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In many formal letters, the first word after the salutation (e.g. "Dear Sir or Madam,") is the pronoun I, which is always capitalized. However, I recently wrote a letter for which this is not the case:

Dear Xxxx,

thank you for ...

A proofreader warned me that I should capitalize "thank", which left me baffled, because it is within a sentence starting with "Dear", therefore I see no logical reason for that.

I am not a native English speaker, though, so I am unsure: should I capitalize the word after the comma or not?

PS: In case it matters, I am in UK.

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    If it were on a single line, I would leave the letter in lowercase. Since it's part of a new paragraph, it should be in uppercase because it's not the same sentence. Note that many people also use Dear XXX: instead—with a colon rather than a comma.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Jun 20, 2020 at 19:22
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    You're right, the comma at the end of the first line creates confusion. However, the "Thank you" line should be capitalized because it is the beginning of a new paragraph and sentence.
    – rolfedh
    Commented Jun 21, 2020 at 1:15

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In English, "thank" needs to start with a capital. The logical rationale is:

Despite the preceding comma, the line break causes a new sentence to start.

Also see, for instance, this English Language & Usage question on the same topic.

Of course, the opposite, to start "thank" with a lower-case letter, could be just as logically justified:

Despite the line break, the preceding comma causes the previous sentence to continue.

Given that some languages (such as English) use the first rationale, while others use the second rationale, what is right or wrong in a given language is ultimately arbitrary and must be memorized.

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Starting a new line does not indicate the start of a new sentence. What indicates the start of a new sentence is the finish of the previous one. Sentences finish with full stops, not commas. Sentences contain a verb and a subject (with some conversational exceptions).

Capitalising the next line leaves the salutation hanging as an unidentifiable piece of text. The salutation is part of the opening of the sentence and thus the next line is the continuation of that sentence.

The basic rule on capitalisation is that capitals start sentences, are used for proper nouns, and are used in abbreviations. There has never been a grammatical rule that says capitals are used for the first line after a salutation.

The "rule" is a newly imagined one, which largely comes from word processors simplistically returning a capital after each carriage return.

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    Whether the 'rule' is wrong or right, it's not newly-imagined: I was taught to capitalise the next line long before word processors were about.
    – Mousentrude
    Commented Aug 16, 2023 at 17:49

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