In a salutation on a line by itself, which version is punctuated correctly?
Hi, Mr Lawler,
I am writing to say [...]
Hi Mr Lawler,
I am writing to say [...]
Hi, Mr Lawler.
I am writing to say [...]
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Alex W
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whippoorwill
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I have also seen semi-colons used. – IQAndreas Mar 02 '14 at 18:37
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1For business letters, there is a specific format which numerous online references will give you (you're supposed to use a colon). For informal letters, it's *informal*, which means you have much more flexibility in what you're allowed to do. – Peter Shor Mar 02 '14 at 18:45
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I've never seen semicolons used. That's certainly a horse of a different color. – whippoorwill Mar 02 '14 at 19:45
1 Answers
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None of them are punctuated correctly, according to American English conventions, because abbreviations must be followed by a full stop. In British English, no full stop following Mr is perfectly fine, however.
According to the Purdue OWL, business letter, i.e. very formal, salutations must be followed by a colon (:). And the comma between the title and interjection depends on whether the noun is being directly addressed (or as you said: in the vocative case). So, Dear Mr. Lawler: requires no comma because it is an adjective modifying the noun, whereas Hello, Mr. Lawler: requires a comma because it is directly addressing the noun.
So, this would be the suggested usage, based on those guidelines:
Hi, Mr. Lawler:
I am writing to say [...]
The Purdue OWL also mentions a less common format, known as open punctuation, whereby no punctuation is present after the salutation and valediction:
Hi Mr Lawler
I am writing to say [...]
Thank you
[Your name]
Please note that "Hi" is can be interpreted as somewhat of an informal greeting and should probably be replaced by a more formal greeting like "Hello" or "Dear".
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2I find the use of Hi followed by Mr So & So strange. Hi is rather informal, and I would not use it with Mr So & So. – None Mar 02 '14 at 19:13
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@Laure I agree. I was thinking of making a note of the fact that "Hi" is rather informal but I never did, since the question was only asking about punctuation. – Alex W Mar 02 '14 at 19:42
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I always thought that if we used, say, "Hi, Mike", we'd need a comma after "Hi" or "Hello" because the name is a form of direct address and is in the vocative case. Hmmm. Interesting. – whippoorwill Mar 02 '14 at 19:44
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I think the 'open punctuation' format looks really nice, clean and uncluttered. I don't know whether it would be accepted in formal circumstances, though. – whippoorwill Mar 02 '14 at 19:47
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1@whippoorwill You are correct about the vocative case. The OWL only omits the comma for "Dear". I have updated the answer with that new information. – Alex W Mar 02 '14 at 20:23
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No period after "Mr" is perfectly fine in British English, and something I encounter and produce every day. The colon, on the other hand, is something nobody at all actually ever does, including the students of the Purdue University I have happened across so far... – RegDwigнt Mar 02 '14 at 21:37