It must be irritating when you have got an application, a formal letter, etc to write urgently and you are confused regarding the salutations. Even worse, when your salutation annoys the person to whom you are addressing it to. And highly troublesome when he/she after receiving your writing feels that you did not respect them enough..!!! So let us try not to repeat this mistake anymore in our lives, and write proper salutations. Let us understand when to use what.
Now, which salutation do we use … ?

• Dear Sir – Adult male
• Dear Madam – Adult female
• Dear Mr. <surname> – Any male
• Dear Mrs. <surname> – Married female who uses her spouse’s surname
• Dear Miss <surname> – Unmarried female
• Dear Dr./Proffessor <surname> – Any male or female based on the qualification/profession

No doubt that these are all the most common salutations one uses in day-to-day life, but as we know that English is a very versatile language and is very much filled with exceptions. One may think that he/she has addressed correctly but he/she may be wrong too. The consequences of improper salutations may be very troubling, and there are high chances of one using the wrong salutation so it is better not to take chances with it.
Certain more things one should be very careful about are mentioned below.

• If you have communicated with the person earlier then you should pay attention that you have addressed him/her correctly and make sure that you have not misspelled their names. A spelling mistake would indicate that you were in a rush or you don’t have any interest in communicating with them.
• If you are communicating for the first time then use ‘Sir’ or ‘Madam’.
• Address people with their first names only if you are familiar to them. If you are not sure whether you should address them with their first names or not then don’t do it. Stick to the rules of respect. Never take chances.
• If you have been communicating with the person for a while and he/she usually signs off with his/her name and surname then it is an indication of formality. Do not address such persons with their first names. On the contrary if the person only writes down his first name while signing off then you may address him/her with their first names but it is not very advisable to do so.

The salutation business is still very tricky, only experience can make you the master of it.