Block Style
There are many different ways for you to lay out a busiess letter. As in the example provided below from Intercity Bank you will notice:
1. The name and the address of the adressee (the person that you are writing to) are at the top and on the left.
2. The date is on the right.
3. There is no punctuation in the address or after 'Yours faithfully / sincerely' or 'Dear....'
4. The paragraph starts at the margin and there are line spaces between them.
5. The writers' name and title are under the signature.
Note: PP means 'in the palce of'
As said there are many ways and formats to lay out a letter though perhaps this is the most useful to learn since it is accepted everywhere.
Summery of the 'Block Style' Format
The Date
When writing a letter be careful with the date. In Japan dates have the year first then the month with the day last. In the US they say the month first and the year last while in Britain and Australia they write the day first then the month.
This means that 07-06-05 would have very different meanings
For example
In Japan 5th of June 2007, In the US 6th of July 2005, while in Australia it would be the 7th of June 2005.
Write the Date in full so that everyone will know exactly what you mean. Remember to use a capital letter for the month. You do not have to write th, nd, rd or st after the day.
Dear… / Yours…
Here are a number of different ways to open a letter.
Dear Sir or Madam - To a company
Dear Sir - To a man if you don’t know his name
Dear Madam - To a woman if you don’t know her name
Dear Mr Smith - To a man
Dear Ms Smith - To a woman (married or unmarried)
Dear Mrs Smith - To a married woman
Dear Miss Smith - To an unmarried woman
Dear John - To a friend or someone that you know well.
Note: Letters do not usually begin with ‘Dear Mr John’ or ‘Dear Mr John Smith’
When closing your letter it depends on how you opened it.
Dear Sir or Madam - Yours faithfully
Dear Mr / Ms / Mrs / Miss - Yours sincerely
Dear John - Best wishes
Exercise 1 – Island World
Subject Headings
Subject headings appear directly under the line ‘Dear Sir’ etc. They are used to draw attention directly to what the letter is about and helps make sure that the letter is delivered to the correct department or person within the company.
Exercise 2 - Corona
Food For Thought: When the best student hears about the way He practices it assiduously; When the average student hears about the way It seems to him one moment there and the next moment gone; When the worst student hears about the way He laughs out loud Lao Tsu Te ching 1st Century A.D.
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