"Dear All" in a Work Email — Five Alternatives - Linguaholic

The phrase “dear all” is one way to address an email to multiple people. The use of “dear” is relatively formal, making this a suitable ... SkiptoContent Emailcommunicationistricky,especiallyasitcanbedifficulttoconveynonverbalelementsofspeechinwrittenform. WhenthedifferentregistersofEnglish(formal,informal)enterthepicture,thingsgeteventrickier. Todaywe’lllookatseveralwaystoaddressemailstoagroupofpeopleinaformalworksetting.   Shouldyouuse“Dearall”asagreetinginworkemails? Thephrase“dearall”isonewaytoaddressanemailtomultiplepeople.Theuseof“dear”isrelativelyformal,makingthisasuitablegreetingforwork-relatedemailstogroups.Alternativesinclude“hello,”“greetings,everybody,”“hieveryone,”“hiall”andlistingaddresseesbyname.   Themeaningof“dearall” Thisshortsalutationismadeupoftwowords:“dear”and“all.””Dear”technicallymeansthatsomethingisbelovedorimportant,butthewordhaslongbeenusedinlettersandotherformsofcommunicationtoaddresstherecipientinaformaltone.Youcanthinkofitasaformalequivalentto“hello.” Theword“all”meanseverything.Byextension,itisalsousedtorefertolargegroupsofpeopleortoeverybodyinaspecificcontext. Puttogether,then,“dearall”isaformalgreetingatthestartofacommunicationaddressedtomultiplepeople.   Whentouse“dearall”inanemail Theword“all”shouldmakeitclearthat“dearall”shouldonlybeusedtoaddressgroupsofpeople.Otherthanthat,theregisteroftheword“dear”makesthisgreetingidealforuseinarelativelyformalsettinglikeaworkemailoronetoagroupofpeopleyouhavebeencollaboratingwithbutmaynotknowoutsideofaprofessionalsetting. Examples “Dearall, PleasefindattachedthequarterlyreportforQ3.Ilookforwardtohearingyourthoughts.” Theformalregisterof“dear”iscontinuedintheremainderofthisshortemailinthecommonemailphrase“pleasefindattached”andinthedistancesuggestedbytheemail’sfinalsentence. “Dearall, Iamhelpingapatronwitharesearchprojectandamhavingtroublegettingresults.Pleaseseebelowformoredetails.” Again,thisisaprettyformalemail.“Pleaseseebelow”issimilarto“pleasefindattached”intermsofformality,making“dearall”appropriate.   Fivealternativestousing“dearall”inaworkemail   1.“Greetings,everybody.” If“hello”isofmiddlingformality,theword“greetings”reallyratchetsthingsup. Thistoneisbestreservedforveryformalworksettings.Alternatively,itcouldbeusedinsituationswhereit’simportantforyoutosetyourselfapartfromthepeopleyouareemailingorestablishyourselfassomekindofauthorityfigure. Examples “Greetings,everybody. Ihopeyouareenjoyingthefirstfewdaysofourmonth-longworknewworkerorientation.” Thisemailpositionsthepersonsendingtheemailassomeoneincharge,settingaformaltoneappropriateforsomethinglikeanorientationgroup. Examples “Hiall, I’veattachedwhatIhavesofarforoursocialmixertomorrow.Wouldlovemoresuggestions!” Thisisacasualemail,althoughthephrase“socialmixer”suggestsitisstilltakingplaceinaworkenvironment.   2.Usingpeople’snamesorotheridentifiers Ifyouaren’tsurewhatsalutationtouseanddon’tfeelcomfortablewith“dearall”or“hello,”agoodoptionistoexplicitlyaddressyouremailtothepeopleyouarewriting. Themaindrawbackofthisapproachisthatitdoesn’tworkforverylargegroupsofpeople. Inthesecases,anaggregatenounlike“membersofthecomputersciencedivision”or“employees”canfeelmoredirectedthan“all”andstillappropriateforaformalemail. Thisoptionisalsoflexiblesinceitcanbecombinedwith“dear”oramorecasual“hi”asneeded. Examples “Dearfriends,Ihopeyouareallwellandrestedafterlastnight’sparty.” Inthiscase,thewriterhasused“friends”asakindofgroupnountoshowtheirclosenesstotheemailrecipients. “DearJonathan,SuzyandAliette, Iapologizeforemailingoutoftheblue,butIhavenotheardfromanyoneattheofficeaboutmyimpendingtransfer.Cananyofyouoffermeanyinsight?” Thisemailiswritteninaformalstylebuttheuseoffirstnamessuggeststhatthewriterisrelativelywellacquaintedwiththepeopletheyarecontacting.   3.“Hieveryone” Thisgreetingisvirtuallyindistinguishablefrom“hiall,”althoughtheuseofthelongerword“everyone”doesmakeitsoundsveryslightlymoreformal. Examples “Hieveryone, Ihopeyou’reallreadyforourthemedpotlucknextweek!I’veattachedsomerecipeideastogetyoustarted.” Again,thecasualtoneofthisemailwouldnotmakeitappropriateforaveryformalsetting.   4.“Hiall” “Hiall”istheinformalequivalentof“dearall.” Although“hi”isaverycasualgreeting,itmaystillbeworkplaceappropriateifyouareonfriendlytermswitheveryoneyouareemailingorjustworkinaverylaid-backorganization.   5.“Hello” Thisisperhapsthevaguestofallpossibleemailsalutationsandisnotrecommendedunlessyoucan’tcomeupwithanythingbetter. Inapinch,though,“hello”doesthejobofopeninganemailinamannerthatisfriendlyandwelcoming,nottooformalandnottoocasualeither. Asanaddedbenefit,itcanbeusedwhenemailingindividualsaswellasmultiplepeople. Althoughitcanbeusedinaworksetting,itdoessoundabitstand-offishifaddressedtosomeoneyouknowandworkwithclosely. Itcanalsosoundlikethestartofaspamemail,sobewaryofoverusingit. Examples “Hello,Iamwritingtoinquireaboutyourastrophysicsprogram.” Here,thewriterisuncertainonwhowillbereadingtheiremail.Thismakes“hello,”whichcanaddressanynumberofpeopleinarelativelypolitemanner,agreatoption. “Hello,Italkedwithyoubothlastweekaboutyourshop’ssoupbeingcoldandjustwantedtowriteandapologize.” Inthisexample,“hello”explicitlyaddressesmultiplepeople. MarcelIseliHeyfellowLinguaholics!It’sme,Marcel.Iamtheproudowneroflinguaholic.com.LanguageshavealwaysbeenmypassionandIhavestudiedLinguistics,ComputationalLinguisticsandSinologyattheUniversityofZurich.ItismyutmostpleasuretosharewithallofyouguyswhatIknowaboutlanguagesandlinguisticsingeneral. Postnavigation Here’sHowtoPutEngineer-In-Training(EIT)onYourResumeCoverLetterDo’sandDon’ts—20ProTips TopPostsTheManyMeaningsof“(Korean)CrowTit”DEMYSTIFIEDWhatisTheMeaningof/s?