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Structure of The Business Letter

Mr. John Reyes Manager, Personnel Department CC: Mr. Leo G. Torres P.S. Please let me know if you need any other information.

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44 views18 pages

Structure of The Business Letter

Mr. John Reyes Manager, Personnel Department CC: Mr. Leo G. Torres P.S. Please let me know if you need any other information.

Uploaded by

earlnerpio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Structure of the Business Letter

Basic and Optional Parts of Letter

Prepared by:
Isula, Cyren
Masajo, Paolo
A normal business letter has eight parts.
In order of their appearance from top to
bottom, these are:

• Letterhead (Heading)
• Date Line
• Inside Address
• Salutation
• Body
• Closing or Complimentary Close
• Signature Line
• Reference Initials
Letterhead (Heading)- is found at the uppermost
part of the letter. This part of letter gives the following
principal information: full name, full address,
telephone number, and the nature of business of the
company sending the letter.

Secondary information are: name of one or more


officers, telex number. Logo, and corporate
subsidiaries.

Example:
De Guzman Brokerage
316B Ermita Street Sampaloc, Manila
946-78-90/709-45-23
Date Line- second part of a business letter which is
typed two or four spaces below the letterhead. The
date line may be typed left or right depending on the
letter style used.

The dateline style accepted in business does not


abbreviate or use a number to indicate the month

a. Dates should never be abbreviated

Wrong- Nov. 7, 2000 or 11-7-2000 or 11/7/2000


Right- November 7, 2000 or the military style 7 November 2000

b. th, st, d should not be used after the day of the month.

November 7, 2000 not November 7th


Sample Exercises:

1 3
____ Dec. 20, 1997 ____ 14 Feb. 1996
____ 20th of Dec. 1997 ____ 2/14/1996
____ December 20, 1997 ____ 14 February 1996

2
____ 3 May 1996
____ 3 May, 1996
____ 3, May 1996
Inside Address- The address of the writer is found
in the Heading, that of the recipient is in the Inside
Address.

Third part of the letter and is written four to eight


spaces below the Date Line.

This consists of the name of person, firm or


corporation to whom the letter is sent, the address,
the town and the province,

Example:
Mrs. Corazon F. Santos
Secretary
Star Trucking
916 Paradise St, Nova Hills
Marikina, Rizal
7120
The Following are some reminders on the proper way
of writing titles:

1) Address an individual the way he usually sign his


name
2) Avoid abbreviating Christian names, corporation,
company and official position or ranks, like:
Sergeant, Secretary, Director, etc.
3) You may abbreviate titles like Honorable, Reverend,
Professors. But in formal letter, it is preferable to
write these in full
4) Include the article “The” before the company name,
if it is naturally a part of the name like – The
Dean’s Café or The Manila Times.
Salutation- The fourth part of the letter and it is
written on the left margin, two to four spaces below
Inside Address

Considered as a greeting and expression of courtesy to


put the reader in a friendly reception frame in mind.

Example:
Mrs. Corazon F. Santos
Secretary
Star Trucking
916 Paradise St, Nova Hills
Marikina, Rizal
7120

Dear Mrs. Santos:


OPTIONAL PART

Subject Line- part of a letter found in the area of the


salutation. Placed two spaces below the Greeting.
It states the purpose or topic of the letter in a short
sentence.

Example: Mrs. Corazon F. Santos


Secretary
Star Trucking
916 Paradise St, Nova Hills
Marikina, Rizal
7120

Dear Mrs. Santos:

Subject: Delivery of your order no.8945 Chemical feeds.


Body – Fifth part of a letter and is the most important
part. It consists of the full message of the letter where
may convey all the messages you want your reader to
understand.

This begins two spaces below the Salutation.

The spacing is double between the paragraphs of the


letter.
These are the rules to be followed:

1. The Body of letter begins two spaces below the


salutation unless the subject line appears in this
position, the body then, starts two spaces below the
subject line.
2. A paragraph usually look more impressive and
dignified when single-spaced. Normally, long letters
are single-spaced and short letters are double
spaced.
3. When a second page is needed, it must be an
ordinary plain sheet of the same size, color and
quality as the letterhead sheet. The second page
should bear the name of the addressee, the page
number and the date of the letter.
Closing or Complimentary Close- 6th part of a letter.
Typed two to four spaces below the body. Unlike the
Salutation that uses two punctuation marks, comma
and colon, the Closing uses only one mark, the
comma.

Example:

Respectfully yours,
Truly yours,
Sincerely yours,
Kindest regards,
Signature Line – This identifies the writer. The name
of the writer is typed four to five spaces below the
complimentary close. The letter has no binding effect if
the writer fails to sign his/her name.

Reference Initials – These are the initials of the writer


or typist, which are typed in the lower corner of the
letter. A colon or slash mark is used to separate the
two kinds of intials

Example:
PE
PSM/NBA or PSM:NBA
OPTIONAL PART

Attention Line- This is needed if the business letter is


addressed to the company rather than to an
individual.
However, if the writer wishes his letter to reach a
particular individual with a business concern, he may
use attention line.
Typed two spaces below the inside address.

Example:
De Guzman Brokerage
316B Ermita Street
Sampaloc, Manila

Attention: Miss Jane Alcantara


OPTIONAL PART

Subject Line- part of a letter found in the area of the


salutation. Placed two spaces below the Greeting.
It states the purpose or topic of the letter in a short
sentence.

Example: Mrs. Corazon F. Santos


Secretary
Star Trucking
916 Paradise St, Nova Hills
Marikina, Rizal
7120

Dear Mrs. Santos:

Subject: Delivery of your order no.8945 Chemical feeds.


OPTIONAL PART

Enclosure- sometimes, there are some important


documents that the writer would like to attach to the
letter. The inclusion of these are made known to the
reader by the explicit statement of these papers in the
body of the letter and in the enclosure,
A notation written two spaces below initials of writer.
It uses the word Enclosure or the abbreviated form-
Enc.

Example:
PSM:NBA

Enc.
Resume
OPTIONAL PART

Carbon Copy- this notation is found two spaces below


the last line of the signature. Its purpose is to let the
reader know that a copy of the letter is sent to another
person whose name is not mentioned in the address.

The term Carbon Copy is written CC and is the full


name and official corporate position of the other
recipient
Sincerely yours,
Example:
Mr. John Reyes
Manager, Personnel Department

CC. Mr. Leo G. Torres


OPTIONAL PART

Blind Copy- It is used if the writer does not want his


reader to know that he is sending a carbon copy of the
letter to another person. The writer should retain a
copy of the cc or bcc notation for his files.

Postscript or P.S – This may be added after the last


notation. It serves as a devise for emphasis.
Two spaces below the identification initial or two
spaces below the enclosure or CC is where you can
write the symbol P.S.

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