BUSINESS LETTER
LETTER
A
letter is a written
message containing
information from one party to another. The role of letters in communication has changed
significantly since the nineteenth century. Historically, letters (in paper
form) were the only reliable means of communication between two people in
different locations.
As communication technology has diversified,
posted letters have become less important as a routine form of communication;
they however still remain but in a modified form. For example, the development
of the telegraph shortened the time taken to send a letter by transferring the
letter as an electrical signal (for example in Morse code)
between distant points. At the telegraph office closest to the destination of
the letter, the signal was transferred back into a hardcopy format and sent as
a normal mail to the person's home. This allowed the normal speed of communication
to be drastically shortened for larger and larger distances. This required
specialised technicians to encode and decode the letter. The facsimile (fax)
machine took this one step further: an entire letter could be completely
transferred electrically from the sender's house to the receiver's house by
means of the telephone network as an image.
Advantage
Letters are
still used, particularly by law firms and businesses, for official (public)
notifications, sometimes advertising. This is because of three main advantages:
- No special device needed - almost everybody has a
residence or other place at which he or she can receive mail. A mailbox is
all that the intended recipient needs - unlike e-mail or phone calls,
where the intended recipient needs access to a computer and an
e-mail account or a telephone
respectively.
- "Catch-all" advertising- unlike e-mails, where the
recipient needs an individual e-mail address to receive messages,
individuals are not necessarily chosen, by rather can widely cover many or
all addresses in a given locality.
- Physical record - important messages that
need to be retained (e.g. invoices; government notification such as tax or
immigration) can be kept relatively easily and securely.
BUSINESS LETTER
A commercial business letter
is a letter
written in formal language, usually used when writing from one business
organization to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and
their customers, clients and other external parties. The overall style of
letter will depend on the relationship between the parties concerned. There are
many reasons to write a business letter. It could be to request direct
information or action from another party, to order supplies from a supplier, to
identify a mistake that was committed, to reply directly to a request, to apologize
for a wrong or simply to convey goodwill. Even today, the business letter is
still very useful because it produces a permanent record, is confidential,
formal and delivers persuasive, well-considered messages.
General Format
There are
two main styles of business letters:
- Full block style: Align all elements on the
left margin.
- Modified block style with other
elements on the left page margin.
Indentation
Formats
Business
letters conform to generally one of four indentation formats: Block,
Semi-Block, Modified Block, and Modified Semi-Block. Put simply,
"Semi-" means that the first lines of paragraphs are indented;
"Modified" means that the sender's address, date, and closing are
significantly indented.
Block
In a Block
format letter, (1) all text is aligned to the left margin, (2) paragraphs are
not indented. 3) paragraphs are separated by double or triple spacing.
Semi-Block
In a Semi-Block
format letter (1) all text is aligned to the left margin, (2) paragraphs are
indented.
Modified Block
In a Modified
Block format letter, (1) all text is aligned to the left margin, except for the
author's address, date, and closing; and (2) paragraphs are not indented. The
author's address, date, and closing are usually indented three inches from the
left margin, but can be set anywhere to the right of the middle of the page, as
long as all three elements are indented to the same position.
Modified Semi-Block
In a Modified
Semi-Block format letter, (1) all text is aligned to the left margin, except
for the author's address, date, and closing; and (2) paragraphs are indented.
The author's address, date, and closing are usually indented in same position.
Layout of Business Letter
And I will explain about the part of Businnes Letter.
1.
LETTERHEAD
Companies usually use printed paper
where heading or letterhead is specially designed at the top of the sheet. It
bears all the necessary information about the organisation’s identity.
2.
DATE
Date is calendar that means
pointing the day, month, and year. Placement calendar is usually located under
right corner Letterhead.
Date in the form of writing a business letter can be
devided into 2 form
Date
in British style in the English Language, usually written before the day of the
calendar month, for writing an exact date, you need to know before ordering in
the British system, sorting in the United Kingdom as follows:
1.
First (-st)
2.
Second (-nd)
3.
Third (-rd)
While writing
the date ends with number 4 - 10. Can use the suffix (-th) the end of the
number
For example:
When writing the date of 2 March 2012, then that should be noted is the date
ending in 2, then use the suffix at the end of -nd number two. So that the
writing be 2nd March 2012, if you are writing for the 7th of March
2012, then writing it is the 7th of March, 2012.
Example
: (day/month/year)
26/August/2012
- Date in American style October
19, 2005 (month-day-year)
3. INSIDE ADDRESS
In
a business or formal letter you should give the address of the recipient after
your own address. Include the recipient's name, company, address and postal
code. Add job title if appropriate. Separate the recipient's name and title
with a comma. Double check that you have the correct spelling of the recipient
's name.
Example : Dr. Calvin Carson
Cross Country Coach
Dept. of Athletics
Colorado Community College at Cripple Creek
Cripple Creek CO 80678
4. REFERENCE
Include a reference line to identify
a file or case number, invoice number or any other internal identifying
information, if your company requires one. Some companies have specific
reference codes that they place either in a reference line below the date, or
at the very bottom of the letter.
example :
- Re:
Job # 625-01
- Re:
Your letter dated 1/1/200x.
5. SALUTATION
The salutation is your greeting.
Most salutations begin with “Dear” followed by either the recipient’s first
name, or title and last name. Endeavor to address all letters to an actual
person.
If you know the
name:
Dear Ms / Miss / Mrs / Mr / Dr + Name
Example: Dear Mr Miller
If you do not know the name:
here are several ways to write the
welcome if you do not know the name of the person you want to go, namely as
under this:
British English
- Dear Sir / Dear Sirs = If the recipient
man
- Dear Madam = If the recipient woman
- Dear Sir or Madam = If the recipient
is unknown sex
American English
- Gentlemen
= If
the recipient man
- Ladies
= If
the recipient woman
- Ladies and Gentlemen
= If the recipient is unknown sex, or
- To whom it may concern = If the recipient is unknown sex
6. SUBJECT
Its
inclusion can help the recipient in dealing successfully with the aims of your
letter. Normally the subject sentence is preceded with the word Subject:
or Re: Subject line may be emphasized by underlining, using bold font,
or all captial letters. It is usually placed one line below the greeting but
alternatively can be located directly after the "inside address,"
before the "greeting."
Notice the
difference of writing ' subject' between british english and american english
as under this:
- British English
Located
between greeting and Content Letter, as follows :
Dear Mr. Hunt
Subject: Request No. 145
Referring to your ...
b.
American English
Located
before greeting, as follows :
Subject: Request No. 145
Dear Mr. Hunt:
Referring to your ...
7. BODY OF LETTER
The body is where you explain why
you’re writing. It’s the main part of the business letter. Make sure the
receiver knows who you are and why you are writing but try to avoid starting
with "I". Use a new paragraph when you wish to introduce a new idea
or element into your letter. Depending on the letter style you choose,
paragraphs may be indented. Regardless of format, skip a line between
paragraphs.
8.
COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
Complimentary close are very closely connected with
the salutation. Usually there are a few rules of the game that we have to pay
attention. Served and also different between British English and American
English as the following explanation:
British English
·
If you use the recipient's name on the salutation,
then hail the complimentary close is “ Yours
sincerely “ or “ Sincerely yours
“.
·
If you don’t use the recipient's name on the salutation,
then hail the complimentary close is “ Yours faithfully " or "
Faithfully yours "
American English
Use the “ sincerely” or a “ yours is
sincerely “ for all cases, namely you want to use the name of the receiver
or not.
9. SIGNATURE
The signature is the last part of
the letter. You should sign your first and last names. The signature line may
include a second line for a title, if appropriate. The signature should start
directly above the first letter of the signature line in the space between the
close and the signature line.
Example :
10.
ENCLOSURE
This section is only rendered if there are
attachments-attachments will be included in the business. The writing of the
Enclosure or attachment helps the author, recipient, and the Secretary to
know-attachment the attachment observe the completeness that is included. If
attachments-attachments is incomplete or does not correspond to the written,
the control can be easily done, as for writing variation can be observed in the
example Enclosure:
Enclosures :
1. Contract
2. Cheque
3. Memo
11. POSTSCRIPT
To add information not necessarily
related to the letter, like a personal note, include a postscript (P.S.) at the
bottom.
Example :
P.S. The de-stapling machine works better than I would
have believed possible.
(Letters of E.B. White, rev. ed., edited by Dorothy Lobrano White and
Martha White. HarperCollins, 2006)
12. CARBON
COPY NOTATION
Notation
letters ( carbon copy notation ) only wrote when the writing of letters will
convey duplicate the letter to certain parties, with the content of formats,
and everything exactly equal to mail pieces original. In penulisannya, carbon
copy notation can abbreviated to cc followed colon or point two, or can with an
cc ( small type ) are also followed mark point two.
Example : cc : Headmaster
cc : President
Directur
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_(message)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_letter
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/basic-parts-business-letter-216.html
http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/business-letter-parts.html
http://ismailmidi.com/english-546408-business-letter.html
http://iyank90.blogspot.com/2011/11/revisi-2-finish-english-business-letter_02.html
