Unit one Business Letter Writing Principles of business

Unit one Business Letter Writing Principles of business letter writing 1）The first principle is clearness 清楚 : In order to achieve that you should not convey more than one idea in a sentence. You should not introduce more than one topic in a paragraph. You should not deal with more than one matter in a letter.

2）The second principle is conciseness 简要: Try to make your message brief and to the point. Avoid using long words and sentences. Use daily expressions to replace jargons. Express yourself in an orderly and logical way. A good business letter should be natural, human and easy to read. Here are some examples:

Instead of saying: We should be obliged if you could contact Mr Smith at an early date. You say: Please contact Mr Smith soon. Instead of saying: With reference to your Order 319, the goods were dispatched on the 13 of this month. You say: We sent your Order 319 on 13 April.

3) The third principle is correctness 正确: You have to make sure that both the language and facts are correct. In terms of language, you should make sure that you make no grammatical mistakes. Pay attention to punctuation for it will affect the meaning of the sentence

Our shop, in Canada, was destroyed by fire. 在加拿大我们的商店被烧毁了。 From this sentence, we know that the writer has only one shop. Our shop in Canada was destroyed by fire. 我们在加拿大的商店被烧毁了。 Here we know that the writer has more than one shop. You should also make sure that there are no typing mistakes. Pay special attention to numbers, such as quantity, price and so on.

4)The last principle is courtesy礼貌 : This is more than politeness. A good business letter should be positive, friendly and sincere. Instead of saying: I am in receipt of your order for 1, 000 tons of Black Tea. You say: Thank you for your order for 1, 000 tons of Black Tea.

Adopt “you approach” when you convey a good news. Instead of saying: We shall be able to offer you free customer service for your newly purchased refrigerator for 3 years. You say: You will be pleased to hear that you will soon be able to have a free customer service for your newly purchased refrigerator for 3 years.

Avoid using “you approach” when conveying bad news. In this situation, you have to handle it tactfully. Instead of saying: ‘Your letter is not clear at all. I cannot understand it. ’ You say: ‘If I understand your letter correctly…. ’

How to learn this course • First, you need to have a good command of English. • Then, pay attention to the special terms in this course. • The best way to learn it is to read more and write more. • In this way you will have a better understanding of what you have learned and be able to use them. It is a good idea to recite some letters. It will help you a lot when you write business letters yourself.

Layout of the business letter • Full-blocked layout style, blocked layout style and semi-blocked layout style are commonly used. •

The full-blocked layout style has no indentation. Everything is ranged left. There is no punctuation in the address and after the salutation and the complimentary close. Use single space within the paragraph. Use double spaces between paragraphs. If you have quotations or a list of something, you should start a new paragraph, with 5 -space indentations on the left. Mark this part out by leaving one line space between this paragraph and the rest of the letter. This style is widely used today because it is easy to type and therefore efficient.

This is similar to the Full-blocked layout style but the date is placed on the right. The Subject is centered. The complimentary close and the signature start from the middle.

Structure • • • Letterhead 信头 Date 日期 Inside name and address 封内地址 The salutation 称呼 Subject heading or caption 事由 The body of the letter 正文 Complimentary close 结束语 Signature 签名 Miscellaneous matters 其他事项

1) The letterhead Companies usually have paper with printed letterhead, which includes the company’s name, address, postcode, telephone number, telex number, fax number, email address etc. The printed letterhead is usually centered. Here I’d like to remind you that the address in the letterhead is the address of the sender not the recipient. This is important when you have to write the letterhead yourself.

2)The date (日期) A. The date should be placed two lines below the letterhead. For the fullblocked style, you put it on the left. For the blocked or semi-blocked you put it on the right. B. The date should be typed in full and not abbreviated September , not Sept. October, not Oct.

C. Do not give the dates in figures for they may cause confusion. For the date, use 1, 2, 3, 4. D. Here are the recommended forms. Stick to one form once you have chosen it. There is no comma between the month and the year in British English. 3 April 2000 (British English. ) April 3, 2000 (American English

3) The inside name and address. This is the name and address of the recipient. It is typed at the left-hand margin two lines below the date. Courtesy titles are used in business correspondence, such as Mr. , Mrs. and Miss. If you do not know whether a lady is married or not, use Ms. All these are followed by family names. If you do not know whether the recipient is a man or a woman, use Dear Madam or Sir. They are not followed by family names.

If you know the appropriate departmental head, you’d better address the letter to him or her, by his official title not by his or her name. Thus a letter concerning purchasing should be addressed to: The Sales Manager, the recipient’s address. Dear Sir,

When the recipient holds a special title, such as Doctor, Professor, address him/her by this title: Prof. Smith. Dr. James White / James White, MD But not Dr. James White, MD

4). The salutation is the polite greeting with which a letter begins. The expression you use depends on your relationship with the recipient. You may use formal salutation if you write to a company and do not know who to address to. In this case you use Dear Sirs, and in America people like to use Gentlemen. If you know the person you are writing to, you may use informal salutation. Dear Mr. Green,

Formal: Dear Sir Dear Madam Dear Sirs Gentlemen Informal: Dear Mr Green Dear Mrs Green Dear Miss Green Dear Ms Green

If you do not know whether a man or a woman will read your letter, you may write Dear Madam or Sir/Dear Sir or Madam: Dear Madam or Sir Dear Sir or Madam You cannot use Sir/Sirs alone. You have to use dear to go with Sir/Sirs but Gentlemen is used alone and cannot be used in the singular. The salutation is two lines below the inside address without any indentation.

5). The subject heading or caption The subject heading is often placed one line below the salutation. It can be put on the left or in the middle depending on whether the letter is full-blocked, blocked or semi-blocked. This is used to call reader’s attention to the topic of the letter, therefore it is a good idea to underline it or make it in boldface letters. You can write the subject in the following ways:

A: Underline your subject like this: Dear Dr. Jones, Re: Applying for a position Subject: Applying for a position

B: Make your subject in boldface letters Dear Dr. Jones, Re: Applying for a position Subject: Applying for a position

C: Omit the words Re and Subject: Dear Dr. Jones, Applying for a position

6) The body of the letter You may use the first person singular: I have received your application and shall be bringing it before the Board for consideration this week. You may also use the first person plural: We have received your application and shall be considering it at a board meeting this week. You can even use the impersonal passive: Your application has been received and will be considered by the Board this week.

You should plan you letter carefully. If you are replying a letter, begin your letter by referring to the previous correspondence. If this is the first time to contact, you may begin by introducing yourself and then state the purpose of your writing. If you have several matters to talk about, especially if such matters are not dealt with in the same department of the company, do not talk about them in one letter.

What is the purpose of the letter? What is your expectation? What language should you use to achieve your purpose? Is this the first time you discuss the matter or you have talked about it before? Do you have all the information you need? What is your company’s policy concerning the matter you are dealing with?

If a second page is necessary, do not write only the signature on the second page. You should try to remove part of the letter from the first page to the second by leaving more room between the letter head and the date ; between the date and the inside address; and leave more room for the hand written signature. Write “to be continued” on the bottom right hand side of the first page.

The second page should be written on a blank paper with the same kind of texture and the color as the first page. Write the page number, name of the recipient and the date and, like this: Page 2 The Universal Trading Co. , February 10, 2000

or Mr. James Smith Page 2 March 2, 2000 When writing a letter, leave enough space for both the left and the right margins, each having 30 --34 mm.

7). The complimentary close is merely a polite way of ending a letter. The expression used must suit the occasion and match the salutation. Formal: Dear Sir(s) Yours faithfully Gentlemen Truly yours Less formal: Dear Mr. Jones Yours sincerely

8). The signature A letter should be signed by hand in ink. As many hand-written signatures are illegible, the name of the signer is usually typed below the signature and followed by his job title or position. Leave 3 lines for a handwritten signature. Letters predominantly in the first person singular are signed by the name of the writer.

Letters in the first person plural or impersonal passive are usually signed with the name of the firm. Below the name of the firm is the writer’s name. Only the person who can represent the company is able to sign on behalf of the company. If that person is not available, then the person who is given the authority to sign can sign for the company. In this case you use pp or per pro, or you may use ‘for’.

For a person who has been given the authority to sign. （由得到公司授权可以 代表公司签字的人签署） Yours faithfully for/pp The Overseas Co. Ltd (Signature) W. Black Marketing director

b. For a person who has the authority to represent the company to sign. （由有权代表公司的人签署） Yours sincerely, (Signature) B Davis Managing Director The Overseas Co. Ltd

c. The letter is signed by a person in his official capacity to indicate the exact degree of authority. （由具体表明其权限 的人签署） Yours sincerely, The Overseas Co. Ltd (Signature) Philip Wang The Assistant Sales Manager

9). Miscellaneous matters 1）Carbon copy副本抄送 In this case you write cc below the signature at the left margin. CC is the abbreviation of carbon copy. Yours faithfully for The Overseas Co. Ltd (Signature) W. Black Marketing director c. c. Mr. J. Cooper

2)Enclosure附件 If you have enclosure, it is placed below the carbon copy. Enclosure can be abbreviated as Enc. cc Mr. J. Cooper 2 Invoices enclosed or 3 Enc. /Enclosures 3 or Enclosure: 1 B/Lading

3)Postscript附笔 Do not use postscript unless you want to add a personal touch to your letter. It is placed one line below the enclosure. In most cases, postscript is regarded as a sign of poor planning. If it is necessary write in ink like this: P. S. See you at the Exhibition at the Hillside Plaza on January 10.

4)Reference number 编号 A firm or company usually assigns a reference to correspondence, and this is intended for quotation in the reply. This ensures that the reply goes to the right man, or in a large organization may be the key to a complicated filing system. Companies have different ways to form their reference numbers. These numbers should be quoted in the letters of reply. They are usually placed on the top left-hand side opposite the date.

How to write envelops: Mr. Johnson Green Public Commerce Information Service Bldg. 14, Part 3 Fangxingyuan, Fangzhuang, Beijing, China Mr. Bill White B. Wallace &. Co. Registered 236 St. Louis Street New York 10202, N. Y. USA

The Category of Business Letters • • • Confidential机密信 Registered挂号信 Private 私人信 Express 快递邮件 Sample Post 样品邮件 Parcel Post 包裹邮件

Sometimes you may see an envelope with c/o, which means ‘care of’. 由…转 交 Mr. Charles Wood c/o The Sales Manager Percy Astins & Co Ltd 12 King’s Avenue RICHMOND Surrey TW 6 ISJ Britain

Exercises • Exercises on the book • Writing • Homework