Today on Ask a Teacher, we
answer a question from Yehia in
Yemen.
HE WRITES:
“Could you explain what are the
differences between ‘Hi,’ ‘Dear
sir,’ ‘Hello,’ ‘Greetings’
and other greetings? Thank you!!” -
Yehia, Yemen
could you explain?: ¿podría
explicar?; what are: cuáles
son; between: entre;
ANSWER:
Dear Yehia,
To answer your question, I need more
information. Are you writing a
business letter or an email? Also,
how well do you know the person you
are writing to? Let us look at a few
possible situations.
to answer: para responder; I
need more: necesito más; a
business letter: una carta de
negocios; how well do you
know...?: ¿conoces bien a...?;
the person you are writing to:
la persona a quien le estás
escribiendo; let us look at:
veamos, analicemos; a few
possible situations: algunas
situaciones posibles;
WRITING TO A STRANGER
When writing to someone you do
not know, you usually begin a letter
with “DEAR” and the
title of the person and
their surname, or family name.
to a stranger: a un extraño;
you usually begin: generalmente
se comienza; dear: estimado/a;
title: cargo, título, rango:
Dr. (Doctor); Eng.
(Ingeniero), etc.; their surname:
su apellido; family name:
apellido de familia;
Imagine you are writing a letter to
congratulate Cori Gauff, the young
woman who defeated Venus Williams at
Wimbeldon on Monday. If you did not
know the American teenager, you
would start the letter this way:
imagine: imagina (que); to
congratulate: para felicitar;
who defeated: que venció a;
ON Monday: el lunes (recuerda:
preposición ON delante de los días
de la semana); the American
teenager: a la adolescente
norteamericana; you would start:
podrías comenzar; this way:
de esta forma;
Dear Ms. Gauff:
I am writing to congratulate you
on your amazing victory at Wimbeldon.
to congratulate you ON: para
felicitarle POR (recuerda:
preposición ON después del erbo "congratulate");
amazing victory: asombroso
triunfo, estupenda victoria; AT
Wimbeldon: EN Wimbeldon
(recuerda: preposición AT con
ciudades puntuales);
You may have seen business letters
that start with “DEAR SIR” or “DEAR
SIR OR MADAM”. But those words are
used when you do not know the name
of the person who will receive the
letter. It is always better to begin
with the name of the person you are
writing to.
you may have seen: es posible
que hayas visto; that start with:
que comienzan con; Dear Sir:
Estimado Señor; Dear Sir or Madam:
Estimado/a Señor o Señora; but
those words: pero esas palabras;
are used when: se utilizan
cuando; you do not know: no
conoces; who will receive:
que recibirá; it is always better:
siempre es mejor; you are writing
to: a quien le estás escribiendo;
Use the term MS. for
females and MR. for males before the
surname. If you do not know whether
the person is a male or female, you
can use their full name: Dear
Cori Gauff:
use the term: utiliza la palabra;
Ms.: Señora o Señorita (cuando
se desconoce su estado civil);
Mr. for males: Señor para
hombres; before the surname:
antes del apellido; whether the
person: si la persona; use
their full name: utiliza su
nombre completo (nombre de pila y
apellido);
PUNCTUATION
Punctuation is a
little different: in business
letters, you should use a COLON after the
greeting. In a personal letter, add
a COMMA
after the greeting.
punctuation: la puntuación; a
little different: algo diferente;
you should use: deberías usar;
colon: dos puntos; after the:
después del; add a comma:
agrega una coma;
WRITING TO A FRIEND
Now, imagine you are a family
friend of Cori Gauff. In that case,
you can begin your letter less
formally and use
her given name:
family friend: amigo de la
familia; less formally: menos
formalmente; given name:
nombre de pila, nombre propio;
Dear Cori,
I was so happy to see you on
television Monday. You were
awesome!
to see you: de verte; ON
television: POR televisión
(recuerda: preposición ON delnte de
los medios de comunicación:
televisión, cine, diarios, etc.);
you were awesome: estuviste
sensacional, fantástica;
You might even use the tennis
player’s nickname, which is Coco:
Dear Coco,
you might even use: incluso
podrías utilizar; the tennis
player's nickname: el apodo
(sobrenombre) de la jugadora de
tenis;
In emails and text messages, it
is also common to see the greeting
“HI” or “HELLO”. These are fine if
you know the person well and have
been in contact with them recently.
The word “greetings” sounds like the
opening of a form letter,
or a mass mailing, so you should not
use it in a letter to just one
person.
text messages: mensajes de texto;
it is also common: también es
común; Hi / Hello: Hola (Hi
se usa también en los Estados Unidos
para expresar "Buenos días");
these are fine: estos son
correctos; have been in contact:
has estado en contacto; recently:
hace poco, recientemente; sounds
like the opening of a form letter:
suena se parece al comienzo de una
carta para grupos de personas;
mass mailing: correo masivo;
you should not use it: no
deberías utilizarlo; to just one
person: para sólo una persona;
To close a business letter, you
can use “SINCERELY,”
followed by your name. Use your full
name for someone you do not know,
and your given name for someone you
do know. To close a friendly letter,
you can use “YOURS”, or “BEST WISHES”, followed by your given name.
to close a business letter: para
terminar una carta de negocios;
Sincerely / Yours sincerely:
atentamente; to close a friendly
letter: para terminar una carta
amistosa; Yours: atentamente;
Best wishes: los mejores deseos.
And that’s Ask a Teacher!
I'm Alice Bryant.
And I’m Jill Robbins
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EL BOLETIN QUINCENAL DE INGLES PREFERIDO POR EL HISPANOHABLANTE |
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