Yours Sincerely vs Yours Faithfully: Difference and Comparison

Yours sincerely and faithfully mean nothing; they are just conventionalised closings.

We use yours sincerely in informal letters or messages, and we tend to use yours faithfully informal letters or messages.

It is part of a basic format. Any letter without conventionalised closing is unfinished; to finish a letter on the right note using yours sincerely and yours faithfully is essential.

Yours faithfully and yours sincerely might look alike, but they have different meanings and salutations. They even have different basic formats.

Key Takeaways

1. “Yours sincerely” is a formal closing used in written correspondence when the sender knows the recipient’s name, following a specific salutation like “Dear Mr. Smith.”
2. “Yours faithfully” is a formal closing used when the recipient’s name is unknown, following a general salutation like “Dear Sir/Madam” or “To Whom It May Concern.”
3. Both “Yours sincerely” and “Yours faithfully” are formal closings for written communication, with the choice depending on whether the recipient’s name is known or not.

Yours Sincerely VS Yours Faithfully

Yours sincerely is an English phrase used as a formal closing in a letter when the recipient’s name is known. Yours faithfully is an English phrase used as a formal closing when the recipient’s name is unknown or the letter is more formal, like in a business or professional correspondence.

You use yours sincerely if you know someone by their name or you know someone by their address; in such scenarios, we use yours sincerely.

Yours faithfully is used in case of a business letter when you don’t know the detail of the person you’re sending a letter to then we use yours faithfully.

Yours sincerely is an adverb it means sincere or genuine. It is also a British drive word. You can use yours sincerely in informal letters.

Yours faithfully is also an adverb. It means loyalty. It is also a British drive word. You can use your faithfully formal letters.

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Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Yours Sincerely	Yours Faithfully
Type	Informal letter	Formal letter
Salutation	Dear Mr/Mrs/miss	Dear sir/mam
Situation	Friendly letters	Business letters
Recipient	Known recipient	Unknown recipient
Condition	Formal/informal	Formal

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What is Yours Sincerely?

It doesn’t mean anything. We use it as conventionalised closing. It is part of the basic format; our letter is unfinished without using it.

We use yours sincerely if we know the recipient’s details like name, address, etc. In such cases, we use yours sincerely.

We use it in informal letters, but it can be used in both formal and formal.

Sincerely is an adverb. It means sincere or genuine. If your letter starts with a salutation like dear Mrs/Ms/ Miss, you can use it.

For example, in the salutation, you can write ‘Dear Miss Eli smith,’ and in the complimentary close, you can write ‘Yours sincerely, Jack Johnson.

Or, you can write ‘Dear Mr Harlow,’ and in the complimentary close, you can write ‘yours sincerely, Jason Blaha.

 

What is Yours Faithfully?

It also doesn’t mean anything by itself. We also use it as conventionalised closing. It is part of the basic format; we use you faithfully if we don’t know details about that person.

Yours faithfully is used in formal letters or business letters. Yours faithfully is also an adverb. It means loyalty.

It is used at the end of the letter. If you don’t know the recipient’s details but only know his/her gender, you can greet by dear sir/ Madam.

The proper complimentary close would be yours faithfully followed by your initials and surname; in such case, the salutation would read ‘Dear Madam’, and the complimentary close would be ‘Yours faithfully, jack johnson.

For example, you can write ‘Dear sir/ madam,’ and in complimentary close, you can write ‘your faith entirely, Jason smith.

You should use the correct complimentary closing according to the salutation; nowadays none- business letters are less formal today. Still, you should use the written closing according to the salutation.

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Main Differences Between Yours Sincerely and Yours Faithfully

1. We use yours sincerely and yours faithfully according to salutation; we use you sincerely in informal letters in which we know the details of the recipient, like name, address etc., and we use yours faithfully in formal or business letters; in this, we don’t know the details of the recipient we only know his/ her gender then we should use yours faithfully.
2. Yours sincerely is an adverb it means sincere or genuine, and yours faithfully is also an adverb that implies loyalty.
3. Using yours sincerely and faithfully according to the necessary situation or salutation is essential for example, we use yours sincerely in an informal letter when we know the details of the recipient, like name or address; it starts with the solution, dear Mrs/ Mr/ Miss, whereas we use yours faithfully in a formal letter or business letter where we only know the person’s gender like dear sir/madam.
4. We can use yours sincerely in both formal/ informal letters, but we can use yours faithfully only in formal letters.
5. The recipient in the formal letter is unknown, whereas the recipient in an informal letter is known.

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References

1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YGOgYEpMvmcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA153&dq=Yours+Sincerely+and+Yours+Faithfully&ots=pRm3EltZOL&sig=utlzWtqHRWgxZSvGkGAT3g5mc1Q
2. https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/bitstream/10593/17994/1/06Drazdauskiene.pdf

Last Updated : 14 October, 2023