Elements of a Business Letter

Letterhead

The first and most obvious element of a company's business letter is its letterhead – printed address along the top. Letter Head consists of 3 lines:

1 line – company name

2 line – street address

3 line – city, state, zip code, phone

Letter Head is usually in the center.

Heading

On letterhead stationery (materials for writing) the heading consists of the date of writing. Be careful with the date. Don't abbreviate the month. Stay away from the all-number forms (like 4/10/81). In Britain they write the day first, but in the United States they write the month first. This means that 12.06.94 is the twelfth of June in Britain and the sixth of December in the Unites States. So write the date like this:

12 June 1994

Reference

Below the reader's name and address are the references. 'Ref' is short for 'reference'. The references are usually the initials of the writer's name (in capitals) and the initials of the secretary who typed the letter (in small letters). In letter (C) HP stands for Henry Purcell and jb stands for Jane Bright, the secretary. Sometimes initials of the writer and the typist are typed at the bottom of the page.

Salutation Block

Below the address (double space) put salutation. Use the word "Dear" for salutation. In addressing an organization rather than a specific person in that organization use salutation like 'Dear Sir' or 'Gentlemen' or 'Dear Madam' or 'Ladies'. If you know the name of the person, you should use the last name, prefaced with Mr. or Miss or Mrs. or, if uncertain about the marital status of a woman, Ms. – e.g., Dear Mr. Toler, Dear Miss Cameron, Dear Mrs. Nakamura, Dear Ms. Ingrao. Some women prefer Ms. to Mrs. and Miss irrespective of their marital status. The plural of Mr. is Messrs.; the plural of Mrs. or Miss is Mmes.; the plural of Miss is Misses. Professional titles may also be used in the salutation: Dear Professor Newman, Dear Dr. Marton. (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary carries an extensive list of the forms of address for various dignitaries (judges, clergy, legislators, etc.)

Here are some of the ways to open a letter.

Dear Sirs – to a company

Dear Sir – to a man if you do not know his name

Dear Madam – to a woman if you do not know her name

Dear Mr.Brown – to a man

Dear Mrs.Brown – to a married woman

Dear Miss Brown – to an unmarried woman

Dear Ms. Brown – to a married or unmarried woman

Dear Mary – to a friend or someone you know well

Subject line is Below the salutation (double space).

Use capital letters for the word SUBJECT. The punctuation mark is colon. The subject line shows the topic, subject of the letter. It should be specific, appropriate concise, short. Usually subject lines are phrases, not sentences. Use capital letters for important words. Use double space between subject line and body of the letter.

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