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Letter Format
1.
Sender’s address
2.
(Reference)
3.
Dateline
4.
Recipient’s address
5.
(Private and confidential)
6.
(Attention line)
7.
Salutation
8.
(Subject line)
9.
Body of the letter
10.
Complimentary closing
11.
Signature block
12.
(Enclosure / Enc. / Encl.)
13.
(c.c.)
Note:
—
Business letters follow a blocked style. This means parts of a letter will be separated by
an empty line.
—
Parts in brackets are optional. The other parts are compulsory.
—
Each part will be explained and illustrated below.
1.
Sender’s address:
a. Company address (Letterhead): normally placed in the top right-hand corner of the page or in
the middle at the top of the page.)
b. Private address: normally placed in the top right-hand corner of the page
Company address:
Flanagan’s Store (Company name)
107 Sunset Strip (number of the house, street)
Los Angeles, California 91417 (name of town or city, post code)
U.S.A. (country)
Fax: 44 1306 821986
Tel: 44 1306 824455
Private address
:
Mary Thompson
34 Cavendish Street (number of the house, street)
Stanmore (name of town or city)
N.S.W. 2022 (post code)
Australia (country)
2.
Reference:
consisting of the signer’s initials in capitals followed by a slash followed
by the typist’s initials. Reference serves as a reminder of who prepared the letter.
e.g. Ref. MF/PA (signer: Martha Fayman; typist: Paula Andrews)
3.
Dateline:
2 ways of writing the dateline often used are as follows
August 27, 2008
27 August 2008
4.
Recipient’s address
(Inside
address)
a)
When the letter is addressed to a
person
Mr Mark Anthony
34 Cavendish Street
Stanmore
N.S.W. 2022
AUSTRALIA
b)
When the letter is addressed to a
company:
Flanagan’s Department Store
12207 Sunset Strip
Los Angeles, California 91417
U.S.A.
c)
When the letter is addressed to a
department of a company
The Sales Department
Flanagan’s Department Store
12207 Sunset Strip
Los Angeles, California 91417
U.S.A.
d)
When the letter is addressed to a
person working for a company
Mr Mark Anthony
Sales Manager
Flanagan’s Department Store
12207 Sunset Strip
Los Angeles, California 91417
U.S.A.
e)
When the letter is addressed to a
person working for a company, but
his/her name is unkown:
The Sales Manager
Flanagan’s Department Store
12207 Sunset Strip
Los Angeles, California 91417
U.S.A.
7.
Salutation
1.
Dear Sirs
2.
Dear Sir
3.
Dear Madam
4.
Dear Sir / Madam (Dear Sir or
Madam)
5.
Dear Mark
6.
Dear Mr Anthony
Dear Mr Mark Anthony
Dear Mr Mark
Match the above salutation with the
inside addresses in the column beside
Answers;
1 . b
2. e
3. e
4. b, c, e
5. a, d (Informal: when the writer knows
the reader well)
6. a, d (Formal)
5.
Private and confidential:
This is used in cases where the letter is intended to be read
only by the addresses. There are variations of this phrase, but little difference in meaning.
Private and confidential
Confidential
Strictly confidential
6.
Attention line:
This should be used when the letter is addressed to a company, but you
want it to be handled by a specific individual at the company. There are several ways of
writing the attention line:
Attention: Mr Brian Paltridge
Attn: Mr Brian Paltridge
For the attention of Mr Brian Paltridge
8.
Subject line:
There are several ways of writing the subject lines
Subject: Order No. 2345
Re: Order No. 2345
Subject: Order No. 2345
Re: Order No. 2345
9.
Body of the letter:
This is the actual message of your letter.
10.
Complimentary closing:
This is a polite, formal way to end a letter.
Salutation:
1.
Dear Sirs
2.
Dear Sir/ Madam (Dear Sir or Madam)
3.
Dear Mark
4.
Dear Mr Anthony
Complimentary closing:
a)
Yours faithfully
b)
Yours sincerely
c)
Best wishes/ Kind regards
Match the above closings with the
salutations in the column beside.
11.
Signature block
A signature block includes - signature
-
signer’s name
-
job title
Martha Fayman
Martha Fayman
Credit Manager
Paula Andrews
p.p. Martha Fayman
Credit Manager
(Paula Andrews is the Personal Assistant to
Ms Martha Fayman. She signs the letter on
behalf of Ms Martha Fayman.
(p.p. on behalf of)
12.
Enclosure / Enc. / Encl.
This is used to prevent your readers from discarding
important matter with the envelope.
Enc. Catalog and price list
13.
c.c.
(carbon copies): This tells the readers who has been sent a carbon copy of the letter
c.c. Jane Smith
Example:
Slanaman’s Store
107 Sunset Strip
Angeles, California 91417
U.S.A.
Fax: 44 1306 821986
Tel: 44 1306 824455
Our ref. DS/WG
June 7, 2018
Ms. Terry Roberts
Purchasing Manager
Ketchum Collection Agency
1267 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 91401
Private and Confidential
Dear Ms Roberts
Non-payment of invoice 322/17
It appears from our records that, despite several reminders, the above invoice remains unpaid.
Unless the account is cleared within 14 days from the date of this letter, we shall take legal
action.
Yours sincerely
Donald Sampson
Donald Sampson
Sales Manger
Enc. Copy of invoice 322/17
c.c. Messrs Poole & Jackson Ltd, Solicitors
Practice
Lay out properly the following letters. Include these parts:
1. Letterhead
2. Reference (if any)
3. Date
4. Inside address
5. Attention line (if any)
6. Salutation
7. Subject line
Body of the letter (OMITTED)
8. Complimentary Close
9. Signature
10. Enclosure (if any)
1.
You write a letter to Lam Dong Tourist Company, 8 Le Dai Hanh St., Dalat, Lam Dong,
applying for the post of a tour guide.
2.
Mr. Jones Smith, Sales Manager, ERICSON VN Ltd., 44 Pham Ngu Lao, Hanoi, answers
Ms. Ann Swanson's request on cell phone ERIC CP2001. Her address: 132 Ba Trieu,
Hanoi.
3.
Ms. Mary Kim, Purchasing Manager, from DAEWOO ltd., 201 Tran Hung Dao, HCM
City, enquires about prices . . .
Write a letter, for your boss, Mr. John Kennedy, Sales Manager of P&G Ltd. to sign.
4.
Write a letter to Mrs. Suzan Strand, Office Manager, Palace Hotel, 10 Tran Phu Dalat, to
book conference rooms for your company, Apex Knitwear Ltd., 40 Tran Phu Dalat.
5.
Mr. William Carsons, from Carsons Incorporated, Bay Avenue, San Francisco, writes to
The Manville Corporation, Wilmington, Conn. 71226, USA, to make payment. A check
is enclosed.