Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide, Second Edition

(Rick Simeone) #1
If addressing two people it is usual to repeat the ‘Dear’:

Lieber Paul, lieber Harald/Liebe Elke und lieber Paul
Dear Paul and Harald/Dear Elke and Paul

To address a whole family, simply write:

Liebe Familie Huber
Dear Huber family

If the addressees are close friends or relatives, Ihr Lieben ‘Dear All’ could be used.

A comma will usually follow all these openings and the letter proper will begin with a
small letter (unless the first word is a noun). It is accepted practice not to begin a letter
with ich.

60.8 Postcard greetings


The following formulations might be used either to begin or end a postcard message:

Einen schönen Gruß aus München (von/schickt dir Harald).
Best wishes from Munich (from Harald).

Grüße/Herzliche Grüße/Liebe Grüße aus dem Schwarzwald.
Greetings/warmest greetings/good wishes from the Black Forest.

60.9 Compliments


A compliments slip (-r Empfehlungszettel) will normally bear the words:

mit den besten Empfehlungen
with (the) compliments

This will be followed by the person’s title, e.g. vom Direktor ‘of the Director’. Some
business cards (-e Visitenkarte) will have the same wording.

61 Making introductions


Introductions can be expressed as follows:

sich vor*stellen ‘to introduce oneself ’
jmdn. jmdm. vor*stellen ‘to introduce sb. to sb.’
jmdn. kennen*lernen ‘to be introduced to/get to know sb.’
jmdn. mit jmdm. bekannt machen ‘to introduce sb. to sb.’
mit jmdm. bekannt sein ‘to know/be acquainted with sb.’
jmds. Bekanntschaft machen ‘to make sb.’s acquaintance’ (formal)
das ist/sind... ‘this is/here are... ’
jmdn. kennen ‘to know sb.’
sich (= acc.) kennen ‘to know each other’
heißen ‘to be called’
jmdm. begegnen ‘to meet sb.’

61
Introductions
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