Sehr geehrte Kundin, sehr geehrter Kunde
The English phrase "dear valued customer" is translated into German as Sehr geehrte Kundin, sehr geehrter Kunde.
This phrase is a formal greeting used in professional correspondence to address a customer. It is designed to be inclusive by addressing both female and male customers.
Which one should you use?
While Sehr geehrte Kundin, sehr geehrter Kunde focuses on the customer relationship, you may encounter Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, which means "Dear Ladies and Gentlemen". The latter is a more generic formal salutation used when the specific identity of the recipient is unknown.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase changes based on the gender and number of the people you are addressing. Use Sehr geehrte Kundin for a single female customer and Sehr geehrter Kunde for a single male customer. To address a group of customers in the plural, use Sehr geehrte Kunden.
Did you know?
- In German professional writing, the first word of the first sentence following this greeting is not capitalized unless it is a noun. This is because the greeting ends with a comma, making the greeting and the first sentence one continuous grammatical unit.
- While Sehr geehrte Kundin, sehr geehrter Kunde is inclusive, some modern German companies use the Gendersternchen or Gendergap by writing Kund*innen to include non-binary people.
- The word sehr in this greeting evolved from an Old High German word meaning 'injured' or 'sored'. This is the same linguistic root that gives English the word 'sorely'.
Example conversation
Felix and Hannah are reviewing a draft for a company newsletter.
- FelixSoll ich mit 'Sehr geehrte Kundin, sehr geehrter Kunde' beginnen?Should I start with 'Dear valued customer'?
- HannahJa, Hannah findet diese Anrede sehr professionell.Yes, Hannah finds this greeting very professional.
- FelixGut, dann schreibe ich das jetzt so hin.Good, then I will write it like that now.
- HannahDas passt perfekt für unseren neuen Newsletter, Felix.That fits perfectly for our new newsletter, Felix.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries Kunde, sehr, CC BY-SA 4.0.
