Should you write regards to close your next letter or email? What does it mean to send your regards, anyway?
When to end an email with regards
Historically, with best regards and with kindest regards have been used as a letter closing—a.k.a. a valediction. In decades past, regards implied not only esteem but also affection; today it sits somewhat higher on the spectrum of formality. So, best regards means with my best wishes and esteem, or something to that effect.
While sending regards might have once been reserved for close friends and family, the tone it currently implies makes it well suited for informal correspondence, whether business or personal.
Examples of proper ways to end an email
Using regards in an email closing suggests that you have respect for the recipient, but not necessarily a close relationship with them. Because it is less formal than sincerely, expressions with regards are perfect in emails, which tend to be less formal than letters anyway.
The more informal style for an email would be simply Regards. It can work for emails to people you work with regularly, but you might also want to consider that if you correspond with someone very frequently, no closing may be required at all.
Using regarding and regard in a sentence
The preposition regarding can also be used in the sense of concerning or with respect to.
As a noun, regard can mean consideration:
Or esteem:
As a verb, to regard means “to consider or think about something in a particular way”:
Or to observe (although this usage is archaic):
Regards, best regards, and regard in summary
Regards, Best regards, and Kind regards are good email sign-offs.
Remember that concerning and about can work just as well as, and more concisely than, in regard to and with regard to. The phrases in regards to and with regards to are never correct, and you might garner criticism if you use them.
