writing - What's the best way to end an email/letter?

We end an email with several options. I find 'Regards' the best one. I feel anything other than this reflects affection than greeting! See the example:

1. Sincerely yours (Yes, I don't pay heed to anyone else!)


2. Yours sincerely (I'm all yours. I'm pretty sincere!)


3. Truly yours (My soul is yours, truly!)

Is there any alternate way to end the mail? Using 'Regards' all time is not done!

Answer

You might consider simply sincerely. Sincerely yours does sound a bit off to me for professional correspondence; I might indeed be sincere, but it's doubtful I'm theirs. Regards has always sounded a bit stiff to me, but I wouldn't look twice at it; it's common enough. Even sincerely sounds strange to me for email; I would certainly recommend it for a handwritten letter, though.

You've got to consider the difference in levels of formality between email and letters. For a letter, this would look perfectly fine to me:

Dear Jane,

[body of letter]

Sincerely,

[name]

But in an email we're generally much less formal, both in closing and opening. I'd take off the dear and use something less formal for the closing. For example:

Jane,

[body of email]

Thanks,

[name]

But plenty of people do use regards, and no one is going to think it strange if you do. Sometimes emails begin with hi as well. There's really nothing wrong with always using the same closing, either, so if regards works for you, use it! In fact I think most people do use the same closing most of the time. Considering my own email habits, I think I tend to do one of three things: 1) If I'm just sending along information, I don't use a closing at all; I simply end with my name. 2) If I'm requesting something of someone, or thanking them for something they've already done, I'll use thanks. 3) If I've written a significantly longer-than-usual email or am requesting significant effort on the recipient's part, I might end with thank you for your time. In a letter, I pretty much always use sincerely. In my experience, most people do. But email varies quite widely, so I wouldn't worry about this too much!