11.16 German letter layout-2

2. The date and its position

The date should be written on the right-hand side of the page. Unlike English which has several variations (May 2, May 2nd, 2nd May etc.), dates in German are always written the same way - der 2. Mai.

 

At the head of letters, the accusative form is used, preceded by the name of the place from wher you are writing - e.g. Portsmouth, den 25. April 2008.

 

Dates written all in numbers are also found in German, particularly in business letters - e.g. Portsmouth, den 25.04.2008.

 

3. Dear Sir or Madam

The "Dear Sir or Madam..." line is written flush left on the page.

 

If you are writing to a firm or an institution and do not know the name of the person to whom you are writing, use "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren," which literally translates as "Very esteemed ladies and gentlemen" but equates to the English "Dear Sir or Madam". (You should only use "Sehr geehrte Herren," or "Sehr geehrte Damen," if you are sure that the people to whom you are writing are all male or all female.)

 

The table below shows how you should start a letter when writing to someone whose name you know:

 

Grammar 24: Addressing the addressee

Sehr geehrter Herr Wagner,

("Dear Mr. Wagner,")

Sehr geehrte Frau Wagner,

("Dear Mrs. Wagner,")

Sehr geehrte Frau Wagner, sehr geehrter Herr Wagner,

("Dear Mr. and Mrs. Wagner")

 

With titles

Sehr geehrter Herr Doktor Prill,

("Dear Doctor Prill,")

Sehr geehrte Frau Professor Widy,

("Dear Professor Widy,")

 

Notes

1. In this case the person to whom you are writing is in the nominative case. You can tell this by the adjective endings and the fact that "Herr" does not have an "-n" on the end.

 

2. Note again that "Herr" and "Frau" are retained when writing to someone who has a title.

 

3. If you are writing to somebody with a title, you should not write their Christian name. Thus the opening formula to write to Professor Andrea Widy is "Sehr geehrte Frau Professor Widy". 

4. Body of the letter

The first line of the body of a German letter is not indented, but is positioned flush left on the page.

 

Note too that - unlike in English - the first word of the body of a letter does not start with a capital letter (unless it is a noun). Why? This is because this first word is only the start of a new clause, not a new sentence. Viewed from a grammatical perspective, it continues the sentence started on the previous line by "Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,".

 

5. Ending a letter

wheras in English we must choose between "Yours faithfully" and "Yours sincerely" when concluding a business letter, the standard ending for a German letter is "Mit freundlichen Grüßen," (= with friendly wishes).

 

As in English letters you then sign the letter and print your name beneath it.