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It is common to begin an email with the greeting "hi all" when the note is addressed to multiple recipients.

What, however, is the correct capitalization of "all" in this context? Does it become a proper noun?

Doubt
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  • I am confused. The words email, hi, and proper just don't seem to fit in the same context :-) –  Jul 08 '14 at 23:54
  • Duly noted! But the same questions arises for "Hello all", "Greetings all", etc. – Doubt Jul 08 '14 at 23:57
  • In a novel salutation, there are no absolute restrictions on capitalisation (though some style guide pundit just might have thought of the possibility of such salutations arising and put their opinion). Capitalising 'all' confers 'proper noun status' and will connote respect / appreciation to some, and sadly pomposity (taking liberty with the language) to others. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 06 '19 at 13:12
  • “aLl” would seem appropriate in this case. – David Oct 06 '19 at 18:41
  • This may be a duplicate of https://english.stackexchange.com/q/72406/191178 – Laurel Nov 03 '20 at 13:39
  • No, please don't capitalize the 'A', EVER. If there happens to be anyone called 'Ali' in your target audience, they're going to assume it's directed specifically to them until they read it more closely. – Flynn1179 Feb 15 '21 at 11:16
  • @Flynn1179 What if the question asked about how to treat "Hello, e/Everyone"? – Edwin Ashworth Nov 10 '21 at 17:36

6 Answers6

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I wouldn't capitalize "all". Collections aren't used as a proper noun. If you were to say, "Tell them to come here in 5 minutes.", you wouldn't capitalize "them".

That being said, I really wouldn't start an email with "Hi, all". There's technically nothing wrong with it, but it feels odd.

Jacobm001
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  • I am surprised, then, that this did not come up at the popular question http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/292/is-it-appropriate-to-use-the-salutation-dear-all-in-a-work-email?rq=1 – Doubt Jul 09 '14 at 00:20
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    I wouldn't call it odd, but it is certainly an informal usage -- slightly more so than "Hi, everyone". – keshlam Jul 09 '14 at 01:59
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    This is incorrect. Collections have nothing to do with capitalization here. – Patrick Feb 07 '18 at 22:19
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Grammatically "Dear" and "Hi" are not the same. While "Dear" can be used to modify the noun, "Hi" is a statement on its own. So starting off a letter use "Dear all," or "Hi, all." Note that "Hi, all." is a complete sentence ending with a period.

Now to capitalize "all" or not. Stylistically, it has been common to capitalize "all" in "Dear All," but I can identify no grammar rule to support that practice. "All" is not a proper noun. Only proper nouns (personal names) are capitalized.

Note, when ending a letter, the proper grammar is to use "Best regards," or "Thank you,". The second word is not capitalized, whether it is a noun or not.

Hanson
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    Hello, Hanson. This must boil down to a style choice. People at the Hailey Centre seem to like to capitalise 'reader' in << Dear reader, I ... >>. And most of them drop the traditional comma after the salutation. Award-winning author Clifford Mae Henderson also chooses to try to make the Reader feel special. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 06 '19 at 13:19
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In you example, “All” starts with capital A because that’s the first word of that sentence like “In” is here. Otherwise in no means and ways, in should start with a capital I.

Grammar fundamentals are simple and straight. Unless you use title casing, nothing sould start with capital unless it’s a noun.

Animesh Sharma
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    "Unless you use title casing, nothing should start with capital unless it’s a noun" is a confusing rule, and not entirely correct. First, many nouns are not capitalized. Second, some adjectives are capitalized, like "American". – Benjamin Kuykendall Mar 11 '19 at 15:37
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As we are referencing email specifically here, the correct form is 'All'. Email and letter salutations are typically capitalised. Outside of those instances, however, lowercase it is.

Also see this blog post: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/good-morning-capitalized/

mrwordnerd
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The accepted answer is incorrect.

"All" is indeed a proper noun. For example, it's correct to say, "All are going to the event."

The grammatically correct version of the salutation is,

Hi, All

Another answer explains as well: Capitalization of "A" in "Dear All"

Patrick
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    Really? I checked the OED and the examples there indicate that "all" is not capitalized in this sense (not even in older examples). Do you have any evidence otherwise? – Laurel Feb 08 '18 at 00:15
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None of these answered the question that was do you capitalize the word All because it is apart of a greeting.

EXAMPLE:

Hi, Th

Calyssa Staus
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