Business Letter

Business Letter

•Business letter is a formal way of communicating between two or more parties. There are several different common types of business letter. They are letter of order, request, application, and recommendation.

•A business letter is written in formal language. The letter is written for official correspondence between two organizations and organizations and customers, clients, etc.

The block format is the simplest format; all of the writing is flush against the left margin.

All business letters have the following components :

* Your Address 

The return address of the sender so the recipient can easily find out where to send a reply to.

• British English

Position : In the top right corner of the letter.

• American English

Position : In the top left corner, below the date, or at the end of the letter (below the signature)

* Date 
Put the date on which the letter was written in the format

• British English

Write   :30 October 2003

Position :On the right, one line below the sender's address

• American English

Write   : October 30, 2003

Position : Top left corner

* Inside Address 

The address of the person you are writing to along with the name of the recipient, their title and company name.

British English Ms /Miss/Mrs/Mr/Dr... Company Name(optional) house number and the street place area code COUNTRY (in capital letters)

American English Ms/Miss/Mrs/Mr/Dr... Company Name(optional) house number and the street place, area code COUNTRY (in capital letters)

* Salutation

•            If you know the person's name:

a.    In British English, don't use any punctuation  mark or use a comma.

Dear Ms / Miss / Mrs / Mr +last name,

Example: Dear Mr Miller or Dear Mr Miller,

Dear + surname,

Example: Dear Chris Miller or Dear Chris Miller,

b.    In American English, use a colon (:)

Dear Ms. / Miss. / Mrs. / Mr. +last name:

Example: Dear Mr. Miller:

Dear + surname:

Example: Dear Chris Miller:

c.    To Whom It May Concern/Dear Sir or Madam: if recipient's name is unknown.

* Subject Line (optional) 

Makes it easier for the recipient to find out what the letter is about.

•     British English

The subject line is usually placed between the salutation and the body of the letter.

•     American English

In American English, the subject line can also be placed between the recipient's address and the salutation.

* Body 

The body is where you write the content of the letter.

* Closing

  Complimentary Close

Yours faithfully,

If you do not know the name of the person

Yours sincerely,

If you know the name of the person

* Signature 

* Printed Name 

The printed version of  writer/sender, and if desired writer/sender can put a title or position, then print it underneath the signature.

* Enclosure(optional) 

If you wish to enclose documents, you can write the word 'Enclosure' below the printed name. Type "Enclosures (#)" with the # being the number of other documents enclosed.

* Reference Initials(optional) 

If someone other than yourself typed the letter you will include your initials in capital letters followed by the typist's initials in lower case in the following format; AG/gs or AG:gs.