BUSINESS LETTER

BUSINESS LETTER
Business letter differs from private letter in general tone and in form. The tone of private letter is informal, personal and friendly. Business letters are sent to unknown persons and therefore they are more formal. Business letter should be written on a good paper, in correct lay-out and without mistakes. It should be clear, polite and easy to read and to understand.

Parts of business letter:

1) Head (heading) - it is usually printed, it consists of address and full name of the sender. Here can be stated also E-mail number, phone and fax number, bank-connection and other useful information.

2) Address - the word Messrs. must be written on the same line as the name of the firm. A large space is left between the name of the addressee and his full address.

The number of the house comes before the name of the street. The name of the country is written in principal letter.

3) Reference line and date - the information given on the RL helps reader find out which transaction it concerns or which letter it replies to.

4) Greeting - the usual greeting is Dear Sirs which is followed by a comma. In USA we use Dear Gentlemen followed by colon. If we know the addressee personally we may use the personal greeting (Dear Mr. Brown).

5) The body of the letter - the first line of the letter starts with principal letter although it follows a comma in the greeting.

The first line of each paragraph starts 5 spaces to the right (from the left).

6) Close of the letter and the signature - the line containing the close and the signature begins in the middle of the page.