Breakdown of Der Brief endet mit Mit freundlichen Grüßen.
mit
with
enden
to end
der Brief
the letter
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Yours sincerely (formal letter closing)
Questions & Answers about Der Brief endet mit Mit freundlichen Grüßen.
Why does this sentence use "mit Mit"?
The first mit belongs to the verb: endet mit means "ends with". The second Mit is just the start of the exact phrase being quoted: Mit freundlichen Grüßen (Yours sincerely). You can imagine invisible quotation marks around the phrase: Der Brief endet mit "Mit freundlichen Grüßen".
Why does the adjective freundlichen end in -en?
The phrase begins with the preposition mit, which always forces the words following it into the dative case. Since Grüßen is plural, we need the dative plural adjective ending. In German, adjectives in the dative plural always take an -en ending.
I learned the plural of Gruß is Grüße. Why is there an extra -n on Grüßen?
This is a strict rule for the dative case! Whenever a plural noun is used in the dative case (which is forced here by the word mit), you must add an extra -n to the end of that noun, unless it already ends in an -n or -s. Because of this, Grüße becomes Grüßen.
Is Mit freundlichen Grüßen used for every type of letter?
No, it is strictly used for formal letters and emails, such as when writing to a business or someone you address with Sie. If you are writing an informal letter to a friend or family member, you would use an ending like Liebe Grüße or Viele Grüße instead.
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