Inside (or Receiver’s) Address

This is written below the sender’s address on the opposite side of the page.

1)If you know the surname of the person you are writing to, you write it on the first line of the the address, preceded by the courtesy title or either the person’s initials or his/her first given name, e.g. Mr J.R. Smith or Mr John Smith.

The courtesy titles used in addresses are as follows:

Mr is the usual courtesy title for a man.

Mrs is used for married woman.

Miss is the title for unmarried woman.

Ms is used both for married and unmarried women. Many women prefer to be addressed by this title, and it’s a usual form of address when you are not sure whether the woman you are writing to is married or unmarried.

Messrs is used occasionally for two or more men (Messrs L.Black and J.K.Toys) but more commonly forms part of the name of the company (Messrs Collier&Clerke &Co.).

There are a lot of special titles in the addresses: Dr. (Doctor), Prof. (Professor); Capt. (Captain), Gen. (General) etc.

2) If you do not know the name of the person, you may know or assume his/her title or position in the company (e.g. The Sales Manager, The Finance Director, The Human Resource Manager). In this case you can use this title in the address.

3) If you know the name of the department you are writing to (e.g. The Sales Department, the Accounts Department), you can use it in the address

4) If you do not know anything about the company, department or person your letter should go to, you can address it to the company itself (e.g. Soundsonic Ltd., Superbuys Ltd, J.K.B.Products PLC.).

Order of inside address is as follows:

 

Name of the person and/ or company receiving the letter

Name of house or building, name of street, road, avenue etc.

Name of town or city with postcode

Name of country

 

Mr R.Cliff The Sales Department

Homemakers LTD, R.G.Electronics AG

54-59 Riverside Havmart 601

Cardiff СА 1 IJW В -5000 Koln 1

Attention Line (optional)

This is used when you do not know the name of the person you are writing to and the letter is addressed to the company. For example, the attention line may say, “ Attention: Head of Accounting ”. It may also be used when you know the name of the person you are writing to but are unsure of the title. The attention line may say, “For the Attention of the Production Manager”, thus indicating to the person receiving the letter that the letter also needs to be routed to the Production Department.

Salutation (optional)

Dear Sir opens the letter written to a man whose name you do not know.

Dear Sirs is used to address the company. In American English a letter to a company usually opens with Gentlemen.

Dear Madam is used to address a woman, whether single or married, whose name you do not know.

Dear Sir or Madam (or Dear Sir/Madam) is used to address a person when you do not know their name or sex.

When you know the name of the person you are writing to, but you do not know them well, the salutation takes the form of Dear followed by a courtesy title and the person’s surname. Initials or first names are not used with courtesy titles, e.g. Dear Mr Smith, Dear Mrs White, Dear Ms Kaasen etc.

Subject Line (optional)

A Subject Line or Title is typed directly the salutation, provides a further reference, saves introducing the subject in the first paragraph, immediately draws attention to the topic of the letter, and allows the writer to refer to it throughout.

Body of the Letter

It is the main part of the business letter. This is where you make requests, provide information or reasons or reply to someone. It maybe indented or blocked. The block style is the one most often used for the body of the letter. But it is a matter of choice. The block style is by far the simplest. Every part of the letter starts at the left margin, with spaces between the parts. The indented style is seldom used. Its main advantage is that it calls attention to the body and each of the paragraphs. Whichever style you use, you must be consistent and use this style all through the letter. It is usual to leave a line space between paragraphs in the body of the letter, if you use the blocked style.

 

12. Complimentary Close (optional)

If the letter starts Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, Dear Sir or Madam, the complimentary close should be Yours faithfully.

If the letter begins with a personal name, e.g. Dear Mr Smith, Dear Mrs White or Dear Ms Robonson, it shoud be Yours sincerely.

A letter to someone you know very well may close with the more informal Best wishes.

Pay attention that Americans tend to close even formal letters with Yours truly or Truly yours, which is unusual in British commercial correspondence.

The complimentary close is usually written on the left, aligned under the rest of the letter.

Signature Block

In the signature block it is usually typed the name after the handwritten signature and the position or job title in the company or firm. It is a matter of choice whether you sign with your initials, e.g. H. Robinson, or your full given name, e.g. Helen Robinson and whether you include your courtesy title (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss) in the signature block. But if you do not give your full name or courtesy title, your correspondent will not be able to identify your sex and may give you the wrong title when he/she replies.

The abbreviation P.P. sometimesappears in signature blocks. It stands for PER PRO, i.e. for and on behalf of. It is usually used by administrators or personal assistants when signing the letter on behalf of their managers.