the essential parts of the business letter

8/7/2019 The Essential Parts of the Business Letter

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The Essential Parts of the Business Letter

The Heading: the letterhead and

date.

The Inside Address.

The Salutation.

The Body of the Letter.

The Complimentary Close.

The Signature.

Saudi Cable Company

200 King Abdullah Road

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 11220

October 20, 2006

AL-Fowaz and Broths, Co.

110 New Street

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2600

Gentlemen:

??????????????????????????????????

??????????????????????????????????

???????????????.

Sincerely yours,

Ali Ahemed

Ali AL Ahemed


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Heading (letterhead and date)

It is usually printed, showing the nameand address.

The date is typed two spaces below

the last line of the letterhead.

The exact position of the date

depends on the design of theletterhead and the style of the typing.

If the heading not printed, it must be typed in the upper right-hand part of the lettersheet, with at least an inch margin at the top and to the right.

The words avenue, street, etc., are not abbreviated.

Saudi Cable Company



October 20, 2006


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Numbered streets up to ten are spelled out, but numberedstreets beyond ten are written in figures.

Do not use st, nd, rdor th when figures are used for numberedstreets or for days of the month in the dates.

The name of cities must be written in full, but the name ofstates should be abbreviated.

Be sure to include the ZIP Code.

Do not abbreviate the names of the month in the date line andplace a comma between the day of the month and the year.


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The Inside Address

It gives the name and addressof the firm or individual to whom

the letter is addressed.

It is placed at the left-hand side of

the sheet, at least two spaces belowthe heading.

The inside address must occupy

at least three lines.

The exact position of the inside addressdepends on the length of the letter and

the size of the sheet.

Saudi Cable Company



October 20, 2006


110 New Street



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Regardless of the letter style, such words as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., etc., mustalways appear before the name.

if the person to which the letter addressed has an official or business title,this should appear after the name, either next to it or on the following line.

Do not abbreviate official or business title.

If there is apartment, room, or suite number, it should be placed after thestreet address on the same line.


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The body of the letter

A business letter should be clear, concise,

and direct. It is suggested that:

make sure that the subject matter of the

letter is presented in well-organizedparagraph.

Use words that are in common, accepted

usage, avoid slang or trite expressions.

be careful of the spelling of the words.

Use capital letters where necessary andpunctuate to make your meaning clear.

It is advisable to keep copies of business letters for future reference.


110 New Street


Gentlemen:

?????????????????????????

?????????????????????????

?????????????????????????

?????.


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The complimentary close.

It is placed two spaces below the body

of the letter.

It appears at the right-hand side of

the sheet except in the full-block

style in which appears at the left-hand margin.

It is omitted when the simplified style is used.

Only the first word of the complimentary closeis capitalized.

A comma is placed at the end, except when open punctuation

is used.

?????????????????????????

????????????????????????

???????????????.

Sincerely yours,


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The signature.

it is placed directly below

the complimentary close.

It must be handwritten in ink, and

legible.

No punctuation follows the signature. Titles or degrees, such as Mr.,

Ph.D., etc., are not used in with

the signature.

The name of person who

signing the letters is typed four spaces

below the complimentary closing. If the simplified style is used the complimentary

close is omitted and the signature line is typed four spaces below the body.

?????????????????????????

????????????????????????

???????????????.

Sincerely yours,

Ali ALahmed

Ali ALahmed

Manager

--------------------------------------------

Sincerely yours,

Saudi Gulf Co.


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An official title, if used, is placed directly below the typewritten name.

In business letters, if the pronoun W is used instead of I, the name of thefirm appears before the writers signature. The firms name is typed two

spaces below the complimentary closing followed by the writers name four

spaces below the firms name.

When a secretary signs the employers name to a letter the employerdictated, the secretary places his or her initials directly below the

handwritten signature.

When a secretary signs a letter in his or her own name, he or she indicates

that.


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Some Special Features of the Business Letter

The personal notation

The reference line

The attention line

The subject line

The identification line

The enclosure notation

The mailing notation

The carbon copy distribution notation

The postscript


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The personal notation

If the letter is a confidential, and it is

wanted to be read only by

a particular person, the word personal

or confidential is used .

such notation should appear four spaces

above the inside address as well as in the envelop.

The reference line

It can refer to a bill, an order, a code or

a letter.

It is typed four spaces below the date line.

Date

Personal

INSIDE ADDRESS

Date

Refer to File No. 550

INSIDE ADDRESS


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The attention line

if you want your letter is directed to the

attention of a particular person, use the attention

line. It is placed two spaces below the inside

address and two spaces above the salutation.It may be flush with the left-hand margin

indented five spaces, or centred.

Because the letter directed to the firm, a plural salutation is required.

The subject line

It indicates the subject matter of the letterand makes it unnecessary to devote the first

paragraph to giving this information.

this line is generally centred on the same with

the salutation or two spaces below.

If the full block style is used, type the subject line flush with the left handmargin two spaces below the salutation. Place a colon after the wordSubject anduse initialcapital letters for all important words. If the simplifiedstyle is used, the subject line is typed in all capital letters, but Subject:isomitted.

INSIDE ADDRESS

Attention Mr. AL ahemd

Gentlemen:

SALUTATION ---------Subject:or

Subject: Shipping Policy


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The identification line.

It made up of the initials of the name of

the person who dictated the letter and those

of the secretary or typist. The initials may

be in capital letters, in all small letters, or in

capitalized letters for dictator and small letters

for the secretary or typist. It is usually typed two spaces below the signature,

flush with the left-hand margin.

The enclosure notation.

when the letter has enclosure, the notation is typed directly below the

identification line, flush with the left-hand margin. Either the entire word

enclosure, or its abbreviation, Enc. Or Encl. be used. If there is more than

one enclosure, the number should be indicated.

// signature //

SJW: am

Enclosure or

2 Encls.


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The mailing notation.

This notation states the method of mailing: whether the letter is sent registered,

airmail, special deliveryetc,.

it is typed directly below the identification

line or enclosure notation. It serves as a record

to indicate that the letter was sent by other than

regular mail.

The carbon copy distribution notation.this notation states that a carbon copy of the letter is being sent to another person. It

is typed two spaces below all other notation, flush with the left hand margin. Either

the word Copy to or the abbreviation cc: may be used.

The blind carbon copy notation (bcc:) is used when the addressor does not wish to

indicate the distribution of the carbon copies to the addressee. It appears on allinternal copies, but not on the letter sent to the addressee.

// signature //

SJW: am

Enclosure or

2 Encls.

Special Delivery

cc: Mr. Saad


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The Forms and Mechanics of Business

Letters

Letter Forms Block Form:

Semi-block

The Complete-block

Simplified Letter

The Hanging-indention From


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The Block Form

It is the most widely used form today.

the block form takes its name

from the fact that the inside

address, the salutation, and

the paragraphs of the letter are

arranged in blocks without indention.

Two spaces between each unit anda single space within

the unit.

///////// Letterhead //////////

///////////////////////////////////////

Date

////////////////////////////////

//// Inside Address////

///Salutation///

//////////////////////////////////////////////

////////////////The Body ////////////

/////////////////////////////.

Complementary

Signature


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The open form of punctuation should always accompany theblockform.

The block form offers two definite advantage:It offers time saving, because each part of letter except the date, the

complimentary closing, and the signature is aligned with the left-hand

margin.

Second, it is widely acceptable today.


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The Semi-block

This form is exactly like the block form

except for the indention of paragraphs.

Most general practice is to indent 10

spaces.

Many typists let the salutation governthe spaces in the indention.

For instance, if the salutation and

the name of the individual whom

the letter addressed to occupy 20 space,

the spaces in the indention will be 20

space.

///////// Letterhead //////////

/////////////////////////////////////

Date

////////////////////////////////


///Salutation///

indention //////////////////////////////

////////////////The Body ////////////

/////////////////////////////.

//Complementary close//

//Signature//


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The Complete-block

The basic principle of this form is tobring all the elements of the letter to

the left-hand margin.

///////// Letterhead //////////

/////////////////////////////////////

// Date//

////////////////////////////////


///Salutation///

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

///////////////////////////////////////

////////////////The Body ////////////

/////////////////////////////.

//Complementary Close//

// Signature//


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Simplified letter

The main characteristics of this form are

The complete elimination of the salutation

and complimentary close and the left-hand

format, which is in general like that of the

complete-block.

///////// Letterhead //////////

/////////////////////////////////////

// Date//

////////////////////////////////


/////////////////////////////////////////////////

////////////////////The Body ////////////

//////////////////////////////.

// Signature//


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The hanging-indention form

It is acceptable in sales letters. The block form

with open punctuation is used in the inside

address; within the body of the letter, the first

line in each paragraph is brought out to the left

margin, but every other line in each paragraphis indented five spaces. This form is effective

in attracting attention because of its different

arrangement from the common letter

arrangement.

//////////// Letterhead //////////

//////////////////////////////////////////

Date

////////////////////////////////


///Salutation///

////////////////////////////////////////////////////

////////////////The Body ////////////

////////////////////////////////////////////////////.

/////////////////////////////////////////////

Complementary

Signature


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Mechanics of the Letter

Arrange and center the letter on the page for symmetry and balancedappearance.

Select letterhead and stationery on the basis of simplicity of design andquality.

In the salutation and complimentary close capitalize only the first letter of thefirst word, except for proper names and titles.

The salutation and the complimentary close should agree in tone.

Punctuate the salutation with a colon (:) and complimentary close with acomma (,).

Company policy should determine the signature.

Signature should be legible.

The date is usually written in the upper right-hand margin.

The salutation should agree with the first line of the inside address.

The second page of the letter should not be on letterhead paper and shouldbe clearly numbered.

The initials of the dictator and the stenographer as well as a reference to anyenclosures should be indicated at the bottom of the letter.

Envelopes should give the compete address.

the essential parts of the business letter

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