Truely or truly: if you've ever paused over that word and added an "e" just to be safe, you're in excellent company. The misspelling appears in professional emails, business reports, and cover letters every single day. It feels logical. After all, "true" ends in an "e," so why wouldn't "truly" keep it? The answer comes down to one reliable rule, and once you see it, you won't second-guess the word again.
The short answer: "truely" is never correct
"Truely" is not a word in English. It doesn't appear in any major dictionary, it isn't a regional variant, and it isn't an accepted alternative spelling. The correct form is truly, always, with no "e" before the "-ly."
This matters in professional writing. Spell-checkers sometimes miss the error, especially in older software, and readers who know the rule will notice it. A single misspelling in a formal letter or client proposal can quietly undermine the document's credibility.
Why people write "truely" in the first place
The confusion is completely understandable. English usually keeps the silent "e" when adding a suffix. "Love" becomes "lovely." "Safe" becomes "safely." "Sincere" becomes "sincerely." Following that pattern, the mind produces "truely" almost automatically.
The difference is the suffix. When "-ly" follows a word that already ends in a consonant or a vowel sound other than a silent "e," the "e" stays. But when you drop the "-ly" suffix onto "true," the silent "e" gets cut. English handles this inconsistently across its vocabulary, which is exactly why spellings like this one trip people up.
"Truly" belongs to a small group of words where the silent "e" is dropped before "-ly": "due" becomes "duly," "whole" becomes "wholly," and "true" becomes "truly." These are worth memorising individually, because the pattern isn't perfectly predictable. You can find a reliable reference in Merriam-Webster's entry for "truly", which confirms the spelling and gives usage examples you can check against your own sentences.
How to remember it
The simplest memory device is this: "truly" has five letters and so does "truth." Think of both words as stripped-down, no-frills forms of "true." The extra "e" is decoration the word doesn't need.
If you find yourself typing "truely," read the word out loud. You'll hear two syllables: "troo-lee." There's no extra vowel sound between the two. The spelling follows the sound. No "e," no problem.
Where "truly" appears most often in business writing
"Yours truly" is the most visible use of the word in professional correspondence. It closes formal letters and certain business emails, and a misspelling there is particularly conspicuous because the sign-off sits at the bottom of the page in isolation. Readers who skim past the body text still see the closing.
Beyond sign-offs, "truly" shows up in phrases like "truly sorry," "truly grateful," and "truly appreciate your time." These are common in apology notes, thank-you emails, and customer-facing communications. Getting the spelling right in those contexts signals that the care you're expressing extends to your craft as a writer. If you're working on polished sign-offs, it's worth reviewing how and when to use "With best regards", where closing formulas are covered in detail.
A note on "yours truly" specifically
Some writers assume "Yours Truly" is an archaic sign-off best left in the past. It isn't. "Yours truly" remains perfectly acceptable in formal business letters, especially when the relationship with the recipient is relatively distant or when the document calls for a traditional register. It sits between the warmth of "sincerely" and the stiffness of "respectfully yours."
Whatever closing you choose, the word "truly" inside it must be spelled without the "e." There's no variation. There's no style-guide exception. It's simply a word with one correct spelling, and "truely" isn't it.
Other similar spelling traps in business writing
The "truely" error belongs to a broader family of misspellings that arise when writers add suffixes to words ending in silent "e." The same instinct that produces "truely" can cause trouble with "argument" (not "arguement"), "acknowledgment" (not "acknowledgement" in American English), and "judgment" (not "judgement" in American legal and business contexts).
Spelling choices like these can seem minor, but professional readers track them. A document that consistently handles this kind of detail correctly reads as more authoritative than one that doesn't. If you're also uncertain about when to write "chose" versus "choose", that guide covers another pair of common errors that catch business writers off guard.
The rule for "truly" is firm: drop the "e," add "-ly," and move on. The word is short, common, and worth getting right every time you reach for it.