Writing a Business Letter

Writing a Business Letter
The term "business letter" makes people nervous. Many people with English as a second language worry that their writing is not advanced enough for business writing. This is not the case. An effective letter in business uses short, simple sentences and straightforward vocabulary. The easier a letter is to read, the better. You will need to use smooth transitions so that your sentences do not appear too choppy.

The date:
July 13 1978 (Americans put the name of the month first)
13th July 1978, and
July 13th 1978

Salutation
First and foremost, make sure that you spell the recipient's name correctly. You should also confirm the gender and proper title. Use Ms. for women and Mr. for men. Use Mrs. if you are 100% sure that a woman is married. Under less formal circumstances or after a long period of correspondence it may be acceptable to address a person by his or her first name. When you don't know the name of a person and cannot find this information out you may write, "To Whom It May Concern". It is standard to use a comma (colon in North America) after the salutation.
It is also possible to use no punctuation mark at all. Here are some common ways to address the recipient:
Dear Personnel Director,
Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you don't know who you are writing to)
Dear Dr, Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have a formal relationship with - VERY IMPORTANT use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs. or Miss)
Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contact or friend)
Dear Mr. Powell,
Dear Ms/Mrs. Mackenzie,
Dear Frederick Hanson:
Dear Editor-in-Chief:
Dear Valued Customer
Dear Sir or Madam:
Dear Madam
Dear Sir,
Dear Sirs
Gentlemen:

First paragraph

in most types of business letter it is common to use a friendly greeting in the first sentence of the letter. Here are some examples:

I hope you are enjoying a fine summer.
Thank you for your kind letter of January 5th.
I came across an ad for your company in The Star today.
It was a pleasure meeting you at the conference this month.
I appreciate your patience in waiting for a response.
After your short opening, state the main point of your letter in one or two sentences:
I'm writing to enquire about...
I'm interested in the job opening posted on your company website.
We'd like to invite you to a member’s only luncheon on April 5th.

Second and third paragraphs
Use a few short paragraphs to go into greater detail about your main point. If one paragraph is all you need, don't write an extra paragraph just to make your letter look longer. If you are including sensitive material, such as rejecting an offer or informing an employee of a layoff period, embed this sentence in the second paragraph rather than opening with it. Here are some common ways to express unpleasant facts:

We regret to inform you...
It is with great sadness those we...
After careful consideration we have decided...
I am writing to inquire about
apologize for
confirm
Could you possibly?
I would be grateful if you could
I would be delighted to
Unfortunately
I am afraid that

Final paragraph
Your last paragraph should include requests, reminders, and notes on enclosures. If necessary, your contact information should also be in this paragraph. Here are some common phrases used when closing a business letter:

I look forward to...
Please respond at your earliest convenience.
I should also remind you that the next board meeting is on February 5th.
For further details...
If you require more information...
Thank you for taking this into consideration.
I appreciate any feedback you may have.
Enclosed you will find...
Feel free to contact me by phone or email.

Closing/Complementary Close
Here are some common ways to close a letter. Use a comma between the closing and your handwritten name (or typed in an email). If you do not use a comma or colon in your salutation, leave out the comma after the closing phrase:
Yours truly,
Yours sincerely,
Sincerely,
Sincerely yours
Thank you,
Best wishes
All the best,
Best of luck
Warm regards

Writing Tips
Use a conversational tone.
Ask direct questions.
Double-check gender and spelling of names.
Use active voice whenever possible.
Use polite modals (would in favor of will).
Always refer to yourself as "I".
Don't use "we" unless it is clear exactly who the pronoun refers to.
Rewrite any sentence or request that sounds vague.
Don't forget to include the date. Day-Month-Year is conventional in many countries; however, to avoid confusion, write out the month instead of using numbers (e.g. April 25th, 2009).

FORMAT LETTER

Block Format
When writing business letters, you must pay special attention to the format and font used. The most common layout of a business letter is known as block format. Using this format, the entire letter is left justified and single spaced except for a double space between paragraphs.

March 16, 2001
Ernie English
1234 Writing Lab Lane
Write City, IN 12345

Dear Mr. English,
The first paragraph of a typical business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with a friendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go into detail until the next paragraph.
Beginning with the second paragraph, state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These may take the form of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your reasoning.
Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose of your letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information. However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude for the reader's time.

Sincerely,
Lucy Letter
123 Winner's Road
New Employee Town, PA 12345

Modified Block
Another widely utilized format is known as modified block format. In this type, the body of the letter is left justified and single-spaced. However, for the date and closing, tab to the center point and begin to type

March 16, 2001

Ernie English
1234 Writing Lab Lane
Write City, IN 12345

Dear Mr. English,
The first paragraph of a typical business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with a friendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until the next paragraph.
Beginning with the second paragraph, state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These may take the form of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your reasoning.
Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose of your letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information. However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude for the reader's time.

Sincerely,
Lucy Letter

Semi-Block

The final, and least used, style is semi-block. It is much like the modified block style except that each paragraph is indented instead of left justified.

March 16, 2001

Ernie English
1234 Writing Lab Lane
Write City, IN 12345
Dear Mr. English:

(Indent) The first paragraph of a typical business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with a friendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until the next paragraph.

(Indent) Beginning with the second paragraph, state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These may take the form of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts.
A few short paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your reasoning.

(Indent) Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose of your letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information. However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude for the reader's time.

Sincerely,
Lucy Letter

Enclosing Documents

I am enclosing
Please find enclosed
Enclose you will find

Closing Remarks

Thank you for your help Please contact us again if we can help in any way.
there are any problems.
you have any questions.

Reference to Future Contact
I look forward to ...
hearing from you soon.
meeting you next Tuesday.
seeing you next Thursday.

The Finish
Yours faithfully, (If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to)
Yours sincerely, (If you know the name of the person you're writing to)
Best wishes,
Best regards, (If the person is a close business contact or friend)

SAMPLE LETTER

Ken's Cheese House

34 Chatley Avenue

Seattle, WA 98765

Tel:

Fax:

Email: kenny@cheese.com

October 23, 2006

Fred Flintstone

Sales Manager

Cheese Specialists Inc.

456 Rubble Road

Rockville, IL

Dear Mr. Flintstone,

With reference to our telephone conversation today, I am writing to confirm your order for: 120 x Cheddar Deluxe Ref. No. 856

The order will be shipped within three days via UPS and should arrive at your store in about 10 days.

Please contact us again if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely,

Kenneth Beare

Director of Ken's Cheese House

Exercises:

1. Design a letter for a company manufacturing washing machines, refrigerators and other household equipment. Include all the information about your company which is normally shown in modern letter heading.
2. Write out the following date in three or four different ways in which it might appear at the top of a business letter: the fourteenth of April nineteen-seventy-eight.
3. Make a business letter from an Australian engineering (The Jameson Construction CO.PTY Harbour Road Melbourne, Australia) to British supplier (The Aluminum Alloy Co, Ltd. 79 Prince Albert St. Birmingham B21 8 DJ Great Britain). The Australian engineering informs that this company has already seen British advertisement in The Metal worker and would kindly send the Australian engineering about the details aluminum fitting includes the price also indicate delivery times, terms of payment, and details of discount for regular and large orders. The buyer of Australian engineering is H. Smithers.