Mister vs sir

Question

hello everybody!could you tell me when do we have to say (or write) Sir instead of Mister?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,
could you tell me when do we have to say (or write) Sir instead of Mister?

Use Sir at the start of a letter if you don't know the name of the man you are writing to.
Write it as 'Dear Sir,'
If you don't know if it is a man or a woman, write 'Dear Sir or Madam,'.

Use Mr. at the start of a letter if you know the man's last name .
Write it as 'Dear Mr. Smith' if his name is eg Tom Smith.
If you want to be informal, you can just write 'Dear Tom'.

In spoken English ,'Sir' is seldom said nowadays..
Sales people sometimes say it in a store.
Or very polite young people when speaking to an elderly man.

'Mr.' is said eg if you want to be formal, or if you don't know a person's first name, or if the person has not told you to use his first name. But never just say 'Mr'. Say eg 'Mr Smith'.

Clive

David4eng · Answer

Thank you for this clarification, good night!
David

Mister vs sir

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