Dear, (Somethign Somewhat)!

English translation: Dear So-and-So,

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	Dear, (Somethign Somewhat)!
Selected answer:	Dear So-and-So,

13:32 Dec 17, 2010

The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2010-12-20 14:54:12 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)

English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters / Home page of the site

English term or phrase: Dear, (Somethign Somewhat)!

That is the typical beginning of the letter.
Do we need the , sign here?

Maria Sometti (Anishchankava)

Dear So-and-So,

Explanation:
the comma comes after the name, not before

Selected response from:

Jill Conklin Achkasova
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:30

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

5 +5

Dear So-and-So,

Jill Conklin Achkasova

4 +1

Jack Doughty

are you asking about the comma in Russian or English?

Leigh Mosley

No comma

Sona Petrosyan

Discussion entries: 11

Sheila Wilson

Spain

Between a rock and a hard place!

09:37 Dec 18, 2010

Seems nobody can do anything right nowadays! I personally hate Ms but I am perfectly happy to have people address me as Ms Wilson first time. After that it's Mrs Wilson or, much more likely, Sheila. Why kick people for trying to be correct? But this is getting a long way from the Asker's question!

Paul Lambert

Sweden

An aside

09:09 Dec 18, 2010

It is interesting that Mr. Swift find "Ms" reasonably safe. I never use it, only because on many occasions women themselves hate that pseudo-word. When my wife, for instance, is considering CV's of job applicants, any cover letters addressed to "Ms. Lambert" are rejected immediately. Of course this is all by the way. ;)

Lancashireman

United Kingdom

Default

08:30 Dec 18, 2010

'Ms' is reasonably safe but 'Mrs' is dynamite. Sorry to be persistent, but the full name has become standard UK usage in formal communication where marital status is unknown.

Sheila Wilson

Spain

Br Eng rule

08:24 Dec 18, 2010

I don't believe we use a colon at all, always the comma. @ Andrew: No problem - if you don't know her preference you default to Ms to be politically correct, but if you hate politically correct you can default to Mrs

Lancashireman

United Kingdom

'Dear Paul Lambert' or 'Dear Mr Lambert' ...

07:46 Dec 18, 2010

... but in the case of Dear Paula Lambert, you have to write the name out in full, as you cannot know her preferred form of address (Mrs/Ms/Miss).

Travelin Ann

US EN rule

02:00 Dec 18, 2010

Dear blank, (comma) is used for a personal letter, between friends.
Dear blank: (colon) is used for a business letter, whether you address the person formally (Dear Mr. Blank:) or informally (Dear Joe:).

Paul Lambert

Sweden

Sheila makes a good point.

21:28 Dec 17, 2010

Indeed, "Dear Paul Lambert," would be unusual now that I think of it. Still, no comma after "Dear"

Sheila Wilson

Spain

Exclamation mark?

21:04 Dec 17, 2010

Unless it's a US/UK difference, there shouldn't be one of those - it makes it sound really impolite to me, as though you're shouting at them. Personally, I'm not happy with first + last name - I was taught title + last name i.e. "Dear Mr Lambert, ..." or "Dear Paul, ..."

Paul Lambert

Sweden

For the sake of clarity

20:49 Dec 17, 2010

There should be no comma after "Dear"; however, there should be a comma after the name. For example "Dear Paul Lambert,"
Some people use a colon (:)

Aleksey Chervinskiy

United States

I am

15:06 Dec 17, 2010

thoroughly confused

Maria Sometti (Anishchankava)

ASKER

To Jack

14:07 Dec 17, 2010

Jack, the somewhat or something are not the terms, that was to hide the name and the surname. I have launched this question just to show my client that the translation is wrong, thus, to have an objective opinion of the natives. Thanks a lot.

Answers

28 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

No

Explanation:
Dear Someone
You wouldn't often wish to address something as dear Something, and I don't see how Somewhat fits in here at all.

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:30
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 370

1 hr confidence:

dear, (somethign somewhat)! are you asking about the comma in Russian or English?

Explanation:
There is sometimes a comma in Russian:
Наталья, здравствуйте!
but
Уважаемые господа!

And in English:
Dear Sirs: (formal letter)
Dear Grandma, (informal letter)

Leigh Mosley
United States
Local time: 04:30
Native speaker of:

English

2 hrs confidence:

dear, (somethign somewhat)! No comma

Explanation:
between adjective and noun to it theres no comma

Sona Petrosyan
Armenia
Local time: 12:30
Native speaker of:

Armenian

5 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

dear, (somethign somewhat)!

Dear So-and-So,

Explanation:
the comma comes after the name, not before

Jill Conklin Achkasova
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:30
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations