Are Greetings and Salutations Capitalized?
Don’t capitalize greetings like good morning, good night, and hello unless a word appears at the start of a sentence. Common nouns like morning and night and adjectives like good don’t need to be capitalized; neither do interjections like hello.
- Good morning, Maya. How are you?
- Hello, and good afternoon. Is everybody ready?
- Good evening, I would like to order a lawnmower.
- Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.
- Well, hello there.
- Oh, hi! How are you?
Email and letter salutations
When you start an email or a letter with a greeting like good morning or good afternoon, capitalize all the words if the phrase stands alone, but capitalize only the first word if it is followed by a person’s name.
- Good Morning.
standalone salutation at start of email
- Good morning, Anita.
greeting followed by a name
- Good Afternoon.
- Good afternoon, Dr. Dash.
As a matter of style, the words in a standalone salutation are capitalized whatever it may be: “To Whom It May Concern,” “Dear Valued Customer,” “Dear Applicant,” “Good Morning,” “Good Afternoon.”
Describing a greeting
When you describe the act of wishing someone a good morning, good night, etc., or saying hello or hi, don’t capitalize the greeting.
- I smiled and wished him a good morning.
- She wished everyone a good evening and then began to sing.
- She didn’t even say hello.
- Say hi to everyone for me.
- He tipped his hat to wish her a good day.
- She said good night and hung up.
The article a is grammatically correct before the greeting when you describe wishing someone (wish someone a good morning or a good day), but since it is omitted from the greeting, it is also often omitted from the description.
Gentlemen, I wish you a good day!
— Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1850)I beg to wish you good day, Mr. Quinion.
— Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1850)And now I wish you good morning.
— Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)
Festive greetings like happy birthday and merry Christmas are also not capitalized when described (except words that are proper nouns of course). Read more in this article on when to capitalize such greetings.
Dialogue
In dialogue for a story, follow standard capitalization rules: capitalize the first letter of a sentence and any proper nouns. Don’t capitalize words like good, morning, night, or hello unless they appear at the start of a sentence.
- “Good morning, Rita. How are you?”
- “Well, good night then. Let’s discuss it in the morning.”
- “Good afternoon, I would like to make a reservation.”
- “Good evening, Ms. Dash. How can I help you?”
- “Good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
- “Maya, hello! Is that you?”
- “Oh, hi! Are you the new caretaker?”
Here are a couple of examples from writing.
Good morning, Eeyore,” said Pooh.
“Good morning, Pooh Bear,” said Eeyore gloomily. “If it is a good morning, which I doubt.— A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)Well, good evening, Marilla. I hope you’ll come down to see me often as usual.
— L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables (1908)