Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide, Second Edition

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