1 This is how a business school teacher is explaining the parts of a business letter to a student:

T.:

Well then, your company's name and address is printed at the top of the letter.

This is called the letterhead. And the person you are writing to is the reader.

S.:

I see. So the letterhead's at the top of the letter, and the reader's name and address is on the left.

T.:

That's right. Below the reader's name and address are the references.

S.:

Oh yes. "Ref" is short for "reference", I suppose.

T.:

Yes. The references are usually the initials of the writer's name and the secretary's name. In this

letter JB stands for Joy Bradley and SY stands for Simon Young. Now, what is there on the right?

S.:

The twenty - third of January, two thousand and nine. It's the date.

T.:

Yes. The date's on the right. Now, on the left, under the references is the opening salutation.

S.:

The opening salutation is "Dear Ms Meiners"?

T.:

Yes. And below the opening salutation is the body of the letter - this is what you really want to write.

S.:

So the body of the letter is between the opening salutation and the closing salutation.

T.:

Yes. "Yours sincerely" is the closing salutation.

S.:

And then there is the signature and the writer's name and the writer's position in the firm.

T.:

That's right. The signature is above the writer's name and the name is above the writer's position

in the firm. What's Simon Young's position?

S.:

He's a sales assistant.

T.:

Right.

S.:

What does "Encl" mean at the bottom?

T.:

It stands for "enclosure". It means something is enclosed with the letter.

S.:

Oh I see. In this letter the enclosure is the catalogue.

T.:

Right.