letter addressed "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern").
In the US, the inverted "Sincerely yours" and the simplified "Sincerely" are also common.

Quote:

Yours sincerely and Yours faithfully
In the UK, traditional valedictions have been mainly replaced by "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully".
Yours sincerely is used when the recipient is addressed by name and is known to you to some degree, and 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").
When the recipients's name is known, but not previously met or spoken with, some people prefer the use of the more distant Yours faithfully, but most prefer to use Yours sincerely.
In the US, "Yours sincerely" is properly used in social correspondence. "Yours faithfully" is properly used in business correspondence with someone whose name is unknown to the writer (i.e., in a letter addressed "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern").
In the US, the inverted "Sincerely yours" and the simplified "Sincerely" are also common.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yours_faithfully#Yours_sincerely_and_Yours_faithfully

Hmm. I've never seen Yours faithfully in a letter, ever. Certainly not in business correspondence, much less in business correspondence in which the addressee is not known. Perhaps my environment has been different than the wikipedia writer's.

Hmm. I've never seen Yours faithfully in a letter, ever.

ossobuco wrote:

Hmm. I've never seen Yours faithfully in a letter, ever.

You've never had a business letter from somebody in Britain, then.

The rule is:

If you address the person by name (i.e. if they are known to you socially) you write

Dear John/Dear Mr Jones depending on closeness of aquaintance

(Body of letter)

Yours sincerely

James Smith

If they are not know to you socially you write

Dear Sir

(Body of letter)

Yours faithfully

J Smith

I didn't know that.

I'm not sure that I've ever seen it, either.

In the UK, traditional valedictions have been mainly replaced by "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully".

Yours sincerely is used when the recipient is addressed by name and is known to you to some degree, and 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").

When the recipients's name is known, but not previously met or spoken with, some people prefer the use of the more distant Yours faithfully, but most prefer to use Yours sincerely.

In the US, "Yours sincerely" is properly used in social correspondence. "Yours faithfully" is properly used in business correspondence with someone whose name is unknown to the writer (i.e., in a letter addressed "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern").

In the US, the inverted "Sincerely yours" and the simplified "Sincerely" are also common.

Sincerely or Faithfully?

If you are writing to someone whose name and title you do not know, use the greeting Dear Sir or Madam, and the ending Yours faithfully, signing yourself with your initials and surname.

If you are writing to a named person, address them as Dear Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms, and end Yours sincerely, followed by your first name and surname.

If you have met them or spoken to them by phone, or otherwise feel that you have some acquaintance with them, address them by their first name and sign yourself Yours sincerely, using your first name.

Ensure that the salutation and ending of your letter is correct. For example if you have been asked to apply to Mr J Williams for a position your letter should start with "Dear Mr Williams" and the letter should be ended with "Yours sincerely" the "s" in sincerely must be a small "s" not a capital "s". If the position you are applying for has no contact name the letter should be commenced with "Dear Sir/Madam" and should be ended with "Yours faithfully", again the "f" in faithfully should be in lower case.

Yours sincerely vs
Yours faithfully

Tradition says that, if you are addressing a person directly, by name, the letter always ends with "Yours sincerely". But, if you are addressing a position, a group, or using a generic address, the letter always ends with "Yours faithfully".

Many Australian barristers and solicitors who read this section will not agree with recommendations to use 'Yours sincerely' at the end of legal letters that, because of the nature of the addressee, tradition dictates a personal form of address.

This is because a new tradition has started to develop over the last couple of decades amongst the legal profession in Australia to end all legal letters with the words 'Yours Faithfully' (sic).

This means that traditional forms of address are becoming less and less important. Of course, such changes are inevitable and are of little importance. But, although docDownload rarely promotes tradition over modernism, in this case we promote the traditional because there is some sense and reason behind it and, until something comes along to replace it that also has some sense and reason, we will continue to promote it.

Yours truly,
Yours truly can carry either or both of two connotations in certain parts of the world: as a valediction formula, and by implication, as an informal reference by a person to themselves - "the speaker".
As valediction
In the USA, traditional valedictions have been mainly replaced by phrases such as "Yours truly," or "Very truly yours,". In the UK it has not historically been a common term, and is used only in less formal or social correspondence.