clarity and go up for letter

-c ! E |E tr q, tr o rJ C L A R IT Y Yourcorrespondentmust be ableto understand what you have written Confusion in correspondence often arisesthrough a lack ofthought and care,andthere are a number of ways in which this can happen Abhreviations andinitials Abbreviations can be useful becausethey are quick to write and easyto read.But both correspondentsneed to know what the abbreviations stand for The abbreviationscrr and ros, for example, are INcorERMs which mean,respectively, Cost,Insurance,and Freightand FreeOn Board But canyou be surethat your correspondent knows thatp&pmeans postageand packing? Someinternational organizations,e.g.rvaro (North Atlantic Treaty Organization),are known in all countries by the same set of initials, but many are not, e.g.ru (European Union) and urv (United Nations).National organizations,e.g.in the UK,c n r (Confederationof British Industry) and luc (TradesUnion Congress), are unlikelyto be familiar to correspondentsin other countries A range of abbreviations are used in email correspondence>seepagezz,but many of them are not widelyknown.If you are not absolutely certain that an abbreviation or set of initials will be easilyrecognized,it is best not to use it hlumbers We saw on page8 that the use of figures insteadof words for datescan createproblems Numerical expressionscan alsocause confusion.For example,the decimal point in British and American usageis a full stop,but a comma is usedin most continental European countries,sothat a British or Americanperson would write 4.255where a Frenchperson wouid write 4,255(which to a British or Americanpersonwould meanfour thousand tw o hundredandfifty -five) If there is the possibility of confusion,write 36 the expressionin both flguresand words,e.g fto, 575.9o (ten thousandfive hundred and pounds,ninetypence) seventy-five Prepositions Specialcareshouldbe taken when using prepositions.Thereis a big differencebetween Theprice hasbeenincreasedto t45o.oo, Theprice hasbeenincreasedbyt45o.oo,and Theprice hasbeenincreasedfromt45o.oo A C C UR A C Y S p e llin g Carelessmistakesin a letter can give readersa bad impression.Spelling,punctuation,and grammar should all be checkedcarefully.Many peoplehavecometo rely on the spellcheckerin their computersto ensurethat there areno spellingmistakes.But a word speltincorrectly mayform a completely different word, e.g Pleasegive it somethough (thewriter means thought);I sawit their (the writer meansfhere) A spellcheckerwouldmiss thesemistakes There is no substitute for carefully reading, or proofreading a letter that you have written Ti tl er nanref" ;l nd addresses Usethe correcttitle in the addressand salutation Spellyour correspondent'sname correctly(nothing createsa worseimpression than a misspelledname),and write their addressaccurately If you not knowyour correspondent,do not assumethat they are one sex or the other, i.e.useDearSir/ Madam ratherthanDear Siror DearMadam.If you know a correspondent's name but not their sex,useMr / Ms,e.g.DearMr / Ms Barron References When replying to a letter, fax, or email, quote all referencesaccuratelysothat it is immediately clearto your readerwhat you are writing about