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"Yours sincerely", "Yours faithfully," and "Yours truly"
When to Use "Yours sincerely", "Yours faithfully," and "Yours truly"
The Quick Answer
- If you know the recipient or use their name, end your letter with 'Sincerely yours' (US) or 'Yours sincerely' (UK).
- If you don't know the recipient or don't use their name, end your letter 'Yours truly' (US) or 'Yours faithfully' (UK).
Starting and Ending Letters
Letters that start "Dear Sir," should end "Yours truly" (US convention) or "Yours faithfully" (UK convention).Letters that start with a name (e.g., "Dear Mr. Jones"), should end "Sincerely yours" (US convention) or "Yours sincerely" (UK convention).
This infographic summarizes the different scenarios:

"Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully"?
Writers are sometimes confused over whether to end a letter with "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully."Even though there is a slight variation between British and American conventions, the rules are straightforward.
Use "Yours faithfully" (
) or "Yours truly" (
) for Unknown Recipients
If you do not know the name of the recipient (typically in business correspondence), use "Yours truly" (US) or "Yours faithfully" (UK). (Letters that start with "To whom it may concern" fall into this category.)Examples:

[blah, blah]
Yours faithfully,
Charles Windsor-Smyth

[blah, blah]
Yours truly,
Matt Brown
Use "Yours sincerely" (
) or "Sincerely yours" (
) for Known Recipients
If you know the name of the recipient (typically a colleague or close business associate), use "Sincerely yours" (or just "Sincerely") (US) or "Yours sincerely" (UK).Examples:

[blah, blah]
Yours sincerely,
Charles Windsor-Smyth

[blah, blah]
Sincerely yours,
Matt Brown
With "Yours sincerely" and "Yours faithfully" Give Only the First Word a Capital Letter
Whatever you use, only capitalize the first word. For example:- Yours faithfully
- Yours sincerely
- Sincerely yours
- Yours Sincerely
Follow "Yours sincerely" and "Yours faithfully" with a Comma
Follow your postamble with a comma, and write your name underneath it.
[blah, blah]
Yours faithfully,

Matt Brown
Write the Salutation, Postamble, and Your Name by Hand
If you're sending a letter by post, it is a common practice (to add a personal touch) to write the salutation, postamble, and your name by hand. For example (hand-written text shown in yellow):
Dear Sir,
[blah, blah]
Yours faithfully,
Matt Brown
[blah, blah]
Yours faithfully,
Matt Brown
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