How to Write a Letter in German

Opening Greeting : These standard formal greetings can be used for business correspondence or with anyone with whom you would normally address as Sie. (See German Polite You)

Formal: Sehr geehrter Herr., Sehr geehrte Frau..., Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, If you are writing to someone with a professional title such as a doctor or a lawyer, then include it in the opening greeting: Sehr geehrte Frau Rechtsanwltin Neubauer Sehr geehrter Herr Doktor Schmidt Casual: Lieber., (This is the equivalent to "dear" and used only for close male relatives or friends. Liebe., (Same thing as above, except used for females.) Unlike English, the word that follows your greeting begins with a small letter. Liebe Maria, ich bin so froh Note: The more modern way is to end the greeting in a comma, however you may come across the old-fashioned pre-computer/e-mail way of putting an exclamation point at the end of the greeting: Liebe Maria!

Personal Pronouns: It is extremely important to choose the appropriate personal pronoun. Not doing so, may make you sound impolite. For a formal letter, you will address the person as Sie, with the obligatory capital S at all times (other forms are Ihr and Ihnen, see German Polite You) Otherwise, for a close friend or relative, you will address them as du. Note: If you by chance peruse books on letter-writing published before 2005, you will notice that du, dir and dich are capitalized as well. That's the former rule prior to die neue Rechtschreibungsreform, when all personal pronouns used for addressing someone in a letter were capitalized. Letter Body: To get ideas for general polite conversation, see the Common Greetings and Courtesies and

Thank You and You're Welcome articles. Otherwise here are a few phrases that may be useful:

Ich wei, dass ich schon lange nicht geschrieben habe I know that I haven't written in a long time... Ich war so beschftigt in letzter Zeit,... I was so busy lately... Vielen Dank fr deinen Brief. Ich habe mich sehr darber gefreut. Thank you very much for your letter. I was very happy to receive it. Ich hoffe, dass Sie einen herrlichen Sommer verbracht haben. Ich hoffe, dass du einen herrlichen Sommer verbrachst hast. I hope you've had a wonderful summer. Ich hoffe, dass du dich besser fhlst. Ich hoffe, dass Sie sich besser fhlen. I hope you are feeling better. Mein Freund hat mir deine/Ihre E-mail Adresse gegeben. My friend gave me your e-mail address. Ich wrde gerne wissen... I would like to know. Es freut mich sehr zu hren, dass ... I'm glad to hear that.... Vielen Dank fr deine/Ihre schnelle Rckantwort. Thank you very much for your quick response.

More Phrases: See our articles on how to ask questions and terms of endearment. Concluding the Letter:

Contrary to English, there is no comma after a concluding expression in German. Gru Helga As in English, your name can be preceded by a possesive adjective: Gru Dein Uwe You can use: Dein(e) -> if you are close to this person. Deine if you are female Ihr(e) -> if you have a formal relationship with the person. Ihre if you are female. Some other expressions for concluding are: Casual: Gre aus ...(city where you're from) Viele Gre Liebe Gre Viele Gre und Ksse Alles Liebe Ciau (more for E-mail, postcards) Mach's gut (E-mail, postcards) More Formal Mit besten Gren

Mit herzlichen Gren Freundliche Gre Mit freundlichem Gru Tip: Avoid writing Hochachtungsvoll or any form thereof - it sounds very oldfashioned and stilted. E-mail Lingo Some people like it a lot, others despise it. Either way, e-mail jargon is here to stay and helpful to know. Here's a few of the most common German ones.

mfg - Mit freundlichen Gren vg - Viele Gre ld - Lieb' Dich lg - Liebe Gre gn8 - Gute Nacht hdl - Hab dich lieb

On the Enveloppe: All names, whether it be people or a business should be addressed in the accusative. That's because you are either writing it "An (to)." someone or it is simply implied. An Frau/Herr Frau/Herrn An die Firma (company)...