Professional Letters: Salutations?

Question

When I write a letter, in English I say Dear Mr.... I end it with, Very Truly Yours, or Sincerely, etc.

How does the typical professional letter in Spanish start and end? Trying it in Google, I get:

Estimado Sr. XX: for the Dear Sir

and for the ending it gives:
Muy atentamente, (for Very truly yours,) and

Atentamente, (for Sincerely)

Which is proper?

Thanks, Rachel

Answer 1

Saludos para me seria un poco informal, pero creo que estimado, sinceramente serian aceptables

Espero que esto le ayude

Answer 2

Hi Rachael:

I got this from Spanish.about.com

Salutations: Although the following closings for personal letters may sound overly affectionate to English speakers, they are quite commonly used:

* Un abrazo (literally, a hug)
* Un fuerte abrazo (literally, a strong hug)
* Cariñosos saludos (roughly, kind regards)
* Afectuosamente (affectionately)

The following are common with close friends or family members:

* Besos y abrazos (literally, kisses and hugs)
* Besos (literally, kisses)
* Con todo mi cariño (with all my caring)
* Con todo mi afecto (with all my affection)

In business correspondence, the most common ending, used in much the same way as "sincerely" in English, is atentamente. That can also be expanded to le saluda atentamente or les saluda atentamente, depending on whether you're writing to one or to more persons, respectively. A more casual ending that can be used in business letters is cordialmente.

Answer 3

An Spanish-speaking employee of my company who lives in Mexico City often uses "Saludos" when ending an email to me. But I have also seen ¡Saludos! used as a greeting. So maybe it can be either one, depending on where it's located in the correspondence.

saludo is usually a salutation or opening greeting, not a valediction (closing farewell), but as it literally means salute, you do that when entering and leaving a room. - 0074b507, Sep 20, 2009

Answer 4

Thanks all. Guess Google was right on this then. I just wanted to make sure my beginnings and endings didn't sound like love letters.

Rachel