BUSINESS LETTERS

Block style
There are many ways to lay out a business letter. The letters from Intercity Bank are examples of a modern way, called “block style”. Notice:
the name and address of the addressee are at the top on the left (The addressee is the person you are writing to.)
the date is on the right
there is no punctuation in the address or after “Yours faithfully/sincerely” or “Dear…”
the paragraphs are started at the margin and there are line spaces between them
the writer’s name and title are under the signature.
There are also some other ways of laying out business letters, but “block style” is the most useful to learn because it is accepted everywhere.

Senders address (without name)
including phone number and e-mail
Our ref
Your ref
Date
Recipients name
Recipients address
Opening salutation
Letter text
Complimentary close (usually I/We look forward to hearing from you)
Yours ___________
Signature (by hand)
Senders name (typed out)
Senders position in the company
Enc. (Encl.)

The date
Be careful with the date! In Britain, they write the date first, but in the United States they write the month first. This means that
12 06 08
is the twelfth of June in Britain but in the United States it is the sixth of December! So write the date like this:
23 January 2001 or January 23, 2001 if you write to the USA
Remember to use a capital letter for the month. You do not have to write th, rd, nd or st after the day.

use Our ref. and Your ref. only if you and the recipient use a letter filing system
start your letter with Dear Sir/Madam if you do not know the recipient by name or
Dear Sirs if you write to an institution. Then close your letter with Yours faithfully

start your letter with e.g. Dear Mr. Brown or
Dear Ms. Jameson if you know the recipient
by name. Then close your letter with
Yours sincerely
preferably use Ms when writing to a female
recipient unless otherwise stated in the letter
you have already received from her
write Enc. or Encl. in the bottom left corner of
our letter if you want to send something else together with your letter

How would you write these dates in a letter?
a) Jan.16th, 1988
b) 6/11/03 (UK)
c) 21.1.98
d) 23rd March 2008
e) 09-07-00 (USA)
f) 04.08.87 (USA)

Dear…/Yours…
Here are some ways to open a letter.

check yourselves

The way you close a letter depends on how you open it.

Subject headings
The letter to Jakarta Furnishings (1.1) has a heading, Office furniture. This says what the letter is about. It will help Mr Basuki give the letter to the right person. Often, when we put a heading we then use the word above or above-mentioned, like this:
Dear Mr Chang
Order N9, 239
The above-mentioned order of books has now arrived.
Please can you come and collect it as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely
Mr Michael Paine
Sub-Manager

Put in the missing openings and closings
a )The Manager
Fuchi Bank
Tokyo
Dear……….
Yours………
b)
Dear John
…………..

c) Ms В Carrillo
Restaurante iBien Padre
Guadalajara
Dear…………
……………….
d) The Manageress
Bells Supermarket
76 Oxford Road
Bath BA2 5HD
……………………..
………………………

e) Trufit Shoe Co.
841 Pacific St
Los Angeles
…………………
………………….
f) Mrs H Cheng
5 Hatton Road
Hong Kong
…………………….
……………………..

There are ten mistakes in this letter. Can you find them? Write out the letter correctly, in block style.
Island World Holidays
1-81 North Street
London W1M2FW
Теl. 01-676 9096
Miss Margareta Lindell,.
Slottaberget 26,
Goteborg 41803,
Sweden.
Your ref:
Our ref: FH/ts
Dear Sir
Thank you for your letter of the nineteenth of May nineteen hundred and eighty-seven.
I have pleasure in sending you our brochure with details of all our holidays.
I look forward to hearing from you.
2001, may 22nd.
Best wishes
Sales Manager
Fred Henderson

Dear valued customer,
You have been our customer since we opened our business last year. It's in our records and we would like to thank you for your patronage. To celebrate our success we are inviting all our valued customers and other delegates this Sunday.
The event will be showcased at 6 p.m. Our products will be discounted at 50% on that day. We will be grateful to you for accepting the gift vouchers from our side. Coffee and snacks will be served at the evening.
We look forward to see you on Sunday. For admittance, kindly bring the invitation with you.
Sincerely,
Signature,
Name,