comma with salutation (informal letter): Hey, Frank vs. Hey Frank

[hfpardue]

Hey, everyone. I am sure several people have asked this question, yet I was unable to find their posts. In the salutation of an informal letter, how should I use a comma? For example, should I write

Hey, Frank,

How have you been?

or

Hey Frank,

How have you been?

Or should I not even use a comma? I understand that grammar is not so important in an informal letter, but I still wish to write correctly. Thank you for your time.

 

[Gwan]

I would go with
"Hey Frank,
How have you been?"

 

[Diddy]

I always have known that after a salutation, there should be a colon : not a comma.

Hey Frank:
How have you been?

 

[Gwan]

I always have known that after a salutation, there should be a colon : not a comma.

Hey Frank:
How have you been?

Personally, I always use a comma unless it's a stock phrase like "To Whom It May Concern:". In particular, I think the colon looks odd with a person's name - a little bit abrupt and unfriendly, somehow.

 

[hfpardue]

Every website I have been to about letter writing says a colon is used in formal letters. One website even said "Hey, Frank," and "Hey Frank" are both accepted. I guess I will use the comma just to be as correct as possible. Thanks, Gwan and Diddy.

 

[mplsray]

I always have known that after a salutation, there should be a colon : not a comma.

Hey Frank:
How have you been?

A colon is correct only when writing a formal letter. In an informal letter addressing family or friends, a comma is required.

I would always set off an exclamation such as "hey" or "hi" from a name with a comma, so in this case--which is obviously not a formal letter--I would write:

"Hey, Frank,"

In the case of "Dear Sir:" on the other hand, the "dear" is an adjective modifying the title being used for the addressee. No comma comes between the adjective and the title.

 

[nzfauna]

Because you're using the informal salutation "hey", you can pretty much do as you please.

However, I would say:

"Hey Frank, how's it going?"

or

"Hey Frank

How's it going?"

Note punctuation and capitalisation changes.

 

[mplsray]

Because you're using the informal salutation "hey", you can pretty much do as you please.

I strongly disagree with that point. Informal speech still has rules--you can never "pretty much do as you please." This is true not just for the informal speech of speakers of a standard dialect, but it's true for nonstandard dialects and for slang as well.

Look at it this way: You want the person you're addressing to be thinking about your message rather than being derailed by a consideration of how you put that message. In American English, at least, a colon after a greeting in an informal letter would stand out like a sore thumb.

 

[panjandrum]

Please look at the many, many threads about salutations.
I'll summarise for you - as for many, many others.
In AE, it is normal to use a colon after a salutation in business letters. Either colon or comma is OK otherwise - according to the varied opinions expressed by AE-speakers.
In BE, always use a comma, never a colon.

Having grumped, I have to say that if "Hey Frank" is an OK way to start your communication then how you punctuate it is entirely up to you. Feel free to use any variant, including,
Hey Frank!
...

or
Hey, Frank?
...

- as you wish.

 

[Grefsen]

Having grumped, I have to say that if "Hey Frank" is an OK way to start your communication then how you punctuate it is entirely up to you. Feel free to use any variant, including,
Hey Frank!
...

or
Hey, Frank?
...

- as you wish.

Another variant I have sometimes seen in very informal communiciation such as in email or SMSs has used a hyphen instead of a comma:

Hey Frank -

 

[Grefsen]

Please look at the many, many threads about salutations.
I'll summarise for you - as for many, many others.
In AE, it is normal to use a colon after a salutation in business letters. Either colon or comma is OK otherwise - according to the varied opinions expressed by AE-speakers.
In BE, always use a comma, never a colon.

I just wanted to acknowledge you for being so thoughtful with your reply.

At times I've seen some foreros simply reply with something along the lines of "Please look at the many, many threads about salutations." and that is it.

I routinely use the "search function," but unfortunately it isn't always working. In fact when I first saw this thread I did a search on "salutations" and came up with "no matches." When I attempted to do the same search later I ended up with 15 matches.

 

[panjandrum]

Thanks Grefsen, for a more complimentary post than I deserve.

There are many threads about the format of letters.
Unfortunately they are a jumbled heap under the general heading of letter
Finding the posts that deal with salutations and their punctuation is more of a challenge than it ought to be.

 

[hfpardue]

Having grumped, I have to say that if "Hey Frank" is an OK way to start your communication then how you punctuate it is entirely up to you.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting your message, but does "Hey Frank" not sound like an OK way to start communication? Writing "Dear Frank" sounds too cold and serious to me.

 

[panjandrum]

Maybe I'm misinterpreting your message, but does "Hey Frank" not sound like an OK way to start communication? Writing "Dear Frank" sounds too cold and serious to me.

In the right context there's nothing at all wrong with "Hey Frank" as an opening. I often start e-mails with "Hi Basil" or the equivalent. What I was trying to suggest is that this is an extremely informal greeting so whether you follow it with a comma, a colon, a dash, a smiley, or something else is not going to matter.

 

[salubet]

The correct punctuation for an informal letter is:

Hey, Frank,

or

Hey, Frank--

Because "hey" is an interjection like "wow" and not an adjective like "dear," it requires a comma separating it from the name. "Hey Frank" is incredibly common and incorrect.

Hey, everyone. I am sure several people have asked this question, yet I was unable to find their posts. In the salutation of an informal letter, how should I use a comma? For example, should I write

Hey, Frank,

How have you been?

or

Hey Frank,

How have you been?

Or should I not even use a comma? I understand that grammar is not so important in an informal letter, but I still wish to write correctly. Thank you for your time.