Take the tour ×  I have to address my future German Au Pair
family in an E-mail and until now have only been in contact with
the woman. However the last E-mail was signed with both names,
so I now feel I should address the husband as well in my reply.
It has been rather informal contact, she has already initiated
'duzen' so I would be using 'Liebe'.  Could somebody tell me, do
I say 'Liebe (Female X) und lieber (Male X),' or is there a way
I should address them both together?  share|improve this
question Not a stupid question at all! :) –  elena Mar 19 at
7:43 This is a really good question, and it's of a class of
questions that has befuddled me ever since I started speaking
German: Dealing with groups of mixed Du/Sie status. Even Germans
will tell you that there is no easy solution to this kind of
thing. –  AmericanUmlaut Mar 19 at 10:39 add comment  3 Answers
The least problematic variant for both, formality, and
familiarity in a case, when you communicate with strangers but
expect to have a somewhat close