Successful Letters

Successful Letters in English

DATE [1] Date Write out the month in full: 9 August 2007 (British English) August 9, 2007 (American English) Note: 9/8/2007 is 9 August in Britain, but 8 September in the US. There is no „th“ or full stop (.) after the number.

GREETINGS [2] Greetings In Britain, one does not usually put commas after the opening and closing greetings. In North America, one puts commas in both places. Example: Dear Mr. Harper, …. …. …. Sincerely,

SUBJECT LINE [3] Subject line The subject line is put before or after the opening greeting. Some writers add a “Re:” (from Latin res, meaning “the matter”) Before subject line

START [4] Start The first word after opening greeting is always capitalized: “Thank you…”

STYLE [5] Style Sentences and paragraphs should be kept short and simple, with few commas.

SIGNATURE [6] Signature If the sender is not available to sign, the person signing can add the letters “pp” (or “p.p.”) before his or her own signature. The letters stand for the Latin per procurationem, meaning “through the agency of”. They do not mean that the signer has special legal authority.

“cc” [7] “cc” (or “c.c.”) Originally stood for “carbon copies”. It shows who else will get a copy of the letter.

“enc” [8] enc Is used to show that a document has been enclosed . This also written “encl”, “enc.”, “ENC”. Often, the enclosed document is not specified.

Getting started Most letters begin with “Dear (name)”. However, in e-mails and faxes, native speakers often write “Hi (name)” when addressing people they know very well, even in business correspondence. It is also becoming common in e-mails to put just the person’s name (“Jim”) or to put no name at all and simply start writing. If you know the person well, you can use just his or her first name: “Dear Peter”. If you don’t know the person, you normally use a title: “Dear Ms Jones”. The most common titles are “Mr”, “Ms”, “Mrs”, “Miss”, “Dr”. Titles such as “Dr” and “Professor” are not combined with each other in English.

Getting started The titles “Mr”, “Ms”, “Mrs” and “Dr” are usually written without full stops in British English and with full stops (“periods”) in American English (“Mr.”, “Ms.”, “Mrs.”, etc.) The title “Ms” is a neutral form for women, whether married or not, and it is the safest form to use. However, if a woman has already written to you using one of the traditional forms – “Mrs” for a married woman or “Miss” for an unmarried woman – it is polite to follow her style. If you are unsure whether to address people by their first name or with a title, a useful compromise is to use both names: “Dear Margaret Brown”. This sound respectful, but friendly.

Getting started If you don’t know the name of the person to whom you are writing, it is best to put “Dear Sir or Madam” or “Dear Madam or Sir” (note: use “or” not “and”). The old practice of addressing such letters to “Dear Sirs” (typically British) or “Gentlemen” (typically American) is no longer generally accepted.

Getting started The closing of letter has to match the opening greeting stylistically, so check your opening again when you are done to make sure you keep the same tone. In British English, if you begin a formal letter with “Dear Madam or Sir”, you normally close with “Your faithfully”. If you have addressed the person by name (“Dear Ms Roberts”, “Dear Dr Hook”), you close with “Yours Sincerely”. In American English, you can use Sincerely (yours) or “Yours truly” in either case. For people to whom you write regularly or who you know well (“Dear Jill”, ”Dear Tom”), you can use less formal closing greetings, such as “Best wishes”, “Kind regards”, “Best regards” or simply “Regards”, in both Britain and North America.

Standard phrases Starting a letter Thank you for your letter of 12 August, in which you… I am writing to you about your offer for… With reference to (s odvoláním na) our meeting, I would like to… Further to (ohledně) our meeting, we would like to… Good news We are pleased to inform you that we have reduced our prices. We are pleased to announce our new product. It is our pleasure to invite you to our conference.

Standard phrases Bad news We regret to inform you that your order has been delayed. I am sorry to inform you that we cannot accept your offer. I am afraid that we are unable to supply the books you offered. Confirmation We would like to confirm your order. I wish to confirm my participation at your seminar. We are pleased to confirm that you have been nominated for our employee-of-the-year award.

Standard phrases Requests Could you please send us your latest catalogue as soon as possible? I would be grateful if you can send us your current price list. We would appreciate it if you could reply within two weeks. Orders We are able to quote you a price of (stanovit cenu) $9.99 per item. We can offer you a discount of three per cent.

Standard phrases Complaints I am writing complaint about your poor customer service. Please ensure this does not happen again. Apologies Please accept our apologies for … We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. Enclosures Please find enclosed/attached details of our organization. I am enclosing our latest catalogue for your information. As you will see from enclosed brochure, we have cut your prices.

Standard phrases Arrangements Please let me know if Monday suits you. Please let me know if Thursday at 10.30 would be convenient. Final comments We look forward to hearing from you. We are looking forward to meeting you. Thank you in advance for your help. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Successful Letters