Question

Hannah had stayed at a friend’s house for a week, but she left a briefcase there, which had several important documents in it. In her letter to her friend, Jeremy Simmons, she asks him to send the briefcase as soon as possible. Which of the following would be a suitable salutation for the letter?
a) Hi Jeremy,
b) Dear sir,
c) Thank you,
d) Dear Simmons,

Answer 1

Hint: A salutation, in easy words, refers to how you start a letter when addressing the person to whom you are writing the letter. The way to choose the correct option is to see how close you are to the receiver of the letter. In the given question, the person is Hannah’s friend and she has stayed over at his house for a week- so that is a very close friendship. Thus, the salutation will be informal and affectionate.

Complete answer:
Option a is the right answer because “Hi Jeremy” shows friendliness and that the person is close enough to her to make her use his first name. It is an informal way in which we greet our close and loved ones.
Option b is wrong because it is extremely formal. You don’t address your close friend as “sir”. People with whom you share a professional relationship are to be addressed as “sir” or “madam” as the case may be.
Option c is wrong because “Thank you” is not a salutation. It is a signing off, that is, the ending of a letter. We don’t write it at the beginning of a letter but use it to end it or to sign off.
Option d is incorrect because using a person’s surname to address someone shows a slight bit of formality. “Dear Simmons” is something which an older relative such as an aunt will write to her nephew. It is not the way that friends address each other.

Note:
Students might get confused between options a and d. Always try to gauge the relation portrayed through the given question. A friend is always written to affectionately so we are very informal with them.