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E N G L I S H B U S I N E S S C O R R E S P O N D E N C E. Commercial Correspondence. (1) Video Store Ltd. 72 East 42ndStreet New York, N. Y. 100 11 U. S. A. (2) 12 November 2004 (3) Compuvision Ltd Warwick House 12 Warwick Street Forest Hill
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E N G L I S H B U S I N E S S C O R R E S P O N D E N C E Commercial Correspondence
(1) Video Store Ltd. 72 East 42ndStreet New York, N. Y. 100 11 U. S. A. (2)12 November 2004 (3)Compuvision Ltd Warwick House 12 Warwick Street Forest Hill London SE23 1JF UK (4)For the attention of the Sales Manager (5)Dear Sir or Madam (6) Please would you send us details of your DVD video systems. We are particularly interested in the Omega range. (7) Yours faithfully, (8) John Smith Distribution department
L a y o u t • (1) Sender´s address • (2) Date • (3) Inside address • (4) Attention line • (5) Salutation • (6) Body of the letter • (7) Complimentary close • (8) Signature
(1) Sender´s address • In correspondence that does not have a LETTERHEAD, the sender´s address is placed in the top right- • -hand corner of the page. It is also acceptable, but less common, to place it in the top left-hand corner. The BLOCKED STYLE is the most widely used, i. e. each line starts directly below the one above.
(2) Date • The DATE is written directly bellow the sender´s address, separeted from it by a space. • The month in the date should not be written in figures as this can be confusing. • Examples: November 12, 2004 12 November, 2004
(3) Inside address • The INSIDE ADDRESS is written below the sender´s address and on the left-hand side of the page.
(4) Attention line • An alternative to including the reciepient´s name or job title in the address is to use an ATTENTION LINE. • Example: „For the attention of the Sales Manager“
(5) Salutation • Dear Siropens a letter written to a man whose name you do not know. • Dear Sirs is used to address a company (in American English Gentlemen) • Dear Madam is used to address a woman whether single or maried, whose name you do not know. • Dear sir or Madam is used to address a person when you do not know their name or sex. • Dear Mr. (Smith) when you know the name of the person you are writing to.
(6) Body of the letter • The blocked style is the one most often used for the BODY OF THE LETTER. It is usual to leave a line space between paragraphs.
(7) Complimentary close • If the letter begins Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, or Dear Sir or Madam, the COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE should be Yours faitfully. • If the letter begins with a personal name, e.g. Dear Mr James, Dear Mrs Robinson, or Dear Ms Jasmin, it should be Yours sincerely. • Americans tend to close even formal letters with Yours truly or Truly yours, which is unusual in the UK in commercial correspondence.
(8) Signature • Always type your name and, if relevant, your job title, below your handwritten signature. • This is known as the SIGNATURE BLOCK. Even though you may think your handwriting is easy to read, letters such as a, e, o, r and v can easily be confused.
Sources:OXFORD HANDBOOD OF Commercial Correspondence, A. AshleyOXFORD UNIVERSITYPRESS
You can try to write a business letter in the file called: letters.doc