german introduction in a letter

melissa · Post by **melissa** » 17 Sep 2004 05:34

i'm looking for a respectful, but situation appropriate way to address my mother- in- law in a letter to be written in German. the equivalent of Dear... in english. Not in a loving way so much as a formal way to begin a letter. Is Liebe... inappropirate in this situation? is there a better word?

kokoyaya · Post by **kokoyaya** » 12 Oct 2004 18:39

svernoux · Post by **svernoux** » 13 Oct 2004 11:41

"Liebe" means "Dear". The way to begin a formal letter is "Sehr geehrte ..." (for a woman) but this is generally used for business correspondence or such stuff. Litterally, this means "Very respected ..." So this is very formal as you can see. Up to you to decide, depending on the relationship to the person.

Maybe the most appropriate here would be to begin the letter just with the name of the person, as you usually call her (her first name or "Frau ...")

Carla · Post by **Carla** » 14 Oct 2004 22:35

I would like to say that there is only one possibility...>>>

You begin the letter writing " Liebe Schwiegermutter..."

It doesn't matter if speaking to your mother-in-law you say ..."du"...or "Sie"...