COMMERCIAL
CORRESPONDENCE
Thu Giang Hoang
Faculty of English for Specific Purposes
Questions for discussion
1. What’s a business letter?
2. Who writes business letters?
3. Why writes business letters?
4. How many parts are there in a business letter?
5. How to write a business letter?
6. How to lay a business letter out?
What’s a business letter?
Business letters are formal paper
communications between, to or from
businesses and usually sent through the
Post Office or sometimes by courier.
Business letters are sometimes called
"snail-mail" (in contrast to email which is
faster).
Who writes business letters?
Most people who have an occupation have
to write business letters. Some write many
letters each day and others only write a
few letters over the course of a career.
Business people also read letters on a
daily basis. Letters are written from a
person/group, known as the sender to a
person/group, known in business as the
recipient.
Who writes business letters?
Here are some examples of senders and
recipients:
1. business «» business
2. business «» consumer
3. job applicant «» company
4. citizen «» government official
5. employer «» employee
6. staff member «» staff member
Why writes business letters?
There are many reasons why you
may need to write business letters or
other correspondence:
• to persuade • to reject a proposal or
• to inform offer
• to request • to introduce a person or
• to express thanks policy
• to remind • to invite or welcome
• to recommend • to follow up
• to apologize • to formalize decisions
• to congratulate
How many parts are there in a
business letter?
– Letterhead/ - Subject line
sender’s address - Body
– Date line – Complimentary
– Reference initials closing
– Inside address/ – Signature
recipient’s address – Enclosure line
– Attention line – C.C notation
– Opening Salutation
How to write a business letter?
• in a formal way
• a business letter must be correct,
clear, concise, complete,
courteous, tactful, natural, to the
point, reader-oriented
• avoid: being wordy, using slangs &
informal words
How to lay a business letter out?
1. block: most common business letter
format, single spaced, all paragraphs
begin at the left margin
2. indented: leaving extra spaces (usually
5) at the beginning of all paragraphs
Book reference
• Oxford Handbook of Commercial
Correspondence by A.Ashley
• The language of Business
Correspondence in English by
Nguyen Trong Dan
Structure of a business letter
1. Letterhead 2. Date 3. Reference 4. Inside address
5.Attention line 6. Opening Salutation 7. Subject line 8. Body
9. Complimentary
10. Signature 11. Enclosure line
closing 12. C.C notation
Structure of a business letter
1.Letter head:
• pre-printed
• Usually on the top middle of the page
• No sender’s name
• If there isn’t a printed letterhead, the
sender’s address is written on the top
right-hand side of the page
Structure of a business letter
2. Date:
• just below the letter head
• usually on the right-hand side of the page
• Eg:
12th August, 2009
August 12th, 2009
Structure of a business letter
3. Reference
• Our ref: TL/nq
Manager/ writer’s initials in capital letters: Tố
Linh
Secretary’s initials in small letters: Nguyễn
Quang
• Your ref: 123/17
123: chronological number of the letter
17: the number of the department
Structure of a business letter
4.Inside address
Full name: Mr John Smith / or initial of the first
name and surname: Mr J.Smith
+Title: The Sales Manager
+Dept (Department): The Accounts Department
+Name of company: Soundsonic Co. Ltd.
(Ltd: private limited company)
(PLC: Public limited company)
(LLC: Limited Liability Company)
Structure of a business letter
4.Inside address:
• Order of inside address:
Name of house/ building
Number of building/house + Name of
street/road/avenue, etc.
Name of town/city + Post code
Name of country
• Eg: Industrial House
34-41 Lang road
Bolton BL4 8TF
United Kingdom
Structure of a business letter
5. Attention line: (optional)
+For the attention of (ATTN/ FAO)
Eg: ATTN: The Marketing Manager
+To whom it may concern
6. Opening Salutation
+Dear Sirs, (to the whole company)
+Dear Sir, (to the man you don’t know)
+Dear Madam, (to the woman you don’t know)
+ Dear Sir or Madam, (to a person of whom you know
neither name nor sex
+ Dear Mr / Mrs / Miss / Ms Smith, (to the person you
know name)
Structure of a business letter
7. Subject line: Brief, indented, underlined.
Eg: Re: Order No.1234 for men’s jackets
8. Body: usually 3 sections:
+ Opening
+ Message
+ Ending
Structure of a business letter
9. Complementary closing:
If you begin with Dear Sir,/ Sirs, /
Madam, =close with Yours faithfully,
If you begin with Dear Mr / Mrs / Miss /
Ms Smith, =close with Yours
sincerely,
Structure of a business letter
10. Signature
+Full name
+Title
Eg: (Signed )
Nguyen Van Quang (Mr.)
Managing Director
p.p.: per pro: for and on behalf of. Secretaries uses p.p.
when signing letters on behalf of their bosses
Eg: (Signed)
p.p. J. Smith
Managing Director
Structure of a business letter
11. Enclosure:
Encl: / Enc:
1. a survey report
2. pictures of damaged goods
12. C.C notation: a carbon copy sent to
people other than the named recipient
Exercise
• Người gửi: Công ty xuất nhập khẩu thương mại và
dịch vụ HN
• Địa chỉ: 122 Bà Triệu, Quận Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội,
Việt Nam
• Tel: 04385555 Fax: 04387777
• Ngày viết: 25/08/2009
• Gửi: Công ty TNHH B & Son
127 đường Lanstant, thành phố Reading, Anh
• Nội dung: Trả lời thư hỏi hành mua áo len trẻ em
Mã số 421/GL
• Người ký thư: Bà Phạm Minh Anh, Tổng Giám đốc
• Có gửi kèm 1đơn chào hàng cố định số 257/MQ
Hanoi Import & Export Company for Trade & Service
122 Ba Trieu, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi, Vietnam
Tel: 04385555 Fax:04387777
Our Ref: PA/tg 25 th August, 2009
Your Ref:
B & Son Co. Ltd.
127 Lanstant Road
Reading City
United Kingdom
Dear Sir or Madam,
Re: Enquiry for children’s sweater Code No. 421/GL
Yours faithfully,
(Signed)
Pham Kim Anh (Mrs.)
General Director
Encl: a firm offer No. 257/MQ
