How to end letters to leave a good impression. How to finish a letter in English

21.10.2019

In both business and friendly correspondence, it is important to know how to finish a letter in English. If you want to present yourself as an educated person, then you should not neglect the established rules of correspondence.

Please note: farewell in a letter written in English is put on a new line after the letter itself.

Business letter ending

When you use the following expressions, you mean "sincerely yours":

Sincerely
Sincerely yours
Most sincerely
Yours faithfully
Yours truly

Gratitude (for the attention paid to reading the letter) can be expressed using the standard Thank you or Thank you for your consideration (thanks for considering this issue).

business letter example

Letter to a friend

It is difficult to draw a clear line between the formal and informal end of the letter, because people who are in a working correspondence can have friendly relations and put a “warmer” farewell at the end of the letter.

At the end of the letter, you can hint at the next conversation or meeting. The presence of the personal pronoun "I" already indicates a more personal form of address.
Here are some phrases with the expression to look forward (expect):

I am looking forward to meeting you
I am looking forward to hearing from you

Analogues of the Russian “with respect” will be the expressions:

Regards
kind regards;
Best regards
Respectfully

And a more cordial expression of Cordially. The phrase "best wishes" can be displayed using Best wishes. The following are examples of goodbyes at the end of a letter that you can write to a loved one:

Cheers
Warmly
Always
Later
Till next time
take care
Write soon
kisses

Very personal expressions for saying goodbye to a loved one in a letter can be:

Affectionately yours
Yours forever
Passionately yours
your darling
Longing to see you

Tip: not everyone knows how to sign a letter in English correctly - leave a comma after parting, and then write your name on a new line, while you can indent a few lines.

Phrases for ending an informal letter

Examples of letters

Look at examples of letter excerpts with different farewell options, pay attention to the style of writing and the corresponding farewell.

Please let me know if you have any comments on the video I sent you. During the next few weeks we will be adding new videos to the website. I would really like to know what you think of them.
Sincerely yours,

(Please let me know if you have any comments on the video I sent you. We will be adding more videos to the site over the next few weeks. I would love to know what you think of them.)
I was waiting for your reply since Monday but obviously you have a lot on your plate right now. Anyway, I`m going to visit you next week and we will have a chance to chat.
(I've been waiting for your reply since Monday, but obviously you're very busy right now. Anyway, I'm going to visit you next week and we'll have a chance to chat.)
I will be grateful if you would send me the price-list on your new products. Please specify the terms of the delivery and the possible discount. Thank you in advance.
Faithfully yours,

Dylan Park.

(I would be grateful if you could send me a price list for your new products. Please indicate the delivery time and possible discount. Thanks in advance.)
If you require any further information I will be happy to provide it. Do not hesitate to contact me and clarify any details.
most sincerely,

James Burton.

(If you need more information, I'll be happy to provide it. Feel free to contact me for any details.)
Mike, I'm still waiting for the pictures you promised to send me last month. Oh, by the way, my sister says "Hi".
(Mike, I'm still waiting for the photo you promised to send last month. Oh, by the way, my sister says hi.)

Words and expressions

It's time to improve your vocabulary. Read and memorize the following expressions:

To let know - inform;
To send - send;
To think of smth. - to think about something;
Obviously - obviously;
To have a lot on plate - have a lot of things to do;
To specify - indicate, determine;
Discount - discount;
In advance - in advance;
To require - require;
To provide - provide;
Delivery - delivery;
Possible - possible;
To clarify - clarify;
To hesitate - hesitate, be shy;
To promise - to promise.

Remember that it is up to you whether the end of the letter in English will simply serve as its actual completion or have additional meaning, so it is so important to choose the right words at the end to leave the reader with the impression you need.

By the way, in the last sentence, it will never be superfluous to thank the reader for their attention, and if this is a person close to you, then finish the letter with warm and friendly words, reminding him of how much you miss him and how glad you will be to receive an answer. Here are some more tips for writing letters:

The manner of both oral and written speech in world dialects is not the same. If abroad the greeting "How are you?" acceptable and ordinary, then in our country it can even be considered tactless.

And in order not to seem like a hypocrite for a foreigner to whom we are writing a message, we must adhere to the appropriate dialectical framework. Before how to end a letter in english, you should pay attention to who and under what circumstances we write it. Writing to a friend is not the same as writing to a business partner.

Options for ending letters to a friend

Unlike a strict business style, a letter to a foreign friend can end with many, even formulaic expressions. The appropriateness of this or that end depends on the emerging relationship and the intention to continue them.

In such messages, use the words that describe your attitude or situation that you want to convey. From that how to end a letter in english to a friend, may depend on his impression of reading.

Examples of correct conclusions:

Thanks for the conversation, I'll write later - thanks for the conversation, I'll write later;
Regret, I'm waiting for work - I'm sorry, I'm waiting for work;
We talked a lot, but it's time for me - we had a great conversation, but now I have to go;
Waiting for news from you - waiting for news from you.

For especially close friends, there are farewell options in the form of Loving you, Sincerely yours, With love. Before doing so, supply a comma and the author's name after these words. This will describe great love and sincerity for the recipient.

Variants of the signature of the letter in various cases

For a competent conclusion, it is not at all necessary to end the letter with wishes or attitude towards the recipient. In some cases, too obsessive goodwill in the end may seem suspicious, then how to finish a letter in english using a simple signature would be the most appropriate option.

In official letters, use signatures in the form of brief details of the author, company name. In invitations and similar messages, you can end with gratitude and a call to action -thanks, Author, we will wait for you.

Variants of signatures in different situations:

I await your response - I am waiting for your response;
Regards - we wish you all the best;
I'll wait for our next meeting - I will wait for our next meeting.

Conclusion

Depending on whether how to end a letter to a friend in english, you can strengthen or weaken your companionship in the future. The same law applies to invitations, commercial mailings.

Communication is one of the basic human needs, along with sleep and food. Modern people have several affordable and effective ways to talk with friends and relatives, colleagues and business partners. These include face-to-face communication, cellular communication and the Internet.

The last two methods appeared relatively recently. For a long time, communication at a distance was possible only with the help of messages. They were handwritten and mailed. This one has survived to this day. However, handwritten letters have been replaced by emails.

Let's give a definition

The word "letter" has several meanings.

Firstly, it is a system of written signs, which is necessary for fixing oral speech.

Example: Scientists have deciphered an ancient letter

Secondly, this is the appearance of the informational text printed on paper.

Example: The students asked their teacher how to finish the letter in accordance with the norms accepted in Russian.

Thirdly, a handwritten or electronic text that contains information intended for the addressee.

Example: A letter from home with important news from my father was received a week after it was sent.

And how to start it? All people ask themselves these questions, regardless of what kind of message they compose: electronic or handwritten. In this article, we are going to answer the first of them.

Types of letters

Before talking about how best to finish a letter, it is worth understanding its types. The general tone and expressions used depend on this. So messages can be:

business;
personal;
congratulatory.

It is customary to call this type of documentation, which serves as a means of exchanging information between different organizations and institutions. It can also be called "official correspondence". Some types of letters that fall into this category require a response (for example, petitions, appeals, requests), others do not (for example, warnings, reminders, statements).

A letter written by one individual and addressed to another is called a personal letter.

Letters that are intended to congratulate an unofficial person, organization or institution on some joyful event or achievement are called congratulatory letters.

Below we will figure out how to properly finish a letter, depending on its type and purpose.

General structure

Regardless of the type, all letters have approximately the same structure. It is worth noting that the first two points are typical only for official correspondence.

Sender's address.
The date.
Greetings.
Text containing basic information.
Final phrases.
P.S.

Business correspondence

The writing of this type of correspondence should be treated with special attention, since the spelling, punctuation or allowed by the sender can adversely affect the image of the company or institution that he represents. When compiling sentences, preference should be given to simple sentences and avoid a large number of complicating structures. The general tone should be respectful. The main thing is that the essence of the letter should be revealed at its end, since people pay more attention to this particular piece of text.

How to end a letter that has the status of an official? The most successful closing phrases are:

I look forward to further fruitful cooperation.
I look forward to continued cooperation.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely, Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich.
With respect, Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich.

How to end a letter to a private person beautifully

This type of correspondence does not require increased attention from the compiler. However, in the process of writing, a person should still not forget about literacy. In this regard, it is much easier to write emails, since the errors found are easy to correct. In the case of handwritten text, you will have to rewrite the finished text.

Before starting the process, you need to decide on the main content and the reaction of the recipient. If it is important for the sender to receive an answer as soon as possible, then in the final part it is better to make appropriate notes. The ending should be a logical conclusion to everything written above, otherwise you can put the recipient in an awkward position and make him think about what the sender wanted to say.

The most common phrases used at the end of a letter are:

Your friend Peter.
See you!
Waiting for an answer.
Kisses, Maria.
Come as soon as possible.
All the best, your friend Peter.

The sender can come up with the end of the letter on their own. In this case, it will have a unique character and will definitely please the recipient.

When answering the question of how you can finish a letter of congratulations, you need to pay attention to its appearance. If the sender and recipient are officials, then the final phrases should be neutral. In other cases, certain liberties are allowed.

Summing up

Question: "How to finish the letter?" - quite logical. Communication by phone and social networks is based on laws that are different from those adopted during correspondence. However, every person at least once in his life has to act as a drafter of a letter. Therefore, it is necessary to have a general understanding of the canons and rules existing in this area. Otherwise, the first experience may be the last. But writing a letter, sending it and waiting for a response from the sender is an exciting process.

The origin of writing in Sumer, Egypt and China led to the development of a special system of thinking that helped to convey emotions and feelings. Today, almost everyone can write.

But not everyone can boast that they know 100% how to do it right.

We cannot imagine life without email. Carrier pigeons are a thing of the past, we only read about carriages and wagons in books, but the Internet helps us communicate. By the way, the first person to write an email was Ray Tomlinson. He worked as a programmer and in 1971 made a breakthrough in writing letters on the global Internet.

With the advent of writing, the rules for writing a letter arose. Of course, in many countries they differ from each other. But do not forget that when writing a letter in English, you need to know some features, otherwise you may be misunderstood.

personal letter may contain various phrases, each of which has its own meaning, for example:

Always- always (your, yours)
best wishes- with best wishes
your friend- your friend (your girlfriend)
Affectionately- with love
Yours always- always yours (your)
Much love- with love
see you soon- see you later
All my love- with all love
Eternally yours- always yours (your)
see ya(ya is short for you) - see you
Cheers- while (used in Britain)
Hugs and kisses or common XOXO

The history of the origin of HOHO began in the Middle Ages. When signing contracts, the sign X was a necessary phenomenon, which testified to the validity of the signing of the contract. Later in the UK, letters began to be signed with a “laughing” sign, which denoted hugs - hugs (indicated by the letter O) and kisses (as indicated by the letter X, reminiscent of two kissing people).

If you need to constantly communicate with foreigners using e-mails, we advise you to refer to the section where you will find a lot of interesting things.