letter form

LETTER FORM The Start The start of any business letter begins by addressing the recipient of the letter. Dear Personnel Director, Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you don't know who you are writing to) Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have a formal relationship with - VERY IMPORTANT use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or Miss) Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contact or friend) Note: If you are unsure how formal you should be, always choose a more formal form. Writing to a specific person is always preferred if at all possible. The Reference Begin by referencing a specific conversation or other contact means. If this is the first letter in a conversation, you can also provide the reason for writing. With reference to your advertisement in the Times, your letter of 23 rd March, your phone call today, Thank you for your letter of March th . The Reason for Writing I am writing to . . inquire about . apologize for . confirm . comment on . apply for Examples: I am writing to inquire about the position posted in The Daily Mail. I am writing to confirm the shipment details on order # 2346. I am writing to apologize for the difficulties you experienced last week at our branch. Once you have introduced the reason for writing your business letter, move on to stating more specifically the purpose of your letter. Here are a number of possibilities: Requesting Could you possibly? I would be grateful if you could Thank you for your help Please contact us again if we can help in any way. there are any problems. you have any questions. Agreeing to Requests Reference to Future Contact I would be delighted to I look forward to . hearing from you soon. meeting you next Tuesday. seeing you next Thursday. Giving Bad News Unfortunately I am afraid that The Finish Examples: Yours faithfully, (If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to) Could you possible forward your job requirements? I am afraid that I will be able to attend the conference next week. I would be delighted to give you a tour of our facility this coming month. Yours sincerely, (If you know the name of the person you're writing to) Enclosing Documents Best regards, (If the person is a close business contact or friend) I am enclosing Please find enclosed Enclosed you will find Sample Letter Best wishes, Here is a sample letter using some of these forms: Closing Remarks Ken's Cheese House 34 Chatley Avenue Seattle, WA 98765 Tel: Fax: Email: kenny@cheese.com October 23, 2006 Fred Flintstone Sales Manager Cheese Specialists Inc. 456 Rubble Road Rockville, IL Dear Mr Flintstone: With reference to our telephone conversation today, I am writing to confirm your order for: 120 x Cheddar Deluxe Ref. No. 856 The order will be shipped within three days via UPS and should arrive at your store in about 10 days. Please contact us again if we can help in any way. Yours sincerely, Kenneth Beare Director of Ken's Cheese House CLAIM LETTER: Useful Key Phrases • • • • • As someone who has worked with . we were very disappointed to find / see / have discovered . As our written agreement stipulated, we expected . I think you will agree that a communication problem exists. We would like you to ., or provide us with a refund. Example Letter Drivers Co. 3489 Greene Ave. Olympia, WA 98502 August 17, 2001 Richard Brown, President Document Makers Salem, MA 34588 Dear Mr. Brown: As someone who has worked with your company for over years, we were very disappointed to see the documents you produced for our latest Drivers Co. publicity campaign. As our written agreement stipulated, we expected full color leaflets with fancy explanatory texts, but instead, we found that black and white photos had been included in the prepared leaflets. I think you will agree that a communication problem exists. We would like you to send out a photographer to provide us with the promised color coverage, or provide us with a refund. • Thank you for your patience. Example Letter Document Makers 2398 Red Street Salem, MA 34588 March 10, 2001 Yours truly, (signature here) Thomas R. Smith, Director Thomas R. Smith Drivers Co. 3489 Greene Ave. Olympia, WA 98502 Dear Mr. Smith: TRS/lj Claim Adjustment Letters Useful Key Phrases • • • I was very disappointed to read your letter of . dealing with . As someone who values your business, I have already . Also, we will deduct another X percent of the bill for the misunderstanding. I was very disappointed to read your letter of August 17 dealing with the issue of incorrectly produced publicity leaflets. As someone who values your business, I have already begun to find a solution to resolve this problem. My top photographer will call you to arrange an appointment at your earliest possible convenience to re-take photos in full color. Also, we will deduct another 15 percent of the bill for the misunderstanding. Thank you for your patience. Sincerely, (signature here) Richard Brown President RB/sp Inquiries - Asking for Information Remember to place your or your company's address at the top of the letter (or use your company's letterhead) followed by the address of the company you are writing to. The date can either be placed double spaced down or to the right. Important Language to Remember • • • • The Start: Dear Sir or Madam To Whom It May Concern - (very formal as you not know the person to whom you are writing) Giving Reference: With reference to your advertisement (ad) in . Regarding your advertisement (ad) in . Requesting a Catalog, Brochure, Etc.: After the reference, add a comma and continue - . , would (Could) you please send me . Requesting Further Information: I would also like to know . Could you tell me whether . • Signature: Yours faithfully - (very formal as you not know the person to whom you are writing) An Example Letter Kenneth Beare 2520 Visita Avenue Olympia, WA 98501 Jackson Brothers 3487 23rd Street New York, NY 12009 September 12, 2000 To Whom It May Concern: With reference to your advertisement in yesterday's New York Times, could you please send me a copy of your latest catalog. I would also like to know if it is possible to make purchases online. Yours faithfully (Signature) Kenneth Beare Administrative Director English Learners & Company Outline: A Covering Letter A covering letter is the one that accompanies your CV when you are applying for a job. Here is a fairly conventional plan for the layout of the paragraphs. Opening Paragraph Briefly identify yourself and the position you are applying for. Add how you found out about the vacancy. Paragraph Give the reasons why you are interested in working for the company and why you wish to be considered for that particular post. State your relevant qualifications and experience, as well as your personal qualities that make you a suitable candidate. Paragraph Inform them that you have enclosed your current CV and add any further information that you think could help your case. Closing Paragraph Give your availability for interview, thank them for their consideration, restate your interest and close the letter. Outline: A Letter of Enquiry A letter of enquiry is when you are approaching a company speculatively, that is you are making an approach without their having advertised or announced a vacancy. Opening Paragraph Introduce yourself briefly and give your reason for writing. Let them know of the kind of position you are seeking, why you are interested and how you heard about them. Paragraph Show why their company in particular interests you, mention your qualifications and experience along with any further details that might make them interested in seeing you. Paragraph Refer to your enclosed CV and draw their attention to any particularly important points you would like them to focus on in it. Closing Paragraph Thank them, explain your availability for interview and restate your enthusiasm for their company and desire to be considered for posts that might as yet be unavailable. Vocabulary for Writing Business Letters This sheet focuses on core vocabulary and phrases used when writing business letters or e-mails in English. This business writing reference can be used in English for specific purposes classes as a starting point for students who need to use English on an everyday basis for written business communications. Teachers are often not equipped with the exact English terminology required in very specific trade sectors. For this reason, core vocabulary sheets go a long way in helping teachers provide adequate materials for students with English for Specific Purposes needs. to act on behalf of to be late to agree with to be overrun with orders always at your service to be prepared to - to be willing as agreed to before the date we agreed as far as I'm concerned upon as far as the payment is Best regards concerned body of the letter as follows circular letter as per invoice claim - letter of complaint as per to the conditions to come to a decision as per your request to come to an agreement - to as requested reach an agreement as soon as possible complimentary close at your convenience to cope with the competition at your earliest convenience correspond to the sample at your expense to correspond with awaiting your reply covering letter to be able to to be due to oversight authorised to to be enclosure - attachment characterised by to fix an appointment to be confident in following your instructions to be delighted to to be held from order receipt responsible for further to our letter - following to be in arrears with our letter payments goods listed below to be in difficulty greeting to be interested in half-price on arrival of the goods to have the pleasure to to stop on behalf of negotiations on condition that - provided to submit a sample that to suit the quality - to meet the to have the power to hereby in case of need in compliance with accordingly in due time - in due course in good condition in our favour in partial payment in reply to your letter in the absence of to inform in due time inside address to let someone know in advance letter opening - beginning of the letter letterheading - heading to look forward to looking forward to an early reply looking forward to hearing from you to make the goods available to meet a demand to meet customer's requirements to meet the demand Messrs to notify in advance about on advanced payment we have received we hope we'll receive the on delivery on receipt of the order on short notice on written request order to be confirmed our best attention our offer is still open outside address to pay the maximum attention to the matter payable in advance please allow us please send us please send us your instructions prices are increasing to reach the destination to refer to to return a letter to the sender to sell at the best to send under separate cover sender address short term similar to sample - up to sample quality to take into consideration the aim of this letter the following items the goods are available in our warehouse the goods are not similar to sample the goods are sold out the goods arrived in good conditions the letter remained unanswered the matter in reference the meeting was cancelled to our mutual benefit to the kind attention of under separate cover up to an amount of utmost care we acknowledge receipt of we apologize again for we apologize for we apologize for the delay we apologize for the mistake we are sorry to have to we are sorry to inform you goods soon we look forward to your kind reply we must apologise for we remain - our kindest regards we sent you we thank you in advance we wish to inform you that we would appreciate it if you could answer we would appreciate your reply with no obligation - without commitment with reference to - in reference to with the compliments of with the utmost care with two weeks' notice within the end of the month within which without delay without notice would you please let us have would you please let us know you ordered you requested you sent us Yours faithfully (GB) - Yours truly (GB) PHRASES I would like you to contact I’m writing to bring yr attention to the problem of … and request yr promt reaction to this matter I hope you check …again ore carefully and give me detailed…to indicate my expense .I will appreciate it very much if you let me know the result as soon as possible .If you have any question about it ,please not hesitate to contact me.I would be glad to answer any of yr questions Up to now ,one week has passed ,and my … is still out of order.you can imagine how inconvenient it is for me now without …I believe that you could understand how strongly I feel about this situation .I could not wait any longer .Please send yr men to come to solve this problem at once .Otherwise I will have to require some other help That is the whole story .I hope my bad luck would not be the reason for charging me this time I regret the trouble I am causing you I’m planning to have a …tour in…on my way to…I’m writing to ask yr advice about my planning staying plan in It is reported that …I don’t think it is necessary to I’m eager to… First of all,… As you can see from my (resume ),I have experience in the field of … The second point is In accordance with yr request ,I’ve asked …to write the recommendation letters If you need any other information concerning my background ,please feel free to contact me Thank you for yr consideration.I look forward to hearing from you soon I’m writing in reply to yr letter I received from you …ago,in which you state that I… I would like to point out the reason I … is due to a mistake… Another point is also largely discussed by…people Feel upon yr advertisement for the…and would like to be examined for the post You will find in this letter a full list of details about my education and experience I shall be glad to send you the name of two people who know me very well and who could give out their own impression about y work . If you would like me to attend an interview ,I would be glad to come and see you whenever you feel like it According to what I reported ,the best way is to…Then it comes to the question : who…?If you want me to it ,how about the cutting expenses?Come and tell me I,therefore ,feel tha t my application deserves yr serios consderatin Thank you in advance for arranging the party for us I enclose a detailed curriculum vitae and an offprint of my article,together with two letters of recommendation from… I am very glad to know that you decided to … Some expression of gratitude : It is a great honour for me to … Informal: Thanks for … I think the …would be suitable for … In case of … How are you getting on ? I’m sorry to say that I……………. You see,… It was very nice /good of you to… Neutral: Thank you very much for … I must thank you for … Formal : I am extremely grateful for yr help… I am most grateful for… I suppose I must . Here are some instructions and suggestions: To my belief,… May I suggest that we meet at the gate of the university ? Probably you should Presumely,you will Cheers and looking forward to seeing you I would particularly like to join…for the opportunity which would give me to … I consider myself to be both …and…enough to … I’d like to suggest you should visit …for at least two days on yr way to… Considering yr present situation ,I propose that you shuold apply for the post What I want to suggest is… My suggestion is that … If you …,you had better … I would like to apply for … I wish to appply for the position of… If you need any other information concerning my bakground, … I’m writing to you to apply for admittance to yr university as a visiting scholar I hope it would be possible for me to take some training course and work in yr laboratory I believe that with yr help I would make proggresss in my career Should you think favourably of my appplication ,kindly grant me an interview An early respond will be very much appreciated Enclosed please find a resume and a list of my publicications [...]...If you …,you had better … I would like to apply for … I wish to appply for the position of… If you need any other information concerning my bakground, … I’m writing to you to apply for admittance to yr university as a visiting scholar I hope it would be possible for me to take some training course and work in yr laboratory . payment in reply to your letter in the absence of to inform in due time inside address to let someone know in advance letter opening - beginning of the letter letterheading - heading to. LETTER FORM The Start The start of any business letter begins by addressing the recipient of the letter. Dear Personnel Director, Dear Sir or Madam:. regards, (If the person is a close business contact or friend) Sample Letter Here is a sample letter using some of these forms: Ken's Cheese House 34 Chatley Avenue Seattle, WA 98765 Tel: Fax: Email: