DIFFERENT LAYOUTS OF BUSINESS LETTERS
О.В. Валько
к.филол.н., доцент, зав. кафедрой иностранных языков
Кемеровской государственной медицинской академии
Correspondence, whether it is by letter, faxes, or email, is a key aspect of the world of commerce and business. It reflects the competence and professionalism of the person who has written it and the company he or she works for. Clear, effective correspondence is an important part of running an efficient business, and can promote good relations. Unclear or confusing correspondence can cause many problems, and can lead to misunderstandings, delays, lost business, and poor relations between individuals, departments, and companies. Therefore, writing skills – what is written and how it is expressed – should be as much a part of business education. Layout 1: The letter below is from a private individual in Denmark to a company in the UK. It shows the basic features of a simple business letter.
1. Sender’s address In correspondence that doesn’t have a Letterhead, the sender’s address is placed in the top right-hand corner of the page. It is also acceptable, but less common, to place it in the top left-hand corner. Punctuation is rarely used in addresses these days. The blocked style is the most widely used, i.e. each line starts directly below the one above. Note that in the UK it is not usual to write the sender’s name before his or her address.
2. Date The date is written directly below the sender’s address, separated from it by space. In the case of correspondence with letterhead, it is usually written on the right-hand side of the page. The month and the date should not be written in figures as this can be confusing: for example, 11.03.10 means 11 March 2010 in British English, where the sequence is day-month-year, but 3 November 2010 in American English, where the sequence is month-day-year. It is acceptable to write the date with or without abbreviations -th and -nd, e.g. 24th October or 24 October, and to transpose the date and the month, e.g. October 24 or 24 October. These are matters of personal preference, but whatever you choose you should be consistent throughout your correspondence.
3. Inside address The inside address is written below the sender’s address and on the left-hand side of the page. If you know the name of the person you are writing to, write it as the first line of the address. Include either the person’s initials or his/her first given name, e.g. Mr J.E.Smith or Mr John Smith, not Mr Smith Courtesy titles used in addresses are as follows: – Mr is the usual courtesy title for a man. – Mrs is used for a married woman. – Miss is used for an unmarried woman. – Ms is used both for married and unmarried women. It is advisable to use this form of address when you are unsure whether the woman you are writing to is married or not, or you don’t know which title she prefers. – Messers is used occasionally for two or more men, e.g. Messers P. Jones and B.L. Parker, but more commonly forms part of the name of a company, e.g. Messers Collier, Clark & Co. It is rather old fashioned. If you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to, but know their job title, you can use that, e.g. The Sales Manager, The Finance Director, in the inside address. Alternatively, you can address your letter to a particular department of the company, e.g. The Sales Department, The Accounts Department. Finally, if you know nothing about the company and do not know which person or department your letter should go, you can simply address the letter to the company itself, e.g. Compuvision Ltd, Messers Collier, Clark & Co. Note the order of inside address. After the name of the person and/or company receiving the letter, the recommended order and style of addresses is as follows: – Name of the house or building. – Number of the building and name of the street, road, avenue, etc. – Name of the town or city and postcode. – Name of the country. e.g. Industrial House 34-41 Craig Road Bolton BL4 8TF UK In other European countries, the number of the building may be placed after the name of the street. It is also common to substitute the name of the country with an initial before the district and code number.
4. Attention line An alternative to including the recipient’s name or job title in the address is to use an attention line.
5. Salutation Dear Sir opens a letter written to a man whose name you don’t know. Dear Sirs is used to address a company. In American English a letter to a company usually opens with Gentlemen. Dear Madam is used to address a woman, whether single or married, whose name you don’t know. Dear Sir or Madam (or Dear Sir/Madam) is used to address a person when you do not now the name or sex. A comma after the salutation is optional. In American English a colon is usually used after the salutation, e.g. Dear Mr Smith:, Gentlemen:.
6. Body of the letter The blocked style is the one most often used for the body of the letter. It is usual to leave a line space between paragraphs.
7. Complimentary close If the letter begins with Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, Dear Sir or Madam, the complimentary close should be Yours faithfully. If the letter begins with a personal name Dear Mr James, Dear Mrs Robinson, it should be Yours sincerely. A letter to someone you know well may close with the more informal Best wishes. Note that Americans tend to close even formal letters with Yours truly or Truly yours, which is unusual in the UK in commercial correspondence. A comma after complimentary close is optional.
8. Signature Always type your name and your job title below your handwritten signature.
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