Liebe or Sehr geehrte?
The greeting must match the reader and their gender:
- informal: Liebe Anna / Lieber Tom
- formal: Sehr geehrte Frau Müller / Sehr geehrter Herr Braun
The -e/-er ending is the trap: Liebe + woman, Lieber + man.
The comma continues the sentence, so the next line does not get a capital just because it is a new line: Liebe Anna, leider kann ich … Words that are always capitalized keep their capital: nouns, names, and the formal Sie and Ihr.
| Frau | Mann | |
|---|---|---|
| informell | Liebe Anna, | Lieber Tom, |
| formell | Sehr geehrte Frau Müller, | Sehr geehrter Herr Braun, |
Tip
-r for Herr: Lieber Tom, Sehr geehrter Herr Braun. Both words for the man end in -er.