Structure of a business letter

Business letters include all kinds of commercial letters, replies to inquiries, Letters of Credit, invoices, Bills of Lading, Bills of Exchange or drafts, letters of insurance, orders, letters of shipment, letters of delivery, offers, letters of complaints, replies to those mentioned above, etc.

A business letter should be as short as possible, polite, and its language must be simple.

A private business letter is written by hand, each paragraph begins with an indented line. But if a letter is sent by an organization it is typed on the form of this organization. In this case it is not necessary to use indented lines.

A business letter is usually composed of the following elements: heading, date, address, salutation, text, subscription.

A letter can be typed on the organization’s form. Any form has its letterhead printed typographically. The letterhead bears the name of the organization or the firm, sending this letter, its address, address for telegrams, telephone, telex, fax. If you do not use this form, write your address (as a sender) on the upper right side of the letter. Do not indicate your name here, if will follow your signature. Ukrainian names of foreign trade organizations are not translated into foreign languages. They are written with Latin letters. Your telephone number may be written below.

The date is written on the right side above (under your address or under a typographical letterhead of the form). In Great Britain the date may be indicated as follows: 7th April, 2001 or 7 April 2001. In the USA it is usually written like this: April 7, 2001.

As a rule, before or after the address of the recipient a reference is indicated which the sender asks to mention in the reply to the letter. A common reference represents the initials of the person who wrote the letter and those of the typist who typed it. The name and address of the recipient (inside address) is written on the left above.

The salutation is written on the left. If you don’t know the reader’s name, the opening salutation is Dear Sir, Dear Sir or Madam, or Dear Sirs. If you know the reader’s name, the opening salutation is Dear Ms... or Dear Mr.... In the subscription the expression Yours faithfully is usually used if you are not acquainted the persons or Yours sincerely if you write to a man (woman) whom you know at least by correspondence. In American English more common are the expressions Sincerely, Sincerely yours. The signature is affixed by hand above the typed name of the author.

If some material is added to the letter the word Enclosures or the abbreviation Encl is written in the left lower corner of the letter.

1 What kinds of letters does business correspondence include? 2 What are the major elements of a business letter? 3 When is the letterhead used? 4 What does the reference mean in a letter? 5 Where is the address of the recipient written? 6 How should the text of the letter be written? 7 What phrases are used in the salutation of business letter? 8 What should be written in the subscription of a letter? 9 What may be enclosed in a business letter? 10 How is usually the signature affixed? 11 Where is the date of the letter written? 12 What does the letterhead bear?

1 This is how a business school teacher is explaining the parts of a business letter to a student:

2 Now read the letter and name its elements:

23 January 2009 ………………………... 3

Dear Ms Meiners, …………………………………………………………………………………... 5

Yours sincerely, ………………………………………………………………………….. 7

Simon Young …………………………………………………………………………………... 8

Simon Young ……………………………………………………………………………. 9

Sales assistant …………………………………………………………………………… 10

Encl ……………………………………………………………………………………… 11