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Unit 5. OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE IN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE USA



MAKE-UP OF A BUSINESS LETTER

 

Lead-in

 

Nowadays it is impossible to imagine the world without business correspondence. Official letters are considered to be important means of communication for many organisations and enterprises. Making-up of a business letter requires certain rules including subject field terms, set phrases, stable structures and grammatical peculiarities. Mastering business correspondence is a great success for business activity in the future.

 

Lesson 1

A neatly arranged letter will certainly make a better impression on the reader.

The layout of business letters is more or less common in all countries.

There are eight parts in a letter:

1. the letterhead;

2. the return address;

3. the date;

4. the inside address (i.e., the recipient's name and address);

5. the opening salutation;

6. the body of the letter;

7. the closing salutation;

8. the signature.

layout of a letter

Letterhead
Sender’s address
Date
Inside address
Opening salutation
Body of the letter
Closing salutation
Signature
Enclosure

 

American office workers prefer to arrange the elements of a letter in the so called FULL BLOCK STYLE. Here is an example:

  Sender's address:  
[Company Name] [Street Address] [City, State/Province Zip/Postal Code]  
Date: August 26,2005  
Inside address: [Recipient Name] [Address] [City, State/Province Zip/Postal Code]  
  Opening salutation:      
Dear [Recipient]:  
Body of the letter: [Type the body of your letter here] Closing salutation:  
Sincerely,                                Signature: [Your name] [Your position]
Typist's initials] Enclosure: [Number]  
cc: [Name]  

 

Letterhead

 

Letterhead refers both to the high-grade paper used for business letters and to the company insignia, trade name or product name printed at the top of each sheet. The printed information also includes the company name, address and the telephone number. More detailed letterheads may list the name mid title of an executive officer, the name of a department, or the company's cable address.

 

2. Sender's (return) address

When business letters are written on plain paper, the writer's address must be typed in place of the printed letterhead. The return address includes the writer's street address, city, state, and ZIP code. This information is typed immediately above the date of the letter in block style, single space:

                                           

371 Woodbine Boulevard              

Spokane, Washington 99212

 

October 10, 2010

 

Date

 

The date is placed under the heading of the sender's address, usually one of two spaces.

In Great Britain and in many countries the date at the head of the letter may be written in the following way:

 

12th March, 2010 or or March 12th, 2010 12 March, 2010

 

In the USA the date is written so:

 

March 12, 2010

 

This style of writing the date is becoming adopted in Great Britain and other countries.

Inside address

The complete name and address of the intended recipient is called the INSIDE ADDRESS. It is typed at the left margin.

A complete inside address written to individuals includes either of the following:

 

name of individual title or department name of company street address city, state, ZIP code Mr. James C. Garven Vice President Fairchild Business Products 82303 Kensington Road Tacoma, WA 98412

 

An appropriate title, such as Dr., Miss, Mr., Mrs. or Ms. should precede the names of individuals. Ms. should be used when the marital status of a woman is not known or when she indicates that she prefers it, as by signing a letter Ms. Jane Thomas. Mr. should be used when the addressee's name could be that of a man.

A complete inside address for letters written to companies includes either of the following:

 

name of company department name street address city, state, ZIP code International Biscuits Corp. Advertising Department 201 North Main Street Baton Rouge, LA 70807

 

A full recipient's address on the letter and envelope should consist of not more than six lines.

 

5. Opening salutation

 

The salutation, or greeting, is typed at the left margin a double space below the inside address or attention line. Usually, a colon follows the salutation (if written in the USA).

 

Mrs. Janet K. LaCroix

1427 North Broadway

Lincoln, NE 68529

Dear Mrs. LaCroix:

 

The following salutations meet the majority of letter writing needs:

 

Gentlemen Sirs   To a company or group of people
Dear Madam Dear Sir   To an individual: impersonal business form
Dear Miss ... Dear Mr. ... Dear Mrs. ... Dear Ms. ...   To an individual: preferred business form  
Dear Mr. and Mrs. …   To a husband and wife
Dear Chadwick Dear Virginia   To an individual: informal business and social form
Dear Mr. Jackson and Mr. Ruiz or: Dear Messrs. Jackson and Ruiz   To two men with different names
Dear Messrs. Freeman   To two or more men with the same surname
Dear. Professor Clark and Professor Casey To two persons with different names

 

The salutation GENTLEMEN is used when a letter is addressed company with an attention line to an individual or department. If GENTLEMEN seems awkward or inappropriate because the letter is addressed to the attention of a woman, it is best to eliminate the attention line and address the letter to the woman, rather than the company.

 

Closing salutation

 

The complimentary, or formal, closing of a letter is typed: double space below the last line of the body. Depending on a style it may be typed either at the left margin or beginning at the center of the page.

The following closings are customarily used in business correspondence:

 

Cordially Cordially yours Respectfully Respectfully yours Sincerely Sincerely yours Very sincerely yours Yours sincerely Faithfully Faithfully yours Truly yours Yours truly Very truly yours  

 

Signature

 

Sufficient space should be left after the complimentary closing or typed company name to allow for the writer's signature. Three or four blank lines is usually ample space, but more space can be left if the writer has a large handwriting.

 


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