Title: How to Structure an English Business Letter
Course: Let´s Read & Write

INDEX

Sender's Address in a Business Letter

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

QUESTION: 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
Feedback: good
- below the ending
Feedback: wrong

Date in a Business Letter

Date in a Business Letter

British English

Write: 30 November 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

QUESTION: we are going to write: November 24, 2009 in A.E. What´s the position?

- top left corner
Feedback: good
- top right corner
Feedback: wrong

Recipient's Address in a Business Letter

Recipient's Address in a Business Letter

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

QUESTION: 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
Feedback: good
- top right corner
Feedback: wrong

Salutation in a Business Letter

Salutation in a Business Letter

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

If you don't know the person's name:

There are several possibilities to address people that you don't know by name:

1.Dear Sir / Madam: male addressee (esp. in British English)

2.Gentlemen: male addressee (esp. in American English)

3.Dear Madam: female addressee (esp. in British English)

4.Ladies : female addressee (esp. in American English)

5.Dear Sir or Madam: gender unknown (esp. in British English)

6.Ladies and Gentlemen: gender unknown (esp. in American English)

7.To whom it may concern: gender unknown (esp. in American English)

QUESTION: Business partners often call each other by their first names. In this case, how will we write the salutation ?

- Dear Mary
Feedback: good
- Dear Madam Mary
Feedback: wrong

Punctuation

Punctuation

In British English, don't use any punctuation mark or use a comma.

Dear Mr Miller or Dear Mr Miller,

In American English, use a colon:

Dear Mr. Miller:

Ms, Miss or Mrs?

- Mrs – to address a married woman
- Miss – to address an unmarried woman (rarely used now)
- Ms – to address a woman whose marital status you don't know; also used to address an unmarried woman

QUESTION: The abrreviations Mr, Mrs etc. are usually written without full stops (Mr) in British English and ______stops (Mr.) in American English.

- with full
Feedback: good
- without
Feedback: wrong