Hi, comma

Language English Grammar & Usage
21

[quote=“Stray Dog”][quote=“joesax”]I occasionally receive emails addressed “Hi, Joe.” That always makes me do a mental double take. That usage seems a bit awkward.

I just popped open Outlook to check through some recent emails. All of the ones that start with “hi” and the person’s name are in the “Hi Name,” format.[/quote]

Then feel free to copy and paste my post above for them.[/quote]
Thanks. You too. Feel free to copy my post for anyone you think might be addressing their emails in a stilted, unnatural fashion due to an overly mechanical way of thinking about language usage. :wink:

22

I think you should also indent the first line after the greeting.

Dear Mr Hill,[color=#FFFFFF]

. …
[/color] Why are you such an ass? Enquiring minds and all that.

(Gaaah, it won’t let me indent. Fixed it, but had to write something in white first!)

23

Most email providers don’t let you indent.

24

Yeah, I indented that last post, and it re-aligned it. Boo! Lemme see if I can fix her up.

25

Indenting is more for informal letters and academic letters. For business letters, block style (flush left) is recommended.

As for punctuation, it’s common in the UK to leave it out altogether in the salutation and sign-off:

Dear Mr Smith

Blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah blah. Blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah?

Blah blah blah blah blah.

Yours faithfully

Fred Jones