'Martinaw Musicians',

10 Priory Avenue,

SeUyPark,'

Birmingham,

B297NH,

UK

'ТЧю salutation. Обращение. The salutation is a part with which a letter Л. starts: the part which begins 'Dear...'.

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If you know your correspondent, it will be simple deciding on the best salutation. If you know him or her well, you could begin 'Dear John* or 'Dear Mary'. If you do not want to be quite so informal, you should use their title: 'Dear Mr Smith' or 'Dear Miss Green'. One thing you should not do is address someone whose name you know as 'Dear Sir' or 'Dear Madam'. This is so formal and unfriendly as to be impolite. A sort of 'middle road' between these two degrees of formality is becoming more frequently used It involves using no title in the inside address, and using the person's full name in the salutation. For example the inside address would be 'Mary Green' rather than 'Miss Mary Green' and the salutation would be 'Dear Mary Green'. This implies that, although you are not on first name terms yet, you expect to be fairly soon - perhaps because you are about to develop a business relationship. But if you use it, do not overuse it It is not yet fully accepted, and some people might be offended by it This style of salutation is also used sometimes when a woman has not indicated her marital status, instead of using Ms.

If you do not know your correspondent's name, the correct salutation is 'Dear Sir or Madam' (or Dear Sir/Madam). So in all cases where you are addressing someone by their job title only, you should use this form of salutation. It used to be common to write just 'Dear Sir⁹, but this is no longer acceptable, as many business people and top administrators are women; they will quite rightly feel offended by being addressed as 'Sir*.

If you are writing to a partnership, and have therefore addressed them as 'Messrs Smith and Whaite', the correct form of salutation is 'Dear Sirs'. There is as yet no generally accepted non-sexist alternative to mis. You could avoid the problem by addressing your letter to:

The Senior Partner

Smith and White and starting it 'Dear Sir or Madam'.

N.B. The American way of writing a salutation is: 'Gentlemen:' and a complementary close is: 'Yours truly'.

'•He beginning of the letter. Начальный абзац. The way you begin your *• letter is important Set the tone for the rest of the letter early, and think what it is going to be about You can use a heading if you think it will help to make the subject clear immediately; however a heading does tend to make a letter rather formal, and headings are used less now than they used to be.

If you are answering a letter from your correspondent, then a simple way of indicating the subject is to say:

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'

Thank you for your letter of 3 July about the equipment hire.

In order to get a positive reaction from your readers, you need to make them want to read your letters. It is important to get their attention and interest early on in the letter, and this is why your opening should be eye-catching. For this reason avoid tired old clictuis like

With reference to your letter of 3 July... I am writing to tell you..

Even 'Thank you for your letter of 3 July about..' can be avoided with a little thought Here are a few possible alternatives:

I was delighted to receive your letter of 3 July about..

I was very sorry to hear from your letter of 3 July that..

Thank you for taking the trouble to write and tell me about..

I was concerned to read your letter of 3 July, and to hear that you have been

having problems with...

I have thought carefully about the points you raised in your letter of 3 July

and...

There are of course many ways of opening your letters - almost as many as mere are subjects to write about. But make sure you make the start of your letter relevant to your subject and interesting, rather than using some of the forms mat have been overused.

Of course, if yon are not replying to a letter, you can get into your subject straight away, which makes it easier to avoid clichus. But set the tone as well as the subject from the start. Your reader should be able to tell from the opening not only what the letter is about, but also what your attitude is.

^r|Tie body of the letter. Текст письма. The main body of your letter should •*- follow logically on from your opening, and mere should be logical flow through the letter to the end. Apart from flowing logically, it should follow the three roles of business communication and be brief, clear and direct.

TPhe ending of the letter. Заключительный абзац. Your closing paragraph -«- is as important as your opening. This is the last thing your correspondent will read, and the last impression he or she will have of you. You should use it for two purposes: 1) to summarise your position, 2) to indicate any action that needs to be taken, and by whom.

(1) Summarising your position does not mean you should give a summary of everything you have said; mat would be boring. You should simply

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summarise your views, or how you want your reader to feel. The exact wording you use will obviously depend on me type of letter, but there are a few examples of different summary endings:

I hope mis has helped you to understand our position. These are the problems I would like to review when we meet I think you will agree that mis is a very special offer. I am sure you will appreciate our concern over mis matter.

(2) There aKfive different kinds of action ending, depending on me kind of response you expect

(a) Positive reader response

This means that you expect the reader to take some action: 'I would be grateful if you could let me know as soon as possible what action you intend to take'. 'I look forward to hearing from you'.

(b) Positive writer response

This means that you will be taking some action: 'I will thoroughly investigate the problem and contact you as soon as I have an answer*. 'I will consider your proposals carefully, and let you have my response within the next few days'. 'I am waiting to hear from my accountant, and will be in touch as soon as I do'.

(c) Passive reader response

This means that the reader has the option of taking some action if he or she wants to, but that you do not expect it 'If you need any further information, do let me know¹. 'If I can be of any further assistance, please get in touch'. 'If I do not hear from you within the next two weeks, I will assume that you are happy with the new arrangements'.

(d) Passive writer response

This means that you might take some action: 'I will contact you if the situation changes'. If I receive any further information, I will let you know'.

(e) No response

If you do not want to continue the correspondence under any circumstances, men you should make this clear - not in so many words, as that would be impolite, but by your closing line: 'Thank you for writing'. 'I am grateful for your views'. 'I found your suggestions interesting, and will bear mem in mind for the future'. All of these indicate quite clearly that your- reader should not expect to hear from you again, and mat you do not expect to hear any more from them. But they all do so in a courteous and friendly way.

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Business Letters.

A courtesy line

Finally, you can add a courtesy line if you wish or if it is appropriate. It is not always necessary, but you might feel that it suits your goal and your subject to include one:

'Thank you for your co-operation'. 'I apologise for the inconvenience you

have been caused'. 'I look forward to a long and profitable business

relationship'.

NB: avoid participial phrases like 'Hoping to hear from you soon'.

'Thanking you for your help in this matter'. There is no reason why you

cannot use a full sentence: 'I hope to hear from you soon'. 'Thank you for

your help'.

HPhe complimentary close. Заключительная формула вежливости. If your JL salutation is 'Dear Sir or Madam', then your complimentary close should be 'Yours faithfully'. If your salutation is 'Dear Mr White', 'Dear Mrs Green', then your complimentary close should be 'Yours sincerely'. NB: phrases like 'Yours truly', 'I am yours faithfully', 'I remain yours sincerely' were once accepted, but now look very old fashioned If you are being very informal, and writing to someone you know well, you can use 'With kind regards", 'With best wishes' or some such informal wording.

There should be a space for a signature, and then the name of the signatory. If you are writing to someone you know well, who already knows your position in the company, then it is not necessary to put your job title. But if you are writing to someone with whom you have not had dealings before, you should put your position under your name:

Marlene Leach Managing Director

Sometimes a letter may be dictated by one person, but signed by another, usually a secretary. For example the Sales Manager might dictate a number of letters before going off on a business trip, and leave them to be typed and signed by her secretary. In that case the signature wood look as follows:

pp Nicola Dunnet² Diana Childs Sales Manager

²pp = per procurationem = по доверенности, за (лат.)

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NB: Some people put the name of the organisation above the name of the signatory:

for BASSET AND HIGGINS LTD Desmond Kelly Marketing Director

this is supposed to indicate that the person signing is authorised to sign on behalf of the company, but now is less common.

_N

otes about enclosures and copies. Отметки а наличии приложений и копий. If you are enclosing something with your letter, you should type 'Enc.' at the bottom. If you are sending a copy to another person you should type 'cc' (carbon copy) and the person's name at die bottom. The following abbreviations may be typed on copies of the letter, but not on the original: 'bcc' (blind carbon copy) if you are sending a copy to someone else without the original addressee knowing; and 'fyi' (for your information) if you are sending a copy to someone purely for information.

original the 'bcc' scheme: A

bcc

С ,.

bcc

The person В is not aware that for some reason two copies of the letter sent to him are addressed to persons С and D as well.

YJIormatting. Форматирование. Formatting your letter do not forget about ж two main ways of setting out your letter.

1) the folly displayed or indented style; 2) the blocked style; and two styles of punctuation: 1) foil punctuation; 2) open punctuation

(1) In the fully displayed or indented style letters the first line of each paragraph is indented The date usually appears on the right-hand side of the page. The complimentary close is in the centre of the page. Usually the folly displayed letters as well as being folly displayed has foil punctuation ,

brutes of punctuation see Appendix I/1,1/2.

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which means that all punctuation marks are shown including the inside

address and the complementary close.

Here is an example of a fully displayed or indented style letter.

NATURAL RAPPORT