A Review On Business Letter

A Review on Business Letter

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The Rules for a Good Layout Business letters are subject to more rules than personal letters, as this example shows: Dear Madam or Sir: An up-to-date layout of English business letters Thank you for your interest in some basic information about the modern way of writing business letters in English-speaking countries. A modern English business letter should contain the following parts: 1. letterhead (and sender’s address) 2. date 3. references [optional] 4. inside address (of the addressee) 5. salutation / opening greeting 6. subject heading [optional] 7. body of the letter / text 8. complimentary closing 9. the writer's signature, name and the writer's official position 10. indication of enclosure and/or circulation [optional] An attention line (‘Attn: Ms ...’, ‘Attention: Ms ...’ or ‘For the attention of Mr ...’) may be included after or within the inside address. In English letters, various styles are acceptable. The main point is that English letters should be short, precise, clear and polite. Use standard phrases and do not try to be too creative. We look forward to hearing from you again. Yours faithfully Letter & Style Ltd signature(s) Rainer Musterman(Mr), Birgitta Musterfrau(Ms) Training Managers

* 16 October 20041……….. European Date Style

A Review on Business Letter

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Addresses Example 1 (within USA): Marni Lieneke Woods Chappel Road Lees Summit, MO Example 2 from UK to USA: Registered / Recommender Special Logistics Team Ltd Engineering Company Attn: Ms Jenny Testperson 2100 Harding Rd Costa Mesa, CA 92626 USA

Dates The date can go in one of two places – beneath your address or beneath the reader’s address. It is always best to write the month in full because the British dating system is different to the American dating system (eg: 9/11/2001 is 9th November 2001 in Britain but September 11th in America). Note that you do not need to write ‘the’ or ‘of’ in a date (eg: ‘the 16th of October’ is wrong; 16th October is correct). It is also acceptable to write * 16 October 2004.1

Names Although rules have relaxed over the years, it is still important to address someone correctly. This will depend on your relationship with the reader: Informal or Neutral: Dear Peter: … Formal: Dear Mr Young: … The formal style is reserved for customers, members of the public or people in high authority. Unless a man is entitled to a different style, such as Rev. or Dr., then a man should be addressed as Mr (ie: Mr Grant). Never write out the title in full (ie: ‘Mister Grant’ is wrong). The greeting should always end in a colon (:) - not a comma. When writing to a woman, you need to be aware of her marital status. * 16 October 20041……….. European Date Style

A Review on Business Letter

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Married women: Mrs Collins

Status unknown: Ms Peterson These days some women prefer to use the title Ms because they do not wish to reveal their marital status. Always check which title she has used in previous correspondence. If you’re not sure then the safest option is always Ms.

Greetings and endings The word ‘dear’ always comes before the name of the person you are writing to, even if you don’t know them. However, what follows after ‘dear’ determines how you are going to write the ending of your business letter. If your letter begins ‘Dear Ms Foster’, ‘Dear Gary Stewart’, ‘Dear Wendy’, etc, then your letter should end with ‘Yours sincerely’. If your letter is informal or neutral in style and you know the person fairly well, then you can use ‘Best wishes’, or ‘Kind regards’ instead. If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to then your greeting should be ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ and your ending should be ‘Yours faithfully’. In the US, any business letter ends with 'Sincerely, [Sender's Name]'.

Headings It is always best to give a heading to a business letter. This helps to ensure that your letter is dealt with as efficiently as possible. Headings come immediately after the greeting, and should be underlined or typed in bold. Make your heading brief and specific. For example: Dear Sir or Madam, Closure of bank account no. 56777889 I would like to inform you ……..

* 16 October 20041……….. European Date Style

A Review on Business Letter

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Different countries, different styles Culture and society influence styles. Especially in the German speaking countries formal rules are estimated as very important. An extreme example is the German industrial norm DIN 5008 which "norms" how to write German business letters (= "Musterbrief") in every detail from letterhead to closing. Examples:

These two examples from business trainings at schools are used to show how nice formal letters look.

Modern British and American business letter:

* 16 October 20041……….. European Date Style

A Review on Business Letter

Please note that this is a voluntary style, not a "must".

* 16 October 20041……….. European Date Style

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