1. Sender's address in a business letter

Don't write your address if you use paper with a ready-printed sender's address.

If you write your own address, only give the following information: house number, street, area code, place, country, telephone. (Don't include your name here; in English the name is only put at the end of the letter.)

Note: The order for sender's addresses in English is: house number, street, area code, place. If the order is different in your culture, keep to the structure used in your country, don't adopt the English way.

British English

Position: In British English, the sender's address is usually placed in the top right corner of the letter.

American English

Position: In American English the sender's address is usually placed in the top left corner, below the date, or at the end of the letter, below the signature..

Sender's address below the date:

Sender's address below the signature:

Here are some more examples of addresses:

2. Date in a business letter

The date line is used to indicate the date the letter was written. However, if your letter is completed over a number of days, use the date it was finished in the date line.

Dates in Written English

British English

In British English the day is usually put before the month. If you wish, you can add the ending of the ordinal number. The preposition of before the month is usually dropped. You can put a comma before the year, but this is not common anymore in British English.

Example: 5(th) (of) October(,) 2004

American English

In American English the month is usually put before the day. If you wish, you can put the definite article before the day. It is common to write a comma before the year.

Example: October (the) 5(th), 2004

You can also write the date by using numbers only. The most common forms are:

Example: 5/10/04 or 5-10-04

Note, however, that 5/10/04 usually means 5 October 2004 in British English and May 10, 2004 in American English. To avoid any possible confusion, you should spell out the month or use the abbreviation.

The date can go in one of two places – beneath your address or beneath the reader’s address.

It is always best to write the month in full because the British dating system is different to the American dating system (eg: 8/10/2002 is 8th October 2002 in Britain but August 10th in America).

Note that you do not need to write ‘the’ or ‘of’ in a date (eg: ‘the 16th of October’ October 2004.

British English

Write: 30 October 2003

Position: on the right, one line below the sender's address (in letters with a ready-printed sender's address, the date can also be put in the top left corner)

American English

Write: October 30, 2003

Position: top left corner (sometimes centred)

3. Recipient's address in a business letter/Inside Address

The inside address is the recipient’s address. It is always best to write to a specific individual at the firm to which you are writing. If you do not have the person’s name, do some research by calling the company or speaking with employees from the company. Include a personal title such as Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Dr. Follow a woman’s preference in being addressed as Miss, Mrs., or Ms. If you are unsure of a woman’s preference in being addressed, use Ms. If there is a possibility that the person to whom you are writing is a Dr. or has some other title, use that title. Usually, people will not mind being addressed by a higher title than they actually possess.

To write the address, use the U.S. Post Office Format. For international addresses, type the name of the country in all-capital letters on the last line. The inside address begins one line below the sender’s address or one inch below the date. It should be left justified, no matter which format you are using.

Ms / Miss / Mrs / Mr / Dr ...

house number, street

place

area code

COUNTRY (in capital letters)

In American English, the area code is usually at the same level as the place, separated by a comma.

Position: on the left

British English

In British English, the recipient's address starts on the same line as the date or one line below the date.

American English

In American English, the recipient's address starts two lines below the sender's address (or two lines below the date if the sender's address isn't placed in the top left corner).

4. Attention

With formal letters, the "Attention: [full name of recipient]" is placed two spaces below the inside address.

5. Salutation in a business letter / opening greeting ‎

Salutation

Use the same name as the inside address, including the personal title. If you know the person and typically address them by their first name, it is acceptable to use only the first name in the salutation (i.e., Dear Lucy:). In all other cases, however, use the personal title and full name followed by a colon. Leave one line blank after the salutation.

If you don’t know a reader’s gender, use a nonsexist salutation, such as "To Whom it May Concern." It is also acceptable to use the full name in a salutation if you cannot determine gender. For example, you might write Dear Chris Harmon: if you were unsure of Chris's gender.

Names

Although rules have relaxed over the years, it is still important to address someone correctly. This will depend on your relationship with the reader:

Informal or Neutral: Dear Peter: …

Formal: Dear Mr. Galanaugh: …

The formal style is reserved for customers, members of the public or people in high authority. Unless a man is entitled to a different style, such as Rev. or Dr., then a man should be addressed as Mr (ie: Mr Grant). Never write out the title in full (ie: Mister Grant’ is wrong). The greeting should always end in a colon (:), not a comma.

When writing to a woman, you need to be aware of her marital status.

Married women: Mrs Collins

Status unknown: Ms Peterson

These days some women prefer to use the title Ms because they do not wish to reveal their marital status. Always check which title she has used in previous correspondence. If you’re not sure then the safest option is always Ms. If you know the person's name:

Dear Ms / Miss / Mrs / Mr / Dr + surname

Dear Mr Miller

You can also write the person's full name. In this case, leave out the title (Mr/Mrs). This way of writing the salutation is very handy if you don't know the gender of the person.

Dear Chris Miller