The Structure of Business Letters
A typical business letter consists of the standard and optional parts.The standard parts are the letterhead,the date,the inside name and address,the salutation,the body of the letter,the complimentary close and the signature.And the optional ones are the reference,the attention line,the subject line,the reference notation,the enclosure,the carbon copy,the postscript,etc.
3.1 The Letterhead
The letterhead,as the heading and first part at the top of a business letter, usually consists of the name,address,postcode,telephone number,fax number,email address,website,logo,etc.of the writer's company.It can be typed out,but is usually printed in the up-center or on the left margin at the top of the page.
It can be seen that the letterhead is usually used for identifying where the letter comes from and forming one's impression of the writer's company.
3.2 The Reference
The reference is generally used as a useful indication for filing and makes it easier to file the letter and track it when required.
The reference may include a file name,departmental code or the initials of the signer followed by that of the typist of the letter and is often placed two lines below the letterhead.Generally“your ref.”and“our ref.”are two codes assigned to the letter by the recipient and sender.For example:
Our ref:268 PY/pl（in an incoming letter)
Your ref:268 PY/pl
Our ref:864 SD/wd（in the reply to the incoming letter)
3.3 The Date
The date is a necessary part in every letter and never be ignored before sending the letter.The format of the date differs from country to country.Generally the British style is day month year,and the American style is month day year.It is unwise to show the date in figures like 08/11/2014 or 11/08/2014,because figures may create confusion according to different styles.
Different from the position in a Chinese letter,the date in an English letter should be typed a few lines below the last line of the letterhead and above the inside name and address.
3.4 The Inside Name and Address
The inside name and address is just the recipient's name and address serving as the delivery address on the envelope.It is typed at the left-hand margin two lines below the date.Here the information should be given as follows:
·Receiver's name or his official title；
·Company's name；
·Number of the house and name of the street；
·District,name of the town or city；
·State or province,ZIP codes；
·Country's Name.
Such Courtesy titles as Mr.,Mrs.,Miss.or Ms.are usually used to address one person when the receiver is an individual.Use Ms.if you are not sure whether the lady whom you are writing is married or not.Sometimes the official position of the recipient should follow after the name if there is any official position of that person. For example:
Mr.Bobby Robert
Sales Manager
The Sunshine Co.Ltd.
56 Duke Street
London N.W.4
England
When the receiver is a company,the inside name and address should be written as follows:
The Machine Engineering Co.Ltd.
256 Shengli Street
Wuhan 430000
China
“Messrs”is the plural form of“Mr.”and is only used for companies or firms, the name of which includes a personal element,like Messrs.MacDonald&Evans in the following example:
Messrs.MacDonald&Evans
46 South Street
London N.W.4
England
3.5 The Attention Line
The attention line is used when the writer wants the letter attended by or directed to a specific person or department of a company.It is typed two lines above the salutation,underlined and centered over the letter.For example:
Attention:Manager of Training Department
3.6 The Salutation
The salutation is the courteous greeting to the recipient with which the writer begins his or her letter.It is usually typed two lines below the inside name and address without any indentation,including the title and name of the recipient.The salutation varies according to the relations between the writer and the recipient. Some commonly-used salutations are listed in the following table:
3.7 The Subject Line
The subject line helps both the sender and receiver quickly identify the gist of the letter and is placed one line below the salutation.It is usually underlined and in boldface letters to call readers'attention easily.For example:
Re:Order No.882
Subject:your L/C No.4489
3.8 The Body of the Letter
The body of the letter should begin two lines below the salutation or subject line.As the most important part of the letter,the body of the letter consists of three paragraphs:the opening paragraph giving a subject of the letter；the middle paragraph discussing the details of the transaction and the closing paragraph ending the letter in a way of a summary or a suggestion.
When writing the message,the writer should attach great importance to 7Cs' principles and keep the following tips in mind:
·Write simply,clearly,courteously,grammatically and to the point；
·Paragraph correctly,confining each paragraph to one topic；
·Type accurately and neatly.
3.9 The Complimentary Close
The complimentary close is merely a polite way of ending a letter,just like bidding farewell to somebody.It is placed two or four lines below the last line of the body of the letter.Like the salutation,the complimentary close has various styles and should match that of the salutation.See the following table for details.
3.10 The Signature
The signature can indicate the authority of the letter and is generally placed two lines below the complimentary close.It usually includes a handwritten signature that is signed by hand and in ink,the typed-out name that is easily legible to the reader and the title or position.For example:
Yours sincerely，
The Overseas Co.，Ltd.
（Handwritten signature)
Lucia Smith
Personnel Director
3.11 The Enclosure
The enclosure indicates something else is enclosed or sent together with the letter.“Enclosure”or its abbreviation“Enc.”,“Encl.”is often used for one item enclosed,and“Enclosures”or its abbreviation“Encs.”,“Encls.”is often used for more than one item enclosed at least two lines below the signature at the left margin.For example:
Enclosure:Commercial Invoice
Encl.:Commercial Invoice
Encls.:As stated
3.12 Carbon Copy Notation
When copies of the letter are sent to others,write c.c.below the signature or enclosure at the left margin.For example:
c.c.Mr.G.Well
c.c.The Osaka Trading Company
3.13 The Postscript
The postscript is an afterthought,aiming at the drawing of the reader's attention to a point the writer wants to emphasize or something he or she forgets to mention.But in business letters a postscript is used for drawing the reader's attention to the emphasized point instead of adding the forgotten point by the writer.It is greatly advisable to rewrite the letter instead of using the postscript when the writer forgets to mention something important;otherwise it may imply that the writer has failed to plan the letter well.For example:
P.S.The samples will be mailed to you tomorrow.
All in all,in a complete business letter,seven standard parts are necessary while the optional parts can be added or reduced according to specific situations.The following sample just presents the standard and optional parts of a complete business letter.
