Unit 1. The Layout of the Letter.

Letter writing is an essential part of business communication. Business letters may be divided into official and semi-official. The official letter is a formal communication between people or companies and it is written to conduct some sort of business. But many people want to buy something or to accept an invitation – this is a kind of semi-official letters. The business letters may be subdivided into such groups as: inquires, offers, orders, and so on.

It is important to remember that a business letter is an official document. Of course, there are many other communications between people and companies, for instance telephone conversations, meetings and presentations, but the business letter is the most powerful communications tool for providing structured and considered information in a formal way.

When writing a business letter, you should follow the format of a standard business letter. Keep the letter to one page. Business people are busy and do not appreciate unnecessarily long letters. Most business letters are less than one A4 page long. The typical business letter usually consists of about 7 essential parts:

and 4 additional parts of the letter:

The heading of the letter contains the full address of the sender. Most companies have letterhead with this information already imprinted. The inside address coincides with the address that appears on the envelope and contains the name, title and address of person to whom you are writing. The salutation should be consistent with the whole tone. The body of the letter is where you write the purpose of the letter. The complimentary close should be relevant to the tone of the letter and the salutation. And, your signature should be hand written legibly below the complimentary close.

Study the following table:

Ms. [mez] or [miz] – должностное лицо, женщина, чье семейное положение вам не известно. В деловой переписке важно использовать Ms вместоMrs. или Miss. (Mrs. – замужняя женщина, Miss – незамужняя женщина, Mr. [mistә] – обращение к мужчине, Messrs [mesәz] –используется при адресации к двум или более мужчинам. Mmes [`meidæm] – используется при адресации к двум или более женщинам.

Если письмо обращено к должностному лицу, имя которого неизвестно, то название должности пишется с большой буквы и употребляется определенный артикль: The Chairman председателю. Если известны и фамилия и должность адресата, то артикль не ставится. Mr. D. Brown, Chief Executive – мистеру Д. Брауну, исполнительному директору.

Текст большинства писем состоит из трех частей. После приветствия или обращения ("Уважаемый г-н...") следует начало основного текста, где говорится о причинах обращения; в главной части текста сообщается о деталях (подробностях); в завершающей части делаются выводы, сообщается о планах на будущее и т.д.

В первой части могут использоваться следующие фразы:

–... Мы пишем, чтобы узнать (навести справки) о... (... We are writing to inquire about...);

– Мы пишем в связи с... (We are writing in connection on with...);

– Мы интересуемся (заинтересованы) и хотели бы узнать... (We are interested in... and we would like to know...) и т.п.

Предложение, содержащее основное сообщение, может начинаться такими словами:

– Мы хотим сообщить... (We would advise...);

– С удовольствием сообщаю, что... (It is my pleasure...);

– Имеем честь сообщить Вам, что... (We bed to inform you that...) и т.п.

Просьба сообщить необходимую информацию начинается словами:

– Сообщите, пожалуйста,... (Could you please tell me...);

– Пожалуйста, сообщите... (Please let me know if...);

– Я был бы рад узнать... (I should be glad to know if...) и т.п.

Письмо-ответ может начинаться с таких фраз:

– Благодарю Вас за письмо от (дата).. (Thank you for your letter of (date)...);

– Мы получили Ваше письмо (дата)... (We have received your letter of (date)...) и т.п.

В деловой переписке используются следующие выражения благодарности и внимания:

– Очень любезно с Вашей стороны... (It is very kind of you to...);

– Пишу, чтобы поблагодарить Вас за... (I am writing to thank you very much indeed for...);

– Позвольте воспользоваться случаем, чтобы поблагодарить Вас... (May I take this opportunity of thanking you for...);

– Благодарим за Ваш большой вклад в... (Thank you for contributing so much to...);

– Примите, пожалуйста, мою искреннюю (глубокую) благодарность за Вашу помощь... (Please, accept me sincere (deep) appreciation for your help...) и т.п.

Извинения могут начинаться такими словами:

– Мы должны извиниться за... (We must apologise for...);

– Мы извиняемся за... (We apologise for...);

– Мы очень огорчены из-за того, что... (We are extremely sorry for...);

– Хочу принести свои самые искренние извинения за... (I wish to offer me sincere apologies for...) и т.п.

После изложения основной причины письма, деталей и подробностей приводятся заключительные фразы:

– Буду ждать Ваш ответ... (I look forward to receiving your soon reply...);

– С нетерпением жду ответа... (Looking forward to hearing from you...)

В заключительной части может быть дана оценка приведенной в письме информации:

– Надеюсь, что эта информация Вам поможет (I hope that this information will help you);

– Пожалуйста, без колебаний свяжитесь со мной, если Вам нужна более подробная информация (Please, do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further information) и т.п.

Если Вы в начале письма обращаетесь к адресату по имени, то закончить письмо нужно Yours sincerely (GB), Sincerely yours (US). Если Вы не знаете имени адресата и обращаетесь нейтрально Dear Sir/Madam и т.д., то в конце письма должно стоять Yours faithfully (US/GB).

При подписании используются такие слова и выражения: For and on behalf of – за и от имени; Per pro. (от per procuration) – по доверенности. Под подписью иногда пишутся слова Authorized Signature – лицо, имеющее право подписи.

The additional parts of the letter:

DA stands for D. Ashen. Mr. D. Ashen has signed the letter and his initials in capital letters come first in the Reference Line. They are followed by the initials – not necessarily in capital letters – of his secretary or typist (Mary Raynor).

Если вы отсылаете копии письма и другим адресатам, тогда в конце письма сделайте соответствующую отметку:

"c.c. " – carbon copies (точные копии) или Copy to….

Иногда вы не хотите, чтобы получатель вашего письма знал, что вы еще кому-то отослали копии. В этом случае внизу писем-копий вы указываете "b.c.c." – blind carbon copies (скрытые копии).

В конце письма, после подписи возможен дополнительный текст, Post Scriptum (P.S.). P.S. состоит из одного предложения.

Look at the letters:

The UK style of letter The US style of letter

Practice:

Exercise 1. This is a layout of a letter but the different parts of the letter have been replaced with boxes. You have to decide what should go in each box. Choose from the list. One has been done for you as an example.

Choose from this list:

A) Opening sentence (reason for writing)

B) Greeting/ salutation (Dear …)

C) Date

D) Signature

E) Receiver’s name and address

F) Sender’s name

G) Company logo

H) I look forward …

I) Main body of text

J) Sender’s title

K) Indication of an attachment

L) Subject heading

M) Yours …

N) Closing sentence (request for action)

Exercise 2. Look at this business letter and put the following parts of it in the correct order:

The layout of the letter:

1. … 3. … 5. … 7. … 9. … 11. …

2. … 4. … 6. … 8. … 10. … 12. …

Exercise 3. Look at this envelope. Match numbers with letters.

A) the addressee’s company name

B) the ZIP Code in the mailing address

C) the town the letter comes from

D) the ZIP Code in the return address

E) the street name in the mailing address

F) the addressee

Exercise 4. Are these addresses correct? What changes should be made?

Exercise 5. You also have business partners in different countries who would be glad to get news from you. Write their addresses on the envelope.

A) Export Division Wellhead Builders Ltd.,Mr. John K. Style is from England, London, Fen Road, 16.

B)Ms. H. Black lives in the USA (code 10213), in the state of New York, in Brooklyn, the name of the street is Lincoln Drive, 10.

C) Managing Director, USA, Office Equipment Inc., the state of Illinois, Chicago, Rue Road, 344.

D) Write your address to get an answer.

Exercise 6. Match a greeting with a suitable ending.

1. Dear Sirs A) Yours sincerely

2. Dear Mr. White B) Yours faithfully

3. Dear Gentlemen C) Sincerely yours

4. Dear Ms. White

5. Dear Sir or Madam

Exercise 7. Divide this letter correctly and fill the boxes in the letter below.

Rua Luis de Deus 18, 30 Coimbra, Portugal. 29 March 1991. The Principal, The Oxford English College, 234 Hilton Rd., Eastbourne BN43UA. Dear Sir or Madam, I saw your advertisement for English classes in this month’s English Today magazine and I am interested in coming to your school this summer. I have studied English for three years but I have never been to England. I would like to improve my pronunciation. Please, could you send me more information about your courses, and an application form? I would also like some information about accommodation. I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Yours faithfully, Ana Maria Fernandes.

Answer the questions:

1. In what other ways can you begin and end formal letters?

2. Where is Ana’s address written?

3. Where is the address of the College she’s writing to?

4. In what other way can you write the date?

5. Where does Ana sign her name?

Exercise 8. Study the letter and complete it by selecting the correct words:

a) Currently seeking, d) trading, g) represent us,

b) great deal of, e) based, h) 'Yours sincerely',

c) market, f) 'Yours faithfully', i) to speaking.

Dear Ms White

It was very nice to meet you at the exhibition in Manchester. As I explained at the time, we are (....1....) a UK (....2....) company to (....3....) in Europe.

We require a company to (....4....) our holidays as, after 5 years of successful (....5....), we are now looking to expand our operations worldwide. I understand you have a (....6....) experience in this field.

I look forward (....7....) with you soon on this matter.

(....8....)

Tony Marshall

Exercise 9. All the parts are mixed up in this letter. Put them in order. Rewrite the letter in block style.

Exercise 10. Now decide whether the following statements are true or false when writing a business letter.

1. It is normal to write Mr. John Tan in the first line of the receiver’s address, and underneath to write Dear Mr. Tan without the initial.

2. The subject heading usually comes after Dear Mr. Tan.

3. In a modern business letters Dear Mrs. Lee and Yours sincerely are followed by a comma.

4. Even if you know the person’s name, you don’t have to use it, you can still use Dear Sir/Madam.

5. Short, simple sentences are better than long complex ones.

6. Enc is used when you are sending something in addition to the letter e.g. a cheque.

7. In modern business documents punctuation is not used in the receiver’s address.

Exercise 11. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the parts of the Business letter?

2. What is "Letterhead"?

3. What is the difference between the English and American ways of writing the date?

4. What is the way of writing the inside address in English and in Russian?

5. How do the English and the Americans write the opening salutation and the complimentary closing?

6. What is the difference in placing the subject heading in English and in Russian business letter writing?

7. When is the phrase "For the attention of... " used?

8. What is the opening paragraph intended for?

9. What phrases do you know that may be used in the opening paragraph?

10. What is the main principle of dividing the letter into paragraphs?

11. What words are used to fit the paragraphs together smoothly?

12. What is the closing paragraph intended for?

13. What phrases do you know that may be used in closing paragraphs?

14. What should you remember about enclosures and why?

15. If you want a letter addressed to a firm to reach a certain person, how would you indicate this?

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