" To Whom It May Concern"- what does it mean? what purpose of this phrase?

Hi,
It's a formulaic way of starting a letter or notice. It means 'this communication is intended for anyone that it has importance for.'

If you are writing to a person whose name you know, but instead you begin in this way, it sounds very rude and very aggressive.

eg To whom it may concern: If the rent arrears are not paid in full immediately, I will change the locks.

eg To whom it may concern: The undersigned will not be responsible for any debts incurred in his wife's name. Best wishes, Clive

"To whom it may concern" should only be used when writing a letter and the identity of the person reading it is not yet known. A classic example is a reference when you leave a job that you can present to a prospective employer.

Many phrases are picked up and used in the wrong context because people do not quite understand them. It is usually harmless and amuses lawyers no end. Forbes

Hi Forbes,
I'd be reluctant to just say to English learners that it's for writing a letter to someone whose identity you don't know. With a definition that simple, I'd prefer to say that you should write 'Dear Sir or Madam'. Best wishes, Clive

You are quite right. You should use "Dear Sir or Madam" when writing to a specific person whose identity you do not know, for example the occupier of a particular property. You will use it in a letter you are likely to post.

Dear Sir or Madam,

We write to inform you that tree felling will be carried out in Acacia Avenue and Laurel Close on the 25th March.

"To whom it may concern" should be used when you do not know into whose hands the letter will come. You will use it in a letter that you are likely to give to someone who will show it to someone else.

To whom it may concern

Freda Smith worked for us as a secretary for two years. She is an excellent typist and very reliable. We do not hesitate to recommend her. Forbes

It is normally used to introduce somebody to whoever requires certain credentials to be considered. Therefore, it means here I am even though we haven't seen each other.

This is really very simple:
Use Dear Sir/Madam when you know (or can assume) the position of the person you are writing to but not their name or gender. Use To whom it may concern when you don't even know their position. If you use To whom it may concern end with Yours faithfully. Endi

Hi, I disagree. A few special cases were described earlier in which 'To whom it may concern' could be used. Other than those, my advice to English learners is to never use this phrase. I don't remember the last time that I used it myself. In addition, I never see letters here in N. America with 'Yours faithfully'. Best wishes, Clive

Hi I would like to know, we can use this phrase or not "to whom this may concern" instead of "to whom it may concern" if using it, that wrong or not? thank you in advance Honi

I have never seen the phrase "to whom this may concern". Forbes

Hi Honi, Welcome to the Forum. I'd just like to repeat for you this note that I wrote in an earlier post in this thread. A few special cases were described earlier in which 'To whom it may concern' could be used. Other than those, my advice to English learners is to never use this phrase. I don't remember the last time that I used it myself. Best wishes, Clive

I would like to thank you for explanations on this phrase. Personally, I hate it. I work as an interpreter and I always have difficulties to deal with this phrase. Part of the problem is in the fact that I can hardly find anything similar in my language and greater part of the problem is in the fact that I work in the company where official working language is English but people who work in the company are rarely English native speakers and tend too much to use phrases they do not understand properly. Thus, I often come to the situations to either completely drop this phrase or change it as best fits the context. Aronika28

Hi, Your instincts are right. Good luck, Clive

Strangely enough I used the phrase only recently. It was in a letter signed by a parent to allow their child to travel with me. In that case it is entirely correct because it is not known who is going to read the letter. I concede that the phrase is completely unnecessary, but then so is "Dear Sir". It is just a matter of form. Forbes

Lots of languages have phrases that can be translated literally, but have no equivalent. A French sign would say: Il est formellement inderdit de fumer = It is formally forbidden to smoke, but an English sign would just say No smoking. As an aside, I loved the sign I saw in Tunisia: Don't come inside. Forbes

This is the phrase used at the beginning of a letter when you do not know the person who should recieve the letter. We often use "Dear Sir or Madam" in this situation too, which is a bit more polite and personal. "To whom it may concern" is very impersonal and means the letter is addressed "to who ever may be interested" in the information in the letter. Is that clear?

Hi, However, if I may repeat my earlier comment, I think that most people would need to write such a beginning to a letter quite rarely. Clive

The only time I have ever used it was in an open reference for an employee leaving without a specific job to go to. In this case, it is impossible to address the letter to anyone. It is best not used in most circumstances. Feebs11

While I hate this phrase myself, I've frequently seen it being used when addressing an organisation of some sort, where you aren't actually addressing an individual (and therefore logically shouldn't use "Dear Sir or Madam,"). The person who actually reads the letter is usually a person who is paid to handle requests like yours - this could be when filing a formal complaint to the local telephone company or trying to retrieve some information from a government Jenda