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Which is more correct?

"Thank you for your Kindly attention."
"Thank you for you Kind Attention."

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  • 1
    Welcome! In order for us to help you better, please explain what about these two sentences is confusing you and which you think is correct. Check out this information to see how to improve your question. – Catija♦ Jul 28 '15 at 14:47
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I think the most natural phrasing would be:

Thank you for your kind attention.

Note that it is your instead of you, and that kind attention should not be capitalized as it is not a proper noun

Kindly can be used in a few different ways, none of which apply to your first sentence:

  • As an adverb, meaning in a kind way. This usage does not make sense in your first sentence: since you are using kindly to modify attention, you need an adjective.

  • As an adjective, meaning kind or gentle. But in this sense it is usually only used to apply to people. You could speak of a kindly gentleman but not a kindly gift.

  • In the set phrase thank you kindly, meaning thank you very much. You could rephrase as Thank you kindly for your attention if you want, but the meaning is slightly different. This may also come across as old-fashioned.

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OP's first version probably reflects the dated/archaic form [I] thank you kindly for your attention - but it's at the very least "unidiomatic", and should definitely be avoided.

Personally, I think the word kind in the second version is both completely unnecessary and somewhat obsequious, so I wouldn't include it anyway. But if OP wants to (over-)emphasize the "kindliness" with which the attention was given, it's idiomatically valid to phrase it that way.

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  • It still shouldn't be "you kind attention". – Catija♦ Jul 28 '15 at 15:02
  • @Catija: True, but I'm sure that's just an irrelevant typo on OP's part, so I've corrected it. I further assume the non-standard capitalization is just carelessness/lack of familiarity with standard orthographic conventions, but I'm not going to bother changing that. – FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica Jul 28 '15 at 16:23
  • You're on an English language learners site... why would you ever assume those sorts of things? Capitalization is different in different languages... the OP made the "you/your" mistake twice, which argues it may not be a typo... – Catija♦ Jul 28 '15 at 16:25
  • @Catija: That's as may be (I suspect it was only twice because OP used cut&paste), but whether OP actually knew about "correct" usage in that respect, it's not directly relevant to the usage being queried. – FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica Jul 28 '15 at 17:16
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The use of the word "kindly" as an adjective has gone out of use; it's old- fashioned and not easy on the ear now.

Almost all the dictionaries say that it's both an adverb and adjective. A kindly person or act is a kind one.

I quote a few phrases from a few dictionaries:

kindly old lady, kindly act- Cambridge. Kindly concern -Webster. Kindly criticism, kindly interest - The Free Dictionary.

So the sentence "Thank you for your kindly attention" is not incorrect grammatically. However, as it's unusual to use it as an adjective, we should use "kind" which is more usual and common adjective in modern English as follows

I thank you for your kind attention.

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  • Why do you have (your) in parenthesis? – Catija♦ Jul 28 '15 at 16:30
  • Catija, I think it's optional as we already have you after thank. However, I have omitted the parenthesis as I value your comments. Thanks. – Khan Jul 28 '15 at 17:35
  • Snailboat, Cambridge and The Free Dictionary say that kindly can describe people and acts. – Khan Jul 28 '15 at 17:40
  • Brought homemade chicken soup out of kindly concern for my health - Merriam Webster. – Khan Jul 28 '15 at 17:52
  • Catija/Snailboat, I would appreciate your comments in reply to my comments. – Khan Jul 28 '15 at 19:43

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