Commercial Correspondence

COURSE INTRODUCTION

Instructor: Nguyn Mai Hng, M.A. Faculty of English for Specific Purposes, FTU Handphone: 0912 726 217 Email: [email protected] Duration: 13 Jan 14 March 2012 Workload: 3 classes/week Exam date: 16 March 2012

CoURSE INTRODUCTION Materials

The Language of Business Correspondence in English

Nguyn Trng n

Oxford Handbook of Commercial Correspondence A. Ashley

COURSE INTRODUCTION
Areas covered Letter layout, content and style Enquiries and replies to enquiries Quotations /Offers Orders Complaints and adjustments

Commercial Correspondence Unit 1 Letter Layout, Content and Style

Letter Layout
1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Senders address References Date Inside address Attention line Salutation

Subject title 8. Body of the letter 9. Complimentary close 10. Senders identification 11. Enclosures 12. Copies
7.

1 Senders address

Bredgade 51 DK 1260 Copenhagen K DENMARK

Usually: top righthand corner Less common : top left-hand corner No punctuation

1 Senders address

Compuvision Ltd

Warwick House Warwick Street Forest Hill London SE23 1JF

Telephone +44 (0) 20 8566 1861 Facsimile +44 (0) 20 8566 1385 Email [email protected] www.comvis.co.uk

In companys letterhead

2 References

Bredgade 51 DK 1260 Copenhagen K DENMARK

At least one blank line below the senders address or letterhead Right-hand side or left-hand side of the page

Your ref. 6 May 20__ Our ref. DS/MR

2 References Can show: Initials of writer and PA/secretary DS/MR or DS/mr Number of the letter or dept. 134/17 or DR 306 The date or the order number

ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES LTD 29-31 Broad Street Birmingham B1 2HE Tel. 0121-542 6614

DS/MR

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3 Date

Bredgade 51 DK 1260 Copenhagen K DENMARK

At least one blank line below the senders address or reference

Your ref. 6 May 20__ Our ref. DS/MR

Date 11 May 20__

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3 Date

ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES LTD 29-31 Broad Street Birmingham B1 2HE Tel. 0121-542 6614

Right-hand side or left-hand side Always be shown in full: 14 August 20__; or

DS/MR
12 November 20__

August 14, 20__

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4 Inside address

ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES LTD 29-31 Broad Street Birmingham B1 2HE Tel. 0121-542 6614

One to ten blank lines below the date and always on the left-hand side Should be on separate lines as it would appear on the envelope

DS/MR
12 November 20__

Mr Gordon Wood G Wood & Sons 36 Castle Street Bristol BS1 2BQ

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4 Inside address

Surname known
Write it as first line of the inside address Include:

Courtesy title: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Dr, Prof. The persons full name (or with initials for given names):

Mr John Smith or Mr J.E. Smith NOT: Mr Smith (without initials or first name)
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4 Inside address

Name not known

If you only know the persons job title, you can use that in the inside address, e.g. The Sales Manager, or The Finance Director Alternatively, you can address to a particular department: The Accounts Department Or you can address to the company itself: Compuvision Ltd, or Messrs Collier
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5 Attention line
Alternative to the recipients name or job title

in the inside address. Should be underlined or printed in bold or CAPITALS, e.g.

For the attention of the Sales Manager ATTENTION: MS TERRY ROBERTS
A blank line below the inside address.
Left-hand side or in the middle of the page.

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6 Salutation

Addressing people you do not know their names:

Dear Sir Dear Madam Dear Sir or Madam (or Dear Sir / Madam) Dear Sirs
(to address a company, not a specific person)

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6 Salutation

Addressing people you know their names: but do not know them well, use title & surname, do not include initials or first names:

Dear Mr Smith / Dear Miss Brown NOT Dear Mr J. Smith or Dear Mr John Smith
and you know them well, use just first name: Dear John / Dear Mary Note: A comma after the salutation is optional. In American English, a colon is used instead.

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7 Subject title
A blank line below the salutation.
Left-hand side or in the middle Can begin with or without Re: or Subject:

Should be underlined or printed in bold or

CAPITALS Dear Mrs Marshall

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 24 AUGUST 2011

or Re: ORDER NO. 8901/6
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8 Body of the Letter

The actual message of your letter Leave a line space between paragraphs

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9 Complimentary close

Two most common closes: Yours faithfully

when letter begins:

Dear Dear Dear Dear Dear Dear Dear Dear Sir Sirs Madam Sir or Madam Mr Smith Mrs Bolan Caroline Sam
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Yours sincerely

Note: A comma after the complimentary close is optional.

10 Senders identification
Type name and job title below handwritten

signature. Can give either your initials or full name

DAVID JENKINS Chairman D. Jenkins General Manager

Add a title for a female in brackets before

or after her name

Lesley Bolan (Mrs) Sales Manager

(Ms) B. Kaasen Director

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10 Senders identification
Job title or department directly beneath name
When signing a letter on behalf of the sender,

write pp or p.p. or for in front of the senders printed name, e.g.

Yours faithfully

Shirley Johnson
pp Edward Nathan Chairman
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11 Enclosures
A line space below the senders identification Consisting of the word: Enc. or Encl.

followed by a list of the enclosed items, e.g. Enc. Bill of Lading (3 copies) Insurance certificate (1 copy)

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12 Copies
At least a blank line below the senders

identification or the Enclosures Consisting of the word: C.C. or Copy followed by the name/s and designation/s of the copy recipient/s, e.g. C.C. Ravi Gopal, General Manager Candice Reeves, Accountant
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Continuation pages

Page no. 2 12 November 20__ Mr Gordon Wood

Page number Date Name of addressee Leave 3 or 4 blank lines before continuing Take at least 3 or 4 lines of typing over to a continuation page.

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Letter Layout
Arrangement styles
Full-blocked Blocked Semi-blocked

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Structuring the body

4 Point Plan
1. Opening or Introduction 2. Central section (details) 3. Conclusion (Action or Response) 4. Close

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Structuring the body

1. Opening or Introduction (state the reason)
acknowledge previous correspondence refer to a meeting or contact

provide an introduction to the matter being

discussed.

E.g. Thank you for your letter of

Further to our telephone conversation today, I am interested in holiday No. J/M/3, the South Vietnam tour.
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Structuring the body

2. Central section (details) Give information to the recipient Request information

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Structuring the body

3. Conclusion (Action or Response)
State the action expected from the recipient State the action you will take as a result of the

details provided

E.g. Please let me have full details of the costs

involved. If payment is not received within seven days, this matter will be placed in the hands of our solicitor.
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Structuring the body

4. Close

Usually, a simple one-line closing sentence E.g. I look forward to meeting you soon.

A prompt reply would be appreciated. Please let me know if you need any further information.
Incomplete sentences like these should not be used:

Hope to hear from you soon. Looking forward to hearing from you.
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Content and Style

1.
2. 3. 4.

5.

Remember your ABC Be courteous and considerate Include all relevant details Use active, not passive voice, when possible Be consistent

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1 Remember your ABC

Accurate
Check facts carefully (titles, names, dates,

references, prices, measurements) Proofread thoroughly (tenses, spelling, grammar, punctuation, enclosures)

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1 Remember your ABC

Brief

Keep sentences short and use simple expressions.

Use the second way of expression in the following examples.
o

We would like to ask you to Please I have pleasure in informing you I am pleased to tell you
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1 Remember your ABC

Brief
o

We do not anticipate any increase in prices We do not expect prices to rise I should be grateful if you would be good enough to advise us Please let me know We would like to express our regret at being unable to fulfill your requirements. We are sorry we cannot meet your requirements.

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1 Remember your ABC

Clear
Plan before you start writing. Make sure you

say everything you want to say, and in a clear sequence. Use simple English. Avoid formality and familiarity. Do not use abbreviations that your reader may not understand. Write numbers in words as well as in figures.
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2 Be courteous and considerate

Should not be so simple that it becomes rude.
Avoid using short forms like Ill or dont Understand and respect the recipients point of

view. If you feel some comments are unfair, be tactful and try not to cause offence. Reply promptly to all communications. If you cannot, write a brief note and explain why.
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2 Be courteous and considerate

Instead of Write

We cannot do anything about your problem.

Unfortunately we are unable to help you on this occasion.

Your televisions guarantee Your televisions guarantee has is up, so you will have to ended, so unfortunately you must pay for it to be fixed. bear the cost of any repairs. youll get your money back the loan will be repaid prices have gone through the roof prices have increased rapidly
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3 Include all relevant details

Instead of Write

My flight arrives at 3.30 on Wednesday.

My flight BA121 from London Heathrow should arrive at Singapore Changi Airport at 1530 on Wednesday 12 June. Mr John Matthews, our Sales Manager, will contact you soon.
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Our Sales Manager will contact you soon.

4 Use active, not passive voice

Active voice: more personal, natural and focused: more interesting and clearer. Passive voice: creates a distance

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4 Use active, not passive voice

Instead of Write

Arrangements have been made for a repeat order to be despatched to you immediately. The cause of the complaint has been investigated. Sales of the X101 have exceeded all expectations.

I have arranged for a repeat order to be sent to you today. I have looked into this matter.

X101 sales have gone sky high.

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4 Use active, not passive voice Passive voice, however, would be more appropriate in some occasions as follows.
Giving extra emphasis to a particularly

important noun.

Instead of: All the leading hotels in Singapore

recommend our service.

Say: Our restaurant has been recommended by

all the leading hotels in Singapore.

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4 Use active, not passive voice Passive voice, however, would be more appropriate in some occasions as follows.
Placing focus on the action not the actor.

The noise was heard all over the island.

When you want to hide something or tact is

important.

An unfortunate mistake was made.

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5 Be consistent
In layout In style In details

Instead of: I confirm my reservation of a single

room on 16/7 and a double room on 17 Oct.

Write: I confirm my reservation of a single

room on 16 July and a double room on 17 October.

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