CONTENTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

General guidance

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Business Correspondence Guidelines

• Always use company letterhead.
• The inside address (the address of the person you are writing to) should be typed the way it will appear on the envelope.
• Type the dateline a few lines below the letterhead.
• The subject line is a courtesy to your reader. The use of a subject line is not required. It provides a brief statement of the letter's content. It can be either underlined or typed in capital letters (but not both).
• Always use a colon with the opening address when writing a business letter. Commas are reserved for informal correspondence.
• Leave room for the signature line on the close.
• Letters should be single-spaced and double-spaced between paragraphs.
• Make every attempt to identify a specific person to address. When the person's name is not known, the person's title is the next best term to use.
• Reference initials (ZG/md) indicate who signed the letter (in capitals) and who prepared the letter (in lower case).
• Enclosure reminder can be written as "Enclosure", "enc" or "encl"
• Carbon copy notation "cc" lets the reader know who else has received a copy of the letter.
• The use of carbon copy notation, reference initials and enclosure reminders are not required. They provide helpful reference notations for both the writer and the recipient of the letter.

Technical layout of a letter:

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1. Rearrange the letters in the following elements which will constitute the formal outlay of a letter:

theleadter

enam and sesdrad

ated

errefence

statalunio

stejcub temart

cunitomcamion

rinatuges

censurelos

2. Fill in the texts with the words given:

a. 'if, on, name, email, telephone, for, include, number, of, may, your'

Letterhead:
This will _____________ your company's _____________, address, _____________ number, fax _____________ and _____________ address. Include your web address _____________ available. Other information _____________ be required depending _____________ the legal status _____________ your business formation. Contact _____________ legal adviser _____________ exact details.

b. 'have, and, of, code, that, the, job'

Name and address:

Always include ________ recipient's name, address ________ postal _________. Add ________ title if appropriate. Double check ________ you ________ the correct spelling ________ the recipient 's name .

3. Place the vowels in the right position to get the three nouns and write them in the appropriate gap in the text:

enam  omnth eltetr

Date:
Always date your _______s and do not abbreviate the _______s of the _________s.

4. Write the right grammar form of the words given:

5. Rearrange the fragments in the sentences:

a.

Communication:
This will .  . . . . . only.

b.

Signature:
The signature . . . . . the recipient.

Your signature . . . . . job title.

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Enclosures:
If you include other material in the letter, put 'Enclosure', 'Enc', or ' Encs ', as appropriate, two lines below the last entry.

Note

The address of the person receiving the letter, the date and the references are all on the left.

There is no "th" after "5" in the date. It is not necessary, so leave it out. Always, however, write out the month in full. For example: 5 March 1998 (British English) or March 5, 1998 (American English). If you write 5/3/98, this is confusing: in British English, it means 5 March; in American English, it means 3 May. Less importantly, note that there is no full stop after the day of the month: 5 March is correct, not 5. March.

There is no punctuation after the opening greeting ("Dear Mr Harper") or the closing greeting ("Yours sincerely"). In North America, it is common to put commas after both greetings or a colon after the opening greeting.

The paragraphs start at the left margin, and there is a line space between each of them.

There are a number of small but important differences between letters in English and other languages. In English, the first letter after the opening address is capitalized ("Thank you ...").

It is acceptable to start a paragraph with "I". Only an egomaniac, however, would start every sentence with "I". It is also common to use "we" instead of "I".

Commas are much less common.

"p.p." (or "pp) before the signature stands for the Latin "per procurationem", meaning "through  the agency of". This simply means that the sender of the letter was not available to sign it. Unlike, for eg.., the German p.P. (per Prokura), p.p. does not imply that the person who signed the letter has any special legal authority in the company. Very often "p.p." is written before the name of the person the letter is from, although this is not strictly speaking correct. Less formally, and particularly in North America, people simply write "for".

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Choose the word that best fits in the blanks:

a) of b) on c) for d) -

a) a b) the c) an d) any

a) a b) another c) any d) an

a) are b) is c) been d) be

a) an b) a c) end d) and

a) into  b) instead c) indeed d)in

a) are b) have c) has d) am

a) those b) this c) that d) the

a) through b) though c) throughout d) thus

10. a) also b) although c) all d) so

11. a)more b) much c)many d) or

12. a) at b)to c) on d) in

A lot __1__ time is wasted discussing __2__ differences between a letter and __3__fax. The main difference __4__ simple: a letter is put in an envelope __5__ posted; a fax is fed __6__ a fax machine. The content and layout __7__ often identical - many faxes are simply letters __8__ are then faxed. Some faxes, __9__, are shorter and less formal. E-mails __10__ tend to be __11__ less formal both __12__ content and layout.

2. Identify the eight spelling mistakes in the text and write the words correctly:

How formal should busines letters be? That deppends on the person to whom you are writting. If it is someone you have never delt before -  or you have no conntact name - you shuld be more formal than if it is someone whith whom you do business regullarly and have perhaps met personally.

____________.

3. Fill in each gap with one word only:

Looking at some _______ the most common phrases, "Thank you" is _______ formal than "Thanks"; "Yours sincerely" _______ more formal than "Best wishes" or "Best regards"; and "I look forward to ..." is slightly more formal _______ "I am looking forward to ...". Don't forget, however, that in both of these last two cases, if a _______ follows, it must be in the "-ing" form:

"I look _______ to seeing you soon."

"I _______ looking forward _______ seeing you at the conference next week."

Not putting this "-ing" on the verb is _______ very common mistake made _______ non native speakers. Another common mistake _______ forgetting the "it" in structures as "I would appreciate it if ...".

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Even in formal letters, there is no need to be old-fashioned. For example, when you have no contact name, "Dear Sirs" and "Dear Gentlemen" are now considered sexist by many people. "Dear Sir or Madam" or "Dear Madam or Sir" is better. (Note also the use of "or" here, in contrast to the expression with 'and' more common in other languages, e.g. the German: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren.)

If you are writing to a woman, use the neutral title "Ms", unless she herself has used either of the more traditional forms: "Mrs" for a married woman or "Miss" for an unmarried woman. Titles such as Mrs, Ms, Dr, and Mr are usually written without full stops in British English and with full stops (periods) in American English.

If you are unsure whether to address someone by their first name or with their title (Mr, Mrs, etc.), a useful compromise is to use both the first name and the surname; e.g. Dear Peter Smith, Dear Susan Brown.

" Match the beginnings of the following sentences with their endings:  2) - . 3) - . 4) - . 5) - .

Typical phrases for typical situations:

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The parts of a letter (in a nut-shell)

Heading

Date

Reference line

Inside address

Salutation

Subject line

Body of the letter

Opening line

First

Reply

Acknowledgement

Conveying message

Agreement / Disagreement

Closing

General

Thanks

Wish for cooperation

Recommendation

Apologies

Complimentary close

Signature

Initials and postscripts

Enclosures

Pattern of a typical business letter

Sample

Grey Cat Real Estate

256 Dupont Lane

New York, NY 10011

July 23, 2001

Ms. Hannah Smith

Big City Productions

822 Logan Place

New York, NY 10023

Dear Ms. Smith:

Subject: Finalized Leasing Agreement

Congratulations on your recent grand opening!

We are delighted that you chose to lease facilities from us and hope that your venture is a successful one.

As requested, I have enclosed a signed copy of a lease agreement which will extend your lease an additional six months beyond the original lease signed.

Please sign and date the document and return it to my attention.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the enclosed lease please feel free to call at anytime. I can be reached at (212) 777-5523 or feel free to stop by our office.

If there are any additional services that we can provide now or in the future, please do not hesitate to call on us. We would welcome the opportunity to work with you again in the future.

All of us at Grey Cat Real Estate thoroughly enjoyed working with you and your team.

Best of luck on your new venture!

Sincerely,
Zoe Grey

Vice President

ZG/md

Encl 2001 Lease Copy

cc Mr. Martin Toll