Lesson 4 Basic and Optional Parts of a Business Letter

In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what importance
it used to play in people’s lives.

- Anatole Broyard

A business letter is composed of the following basic parts:

letterhead or heading, dateline, inside address, salutation, body of
the letter, complimentary close, signature line, and written
signature.

1. Letterhead - This part of a business letter includes the

company name, company mailing address, and company
contact numbers. It may also contain the company logo or
symbol of the organization. Today, most of the companies have
their own personalized letterhead exclusive for their employee’s
use.

In case you will write a business letter not on behalf of any

company, you may use a heading or a return address. A
heading/return address is composed of your complete, correct,
and specific address. In writing the heading of your business
letter, the lot and block number, street, barangay, municipality
or city, province, region, and even the zip code must be
included properly.

2. Dateline- This part contains the month, day, and year when the
business letter was written. There are certain rules in writing
the correct dateline:
A. You should not use abbreviations when writing the dateline.
For example, 10-13-92 or 10-13-1992 or 10/13/92 or Oct.
13, 1992
B. You should not include st, nd, or th after the day of the
month. For example, September 1st , October 2nd, or
November 3rd .
C. You may use the conventional style, January 15, 2007 or the
military style, 15 January 2007.
3. Inside Address- This part consists of three, four or five lines
which include the complete name as well as the job title/s of
the receiver on the first line, the complete position of the
receiver on the second line, the complete division or department
of the receiver on the fourth line, and the complete name of the
company or organization followed by the complete address of
the company or organization. There are certain rules that are
worth considering in writing the inside address.

A. The inside address is like the address written on the

envelope.
B. You use Miss when addressing a single woman; Mrs. Of
married woman. If the status is not known, use Ms. If the
firm is comprised of women; use Mesdames or its
abbreviation Mmes.
C. Use Mr. in addressing a man. You may also use its plural
form Messiers ( French) or its abbreviation Messrs.
D. You may abbreviate the title Doctor to Dr. For example, Dr.
Silvia C. Ambag.
E. The title Reverend should not be abbreviated and it should
be preceded by The. For example,

The Reverend Sonny Ramirez

F. You may or may not abbreviate the title Professor. For
example,
Professor Danilova A. Lorenzo
Or
Prof. Danilova A. Lorenzo
Or
Prof. Danilova A. Lorenzo
But if only surname is available, the title should not be
abbreviated. For example,
Professor Lorenzo
G. Company or organization positions such as Supervisor,
Manager, Secretary, Superintendent, Proprietor or even
President may either precede or follow the name of the
receiver of the letter. For example,

Ms. Armie Joie A. Rivera

Proprietress
 Or
Ms. Armie Joie A. Rivera, Proprietress
Elysian Events Specialist

H. The title Honorable is used by Judges of the Court, Members

of the Cabinet, Congressmen, Senators or other government
officials who hold an important position and office in the
city, province, or country. You may or may not abbreviate
the title Honorable. For example,

Honorable Rodrigo R. Duterte

Or
Hon. Rodrigo R. Duterte

4. Salutation – is composed of the word “Dear” followed by the

last name of the receiver of the letter. Use the colon (American
English) at the end of the salutation or comma ( British
English). For example,
Dear Mr. Alcaraz:
Or
Dear Mr. Dela Cruz,
5. Body of the Letter- This consists the message of the writer.
Some claim that the first and last sentences are the most
important parts of the body of the letter. The first sentence
should make the reader feel at ease and the last sentence
should make the reader pleased and content.
6. Complimentary Close- This is sometimes called closing, the
part where sender says goodbye to the receiver of the letter in a
formal way. You may use the standard complimentary close
such as Sincerely or Sincerely yours or Respectfully or Very
respectfully yours. We should take note that the first letter of
the first word is the only capitalized letter on the complimentary
close.
7. Signature Line - This is composed of the complete typewritten
name of the writer and his official designation, or the name of
the company.
Very formal or legal: Miguel Rodriquez Galit
Less formal or business: Miguel Galit
Miguel R. Galit
8. Written Signature – This refers to the sender clearly scribing or
affixing his specimen signature on the space between the
complimentary close and the printed name. Allot enough space
(3-4 spaces) for this between the complimentary close and the
signature line. This signature part also follows certain rules:

Optional Parts of A Business Letter

1. Attention Line- This is used when the letter urgently needs to

be received by the person who can handle it. Commonly, the
attention line is at the center.

For example: Elysian events Specialist

San Mateo, Rizal
Attention: Miss Armie Joie A. Rivera
2. Subject Line- This is used in short reports to let the reader
know the content of the letter immediately. It may be placed
above or below the inside address; maybe flushed to the left,
indented, or centered.

For example: Elysian Events Specialist

San Mateo, Rizal

Subject: Inquiry on Wedding Package

3. Identification Initials or Reference Initials- This includes the

initials of the secretary or typist who took the dictation in lower
case and initials of the one who dictated or dictator in upper
case placed at the lower left hand corner of the letter two spaces
below the last line of the signature part.
For example: EAG/jtd
OR EAG: go
4. Enclosed or enclosed reference or enclosure notation- This
is composed of the attached materials on the letter. This is
usually abbreviated Incl. and placed below the reference initials.

For example: Inc. 1. Grade Sheets

 2. Class Records

3. Anecdotal Records

5. Copy Notation- This consists the names or department of other

people who also received the letter.

5.1 Carbon Copy Notation (cc) – This notation is indicated on

the original copy and all the duplicate copies.

For example: cc: Mr. John Paolo Sarce

cc: Human Resource Department

5.2 Blind Carbon Copy Notation ( bcc) – This is a notation

not indicated on the original copy but indicated on all duplicate
copies.

For example: bcc: Miss Sarah Mae Amata

6.Mailing Notation- This notation refers to the special postal

services such as air mail, special delivery, or registered mail.

Task
Consider the given scenarios below in writing a letter including the needed
parts and optional parts of a business letter.

Scenario 1: Imagine you are the president of the Student Council. Write
a letter addressed to the college dean requesting for a possible venue for
an upcoming freshman orientation for the school year.

Scenario 2: Imagine you are one of the students in a Science class. The
day before your examination day in your Science class, you suddenly got
sick. Write a letter addressed to your Science teacher to excuse you from
the scheduled test and request him to give you a special test.

Scenario 3: Imagine you are the newly elected chairman of your

barangay. Write a letter addressed to the city mayor requesting for a
possible sponsorship in any barangay event.
Lesson 5 Business Letter Styles

There is more to business writing than we give it credit for; it is not just
about memorandums and proposals but also about human emotions and
relationships. If we break away from the black and white of business writing,
we can find that the range and form of business writing is exciting and varied,
as opposed to the clinical feeling that it often is associated with. Business
letters are those that are produced by someone at a business and usually go to
another business or a customer, as opposed to personal letters, which are more
informal and tend to go from person to person.

- Sir Winston Churchill

If we were to define business letters, we could say that business letters

are simply letters dealing with business. They can be external mail sent by
one company to another or internal correspondence to the employees of the
company. Business letters need to follow a certain format, no matter which
type they are.

Often business letters are the first contact one makes with a prospective
client or an employer; hence, it becomes critical that you get the tone and
message of the letter right to make a good impression. Though a simple enough
document to produce, writing effective business letters can be quite a
challenge.

There are three main styles of business letter: block, modified block,
and semi-block styles. Each is written in much the same way, including the
same information, but the layout varies slightly for each one.

Below are samples of the Business Letter Styles:

1. Modified Block Style Letter

Sender's name
Sender's address
(1 space)
Today's date
(drop down four lines)
Recipient's business name
Attention: person it's going to
Recipient's address
(drop down two lines)

Dear Name:

In this type of modified block letter, all the paragraphs line up at

the left margin. You do not need to indent at all. The margins
should be set to 1-1.5" all the way around the page. If you are
using company letterhead, you will need to account for that in
figuring the margin where the letterhead is placed on the page.

You only need to single-space between sentences. Leave an extra

open line between paragraphs.

Sincerely,

(drop down four lines)

Signature here

Add name,
Add title

[Identification initials]
 Enclosures:

cc: Name

Name

2. Modified Semi-Block Style Letter

Today's date

(drop down four lines)

Recipient's business name

Attention: person it's going to
Recipient's address
(1 line space)
Dear Name:
(1 line space)
In this type of semi-modified block letter, all the paragraphs line up
at the left margin. However, the first word in each paragraph is
indented. The margins should be set to 1-1.5" all the way around
the page. If you are using company letterhead, you will need to
account for that in figuring the margin where the letterhead is
placed on the page.
(1 line space)
You only need to single-space between sentences. Leave an extra
open line between paragraphs. Keep in mind that these sample
letters are a guideline. People often customize to meet their
preferred style.

Sincerely,
 (space down four lines)
Signature here

Add name,
Add title

[Identification initials]

Enclosures:

cc: Name

Name

3. Block Style Letter

Sender's address
Sender's phone number
Today's date
RE: what the letter is about
(drop down 4 lines)

Recipient's name
Recipient's company name
Recipient's address
(1 space)
Attention: person it's going to
(1 space)
Dear Name:
(1 space)
In this type of block letter, all the paragraphs line up at the left margin.
There is no indenting of the paragraphs. The margins should be set to 1-
 1.5" all the way around the page. If you are using company letterhead,
you will need to account for that in figuring the margin where the
letterhead is placed on the page.
(1 line space)
You only need to single-space between sentences. Leave an extra open
line between paragraphs. Keep in mind that these sample letters are a
guideline. People often customize to meet their preferred style.
(1 line space)
Some people choose to center the above sender information.
(1 line space)
Sincerely,

(space down four lines)

Signature here

add name,
add title

[Identification initials]

Enclosures:

cc: Name

Name

Task

Answer the questions below.

1. Which among the different business letter style is the easiest to use?
Why?
2. Which do you think is the most common style that the businessmen
are using?
3. If you are going to implement one general format or style in your
company, what will it be and why?