dear (to start a personal letter) – chin eye

Written as qīn ài or qin ai

Note: For a personal letter you start by addressing the person with qin ai de followed by their name, the equivalent of dear followed by their name, in English. 

To remember that dear (to start a personal letter) is pronounced chin eye (qin ai) in Mandarin Chinese, use the following mnemonic:

"Dear Santa, can I have a new chin and another eye (chin eye)."