Whenever you talk to someone in person or online, it is customary to give a proper address such as “good morning” or “good afternoon.” Sounds easy enough, but how would you capitalize these? Let’s take a look.
In general, both “good morning” and “good afternoon” should only be capitalized when used at the beginning of a letter or email.
Capitalization Rules for “Good Morning/Afternoon”
The capitalization rules for both greetings change depending on how they are used. When using them as a salutation in a letter/email, you should capitalize both words, like a formal title. This capitalization rule applies to all formal greetings, meaning that any salutation in an email or letter requires capitalization.
If you use these phrases in the middle or even end of a letter, you should not capitalize them. You may find some old sources that oppose this view, however, most modern-day writers agree with this rule.
Goodmorning or Good Morning?
Another confusion about the popular greeting is whether the phrase should be written as one work or two words. Let’s put that to rest – good morning (two separate words) is correct version. Goodmorning is grammatically incorrect.
Example of Using “Good Morning”
Look at the following email example, which uses “good morning” throughout the passage. This email follows all of the capitalizations listed above!
Good Morning Dr. Handover,
I hope you are doing well. I wanted to ask a few questions about how consultations work in your office. First of all, I am wondering if I have to arrange payment before my visit or if I can let it wait until after my consultation. I was also wondering what your rules are on appointment cancellations. I am not having a very good morning today, so I am not sure if I can come into your office today.
These are all of my questions; I hope you have a good morning,
Sincerely, XXX
Summary
Capitalization rules can be pretty tricky, especially since they often change with how you are using a certain word. This difficulty crosses over to the greetings “good morning” and “good afternoon,” making them tricky to use correctly.
With this, there are a few rules that most writers agree upon for using these phrases. You should capitalize the greetings when they are used at the very beginning of a letter or email. In addition, both of the words in the greeting require capitalization.
In contrast, if the greetingsare used anywhere else through an email/letter, you should not capitalize them!
Further reading:
Do I Capitalize Words Followed by Numbers or Letters?
