Лингвистический фон деловой корреспонденции (Linguistic Background of Business Correspondence)
L:MAKING AND ANSWERING COMPLAINTS
P:USEFUL BUSINESS WRITING EXPRESSIONS
A:CORRESPONDENCE EXCHANGE
byseparate mail = отдельнойпочтой
byair mail = авиапочтой
toour address = на наш адрес
inblock letters = печатнымибуквами
inhandwriting = от руки
toreceive a letter = получитьписьмо
aletter of December 26 = письмо от26 Декабря
toenclose (a booklet) = приложить(буклет)
toreceive a reply from the letter dated… = получитьответ на письмодатированное…
torefer to (a letter) = ссылатьсяна (письмо)
tofill in a form = заполнитьбланк (форму)
certifiedletter (registered letter) = заказноеписьмо
postpaid envelope = конверт
cable= телеграмма
kindletter = любезноеписьмо
tobe in communication with… = поддерживатьсвязь с…
Thereare several questions I would like to ask. = У меняесть нескольковопросов.
Wereceived a fairly encouraging response. = Мы получиливесьма обнадеживающийответ.
Ihope to hear from you in response of my letter = Надеюсьполучить ответна свое письмо.
Donot hesitate to contact me. = Не стесняйтесьобращатьсяко мне.
Welook forward to your (early) reply. = Ждемвашего (скорого)ответа.
Youprompt reply will be appreciated. = Будублагодаренза быстрыйответ.
Please,notify that a reply is required by… without fail. =Пожалуйста,учтите, чтоответ непременнотребуется непозднее…
Waitingfor your kind reply we remain… = В ожиданиивашего ответа,остаемся…
Wewould gratefully appreciate the answer. = Будемочень благодарныза ответ.
Iam pleased to… = Мне оченьприятно…
Iam pleased to send you a copy of… = Я судовольствиемвысылаю вамэкземпляр…
Asyou know from our previous correspondence…= Каквы знаете азнашей переписки…
Ourletter crossed yours. = Наше письморазминулосьс вашим.
B:GRATITUDE
apleasant surprise = приятныйсюрприз
Manythanks for… = Большоеспасибо за…
Manythanks in advance = Заранеебольшое спасибо.
Iwas pleased to… = Мне былоприятно…
Iam much obliged to you for… = Премногообязан за…
Weare grateful for your co-operation. = Мы благодарныза сотрудничество.
Please,accept my sincere (/deep) appreciation for your help. = Пожалуйста,примите моюискреннюю(глубокую)благодарностьза Вашу помощь.
Ideeply appreciate… (you kind words of sympathy). = Явысоко ценю…(ваше сочувствие).
Itis very kind of you to… = С вашейстороны оченьлюбезно…
C:INFORMATION FLOW
tolet know (without delay) = поставитьв известность,дать знать (безпромедления)
tokeep informed… = держатьв курсе
toconfirm that… = подтвердить,что…
tophone at …(567-98-76) = позвонитьпо номеру…
Iam attaching some information about… = Прилагаюнекоторуюинформациюо…
Thisis to inform you that… = Настоящимсообщаю вам,что…
Iwill be in touch as soon as… = Я свяжусьс вами как только…
Wewill certainly contact you if… = Мы обязательносвяжемся с вамиесли…
Addsome data about… = Сообщитедополнительнуюинформациюо…
Please,take a note of… (our new address). = Пожалуйста,обратите вниманиена… (наш новыйадрес).
Payspecial attention to… (the fact that…) = Обратитеособое внимание…(на тот факт,что…)
Inaddition to my cable I would like you to inform us… = Вдополнениек моей телеграммея бы хотел, чтобывы сообщилинам…
Werefer to our telephone conversation of… = Мыссылаемся нанаш телефонныйразговор от…
Inreply to your telephone requiry… = В ответна ваш запроспо телефону…
Letme inform you… = Позвольтемне сообщитьвам, что…
Iwill keep you informed. = Я будудержать васв курсе.
Theinformation will be handled in confidence. = Информациябудет хранитьсяв секрете.
Weshould be most happy to provide you with any further information youmay require. = Мы с удовольствиемобеспечим васлюбой информацией,которая можетвам потребоваться.
D:REQUEST
Wewould be very grateful if you would… = Мы былибы очень благодарны,если бы вы…
Ishall (/would) be glad … = Я буду(был бы) рад…
Couldyou please … = Не моглибы вы…
Wewould be very much obliged… = Будемочень обязаны…
Iwonder if you could…= Не моглибы вы…
Iam writing to ask you for a favour. = Я пишу,чтобы попроситьвас об одолжении.
Inaccordance with law I request… = В соответствиис законом требую…
concreterequests
Letme know if… = Дайте мнезнать, если…
Iam anxious to know… = Я срочнохочу знать…
Weshould like you to send us… = Мы хотелибы, чтобы вывыслали нам…
Weask to wire us. = Просимтелеграфировать.
Werequest to pay… = Требуемзаплатить.
Iwonder if you could help me. = Не моглибы вы помочьмне.
Please,confirm the full address at which the package is to be sent. =Подтвердите,пожалуйста,подробныйадрес, на которыйдолжен бытьвыслан пакет.
E:PAYMENTS
outstandinginvoice = просроченныйсчет
overdueaccount = просроченныйсчет
chargeaccount, credit account = кредитныйсчет, кредитпо открытомусчету
creditstanding = кредитоспособность
letterof credit = аккредитив
assetsand liabilities = актив и пассив
foreignexchange = иностраннаявалюта
courseof exchange = курс обмена,валютный курс
averageprice = средняя цена
runningexpenses = текущие расходы
incidentalexpenses = непредвиденныерасходы
travellingexpenses = дорожныерасходы
chequein one’s favour = чек на чье-либоимя
todraw a check in my favour = выписатьчек на мое имя
fallin exchange (price) = падениекурса (цены)
freeof charge, free of expense = бесплатно
pastdue = просроченный,после срока
athalf price = за полцены
belowthe cost = ниже себестоимости
atmy expense = за мой счет
COD,cash-on-delivery = оплата пофакту (при доставке)
toask for a price of … запрашиватьцену …
topay in advance = платитьзаранее (авансом)
tobuy on easy terms = купить навыгодных условиях
toraise the prise = поднятьцену
toreduce the price = снизитьцену
tocash a cheque = обналичитьчек, получитьпо чеку, выдатьденьги по чеку
tomeet a bill = оплатитьсчет
toconvert pounds into dollars = перевестифунты в доллары
todraw money from a bank = взять деньгииз банка
tohave an account with a bank = иметьсчет в банке
tocharge to an account = записатьна счет
forour account = на наш счет
atour cost plus postage = наша оплатаплюс почтовыерасходы
tocover expenses = покрытьрасходы
topay damages = оплатитьповреждения
tocover the actual cost price of producing = покрытьстоимостьпроизводства
tobear a loss (expenses) = нести убытки(расходы)
asper account rendered… = в соответствиис представленнымсчетом…
topay somebody’s travel expenses to London = оплатитьчьи-то путевыерасходы доЛондона
Travelexpenses will be paid. = Путевыерасходы будутоплачены.
Wewould share with you the cost of paying for … = Мыразделим с вамиоплату за…
Sendus a check to the value of … roubles at this address. =Пришлите намчек на… рублейпо этому адресу.
Weestimate the cost of… to be.. roubles. = По нашейоценке себестоимость…-…рублей.
Thepayment is (/to be) in US dollars. = Оплата- (должна быть)в долларах США.
Weagree to your payment of … roubles. = Мы согласнына вашу оплатув … рублей.
Youroffer of … roubles is acceptable. = Вашепредложениев… рублей приемлемо.
Werequest to pay… = Требуемзаплатить.
F:APOLOGIES
Unfortunately…= К сожалению…
Iam afraid that… = Боюсь что…
Imust apologize that… = Долженизвинитьсяза то что…
Please,accept my apologies for:… = Пожалуйста,примите моиизвинения за:…
…takingso long to answer your letter = …то, чтотак задержалответ на Вашеписьмо.
…notcoming = …то, что непришел.
…thedelay in… = …промедлениепри…
Iregret to inform you that… = С сожалениемсообщаю вам,что…
Imust inform you with regret that… = С сожалениемсообщаю вам,что…
Tomy great regret I must inform you that… = С сожалениемдолжен сообщитьвам, что…
Isincerely regret that… = Искреннесожалею, что…
Please,forgive me for troubling you. = Пожалуйста,извините забеспокойство.
Iam very sorry to have caused you so much trouble. = Извините,что причинилвам стольконеудобства.
Weare sorry about any inconvenience that I may have caused you. =Просим насизвинить залюбое неудобство,которое, возможно,мы вам причинили.
Iam sorry that I missed the opportunity of meeting you. = Мнежаль, что я упустилвозможностьвстретитьсяс вами.
Thereason for the present delay is… = Причинанастоящегопромедленияв том, что…
G:WISHES AND CONGRATULATIONS
(with)best wishes = С наилучшимипожеланиями
(with)best regards = С искреннимприветом
Ourbest wishes (best regards) to… = Нашинаилучшиепожелания(искреннийпривет) …
tocongratulate on… = поздравитьс…
towish good health = пожелатьдоброго здоровья
Mywarmest greetings on… to… = Моигорячие поздравленияс… …
Itgives me a great pleasure to congratulate you on… = Я сбольшим удовольствиемпоздравляювас с…
Withbirthday greetings. = С поздравлениямипо поводу днярождения.
Mywarmest congratulations on your promotion. = Горячиепоздравленияс повышением.
Bestwishes from all of us on your new appointment. = Наилучшиепожелания отнас всех с вашимновым назначением.
Bestwishes of further success in your work and of personal happiness. =Наилучшиепожеланиядальнейшихуспехов в работеи личного счастья.
WithChristmas greetings and all good wishes for the coming New Year. = Срождественскимипоздравлениямии наилучшимипожеланиямив новом году.
H:SYMPATHY
Maywe express our great sympathy on the death of… = Позвольтевыразить глубочайшеесоболезнованиев связи со смертью…
Itwas with great sorrow that we learned of the death of… = Сглубокой скорбьюузнали мы осмерти…
Please,also convey my sympathy to his family. = Пожалуйста,передайте моисоболезнованияего семье.
I:CLOSING THE LETTER
Sincerely= Искренне
SincerelyYours = Искренне Ваш
YoursSincerely = ИскреннеВаш
Yours= Ваш
TrulyYours = Искренне Ваш
VeryTruly Yours = ИскреннеВаш
Respectfully= С уважением( только от низшегок высшему,используетсяредко, абсолютноне соответствуетрусскому "суважением")
Cordially= Сердечно
CordiallyYours = Сердечно Ваш
Yours with love = Твой, с любовью
Kisses= Целую
Iremain,.. = Остаюсь,…
Lookingforward to continue co-operation, I remain,.. = С надеждойна продолжениесотрудничества,остаюсь…
J:EMPLOYMENT
toaccept a position at another firm = принятьдолжность вдругой фирме
tohand over responsibility for… to Mr… = передатьполномочияза… …
tohave extensive international experience = иметьобширныймеждународныйопыт
thetotal salary would be… roubles = общаязарплата составит…рублей
K:BUSINESS ACTIONS
closecollaboration = близкоесотрудничество
closercollaboration = более близкоесотрудничество
copyright= авторскоеправо, копирайт
tosign a licence contract = подписатьлицензионноесоглашение
thelicence rights = лицензионныеправа
supplyand demand = спрос и предложение
bymutual agreement = взаимнымсоглашением
foran order = на заказ
withoutfurther delay = без дальнейшегопромедления
onregular basis = на регулярнойоснове
onthe following conditions = на следующихусловиях
asper contract = в соответствиис контрактом
todo business = заниматьсябизнесом
todo business with… = заниматьсябизнесом совместнос…
toput up to auction = выставитьна аукцион
toplace an order = разместитьзаказ
toalter an order = изменитьзаказ
tocancel an order = отменитьзаказ
towithdraw a proposal = снять предложение
tofind a proposal acceptable = найтипредложениеприемлемым
toassume liability (obligation) = принятьобязанность
tobe in force = быть в силе
toremain in force = оставатьсяв силе
toconfirm that… = подтвердитьчто…
tocarry on negotiations with… = проводитьпереговорыс…
todecline propositions = отклонитьпредложения
tomeet informally = встретитьсянеофициально
toexchange ideas = обменятьсямыслями
tocome to an agreement = прийти ксоглашению
toconclude a contract = заключитьконтракт
tobreak a contract = нарушитьконтракт
togive permission = дать разрешение
toimpose a restriction on… = наложитьограничениена…
toinsert an advertisement = разместитьрекламу
toprovide with financial support = обеспечитьфинансовойподдержкой
totake further steps = предпринятьдальнейшиешаги
toobey the law = подчинятьсязакону
tohave on hand = иметь враспоряжении
tofurther understanding and co-operation between… = кдальнейшемупониманию исотрудничествумежду…
TheCompany was established in 1967. = Компаниябыла основанав 1967 году.
Ourfirm will provide Mr… with financial support. = Нашафирма обеспечитм-ру… финансовуюподдержку.
Ourfirm has already signed a similar contract with another company. =Наша фирма ужеподписалаподобный контрактс другой компанией.
Weare pleased (willing) to accept your terms (offer). = Намприятно (мыжелаем) принятьваши условия(ваше предложение).
Ifeel that we should be able to come to a compromise. = Яуверен, что мысможем прийтик соглашению.
Asigned contract would be sent directly to you for co-signing. =Подписанныйконтракт будетприслан прямовам для консигнации.
Theconditions may be discussed after your positive decision. = Мыможем обсудитьусловия послетого, как выпримете позитивноерешение.
Ourterms are the following… = Нашиусловия следующие…
Ifyou find our terms acceptable… = Есливы найдете нашиусловия приемлемыми…
Please,confirm the booking and tell me the terms. = Пожалуйста,подтвердитебронь и сообщитемне условия.
Yourorder will have our best attention. = Мы отнесемсяк вашему заказус особым вниманием.
Awaitingfor your further commands. = Ждем вашихдальнейшихуказаний.
Ihave made a draft of the protest. = Я подготовилпроект протеста.
Wethoroughly examined the project. = Мы всестороннеизучили проект.
Wewould welcome the opportunity to co-operate with you. = Мыприветствуемвозможностьсотрудничествас вами.
Thereason for the present delay is… = Причинанастоящегопромедлениязаключаетсяв том что…
L:MAKING AND ANSWERING COMPLAINTS
bymistake = по ошибке
Ihave the legal right… = У менязаконное право…
Inaccordance with law I request… = В соответствиис законом ятребую…
Underarticle… of Geneva convention (1948). = В соответствиисо статьей…ЖеневскойКонвенции(1948).
Inaccordance with international practice… = В соответствиис международнойпрактикой…
Thecargo is in bad condition. = Груз вплохом состоянии.
Theextent of the damages is now under investigation. = Размерыповрежденийв настоящиймомент выясняются.
Ihave to ask you to accept the responsibility for these damages (thisaccident). = Я вынужденпросить васпринять на себяответственностьза эти повреждения(этот несчастныйслучай).
Iam very disappointed about this fact. = Я оченьразочарованпо поводу этогофакта.
Weare not happy about the terms you are suggesting. = Намне нравятсяусловия, которыевы предлагаете.
Ihave to decline all your claims. = Я долженотклонить всеваши претензии.
Thecontents of your letter have surprised us. = Содержаниеписьма удивилонас.
Iduly accept liability for… = Я должнымобразом принимаюответственностьза…
M:ARRANGING AN APPOINTMENT
akind invitation = любезноеприглашение
tobe present (at/in…) = присутствоватьв…
toaccept an invitation = принятьприглашение
todecline an invitation = отклонитьприглашение
toask for an appointment = проситьо встрече
tofix the exact dates of arrival and departure = утвердитьточные датыприбытия иотъезда
toreserve a single (double) room from… to… for… =забронироватьодноместный(двухместный)номер с… по…для…
Ilook forward to seeing you. = Надеюсьувидеть вас.
Iam sorry that I missed the opportunity of meeting you. = Мнеочень жаль, чтоя упустил возможностьвстретитьсяс вами.
MayI have the pleasure of inviting you to visit our firm? Могули я пригласитьвас посетитьнашу фирму?
Ishould be pleased to know what dates would be convenient to you. = Ябы хотел узнать,какие датыбудут для васудобны.
Thetravel arrangements for this visit will be made by our office. =Дорожныеприготовлениядля этого визитабудут сделанынашим офисом.
Wewould welcome the opportunity to co-operate with you. = Мыс удовольствиембудем сотрудничатьс вами.
Icould come at any time convenient to you. = Я могуприехать влюбое удобноедля вас время.
Iam unable to accept your invitation. = Я не могупринять вашеприглашение.
N:RECOMMENDATIONS
aletter of recommendation = рекомендация
Iam just writing a few lines to introduce Mr… = Пишуэти несколькослов, чтобыпредставитьм-ра…
Itgives me a great pleasure to introduce… = Я сбольшим удовольствиемпредставляю…
Thebearer of this letter, Mr…, is a… = Подательэтого письма,м-р… , является…
Thiswill introduce Mr… who will be grateful for any help you maybe able to give him. = Настоящимписьмом я представляювам м-ра…, которыйбудет оченьблагодаренза любую помощь,которую вы емуможете оказать.
Ican sincerely recommend Mr… as a highly responsible andreliable man. = Я со всейискренностьюмогу рекомендоватьм-ра… как оченьответственногочеловека, накоторого можноположиться.
Heis a diligent, loyal and trust-worthy in every way. = Онстарательный,надежный идостойныйдоверия во всехотношениях.
Itis my opinion that he would be a credit to your firm. = Помоему мнениюон будет … длявашей фирмы.
O:PROPOSALS AND PROMISES (top)
apositive response on… = положительныйответ на…
withonly two changes = только сдвумя изменениями
towithdraw a proposal = снять предложение
onthe following conditions = на следующихусловиях
Aspromised… = Как былообещано…
Welook forward to… = Мы надеемся…
Aswe requested… = Как мы ужеспрашивали…
Ishould be very happy to… = Мне былобы очень приятно…
Itis more possible for us to…= Для насболее возможно…
Ifyou find our terms acceptable… = Есливы найдете нашиусловия приемлемыми…
Incase out proposal would be acceptable… = В случае,если на предложениебудет приемлемым…
Ifthe above idea is attractive to you… = Еслиизложеннаяидея вас привлекает…
Doesthe idea appeal to you? = Вам нравитсяэта идея?
Wewould prefer to… = Мы бы предпочли…
Wewould like to make some changes in… = Нам быхотелось внестинесколькоизменений в…
Weshall do our best to… = Мы сделаемвсе возможное,чтобы…
Ihope you will not mind… = Надеюсь,вы не будетевозражать…
P:USEFUL BUSINESS WRITING EXPRESSIONS
allpersons concerned = все имеющиек этому отношениелица
apleasant surprise = приятныйсюрприз
inaddition to… = в дополнениек…
asfar as = насколько…
inorder to… = для тогочтобы…
toa certain degree = до определеннойстепени
toa certain extent = до определеннойстепени
toa great extent = в значительнойстепени
notabove = не более
asfollows = следующие…
accordingto… = в соответствиес…
onthe ground that… = на томосновании что…
inview of the above said… = ввидувышесказанного
inconnection with… = в связис…
inaccordance with… = в соответствиис….
asa result of… = как результат…
despitethe fact that… = несмотряна тот фактчто…
exceptfor… = за исключением…
inno case = ни в коем случае
etc.= и так далее(эт сетера)
forexample = например
ingeneral = в общем
hereinaftercalled… = в дальнейшемименуемый…
mentionedabove = вышеупомянутый
bythe law = по закону
atyour convenience = как вам удобно
assoon as possible = как можноскорее
withoutfail = непременно
incase of necessity = в случаенеобходимости
atthe present time = в настоящеевремя
proand contra = за и против
supplyand demand = предложениеи спрос
matterof great importance = дело большойважности
totake into account = приниматьво внимание
totake into consideration = приниматьво внимание
todraw your attention to… = привлечьваше вниманиек тому что…
totake the liberty of… = взять насебя смелость…
We are taking the liberty of… = Мыберем на себясмелость…
As you may know… = Как вы,наверно, знаете…
We have no doubt of… (that…) = У наснет сомненийв … (том что…)
It is to be noted… = Необходимозаметить…(Необходимоиметь в виду…)
I hope… = Надеюсь…
Let me… = Разрешитемне…
Bibliography
A. Ashley Ahandbook of commercial correspondence; OxfordUniversity Press, 1992
B. J. Naterop, E. Weis, E.Naberfellner Businessletters for all;Oxford University Press, 1994
A. Fowles, M. Miller, J. StockerExecutivedecisions; NelsonEnglish Language Teaching, 1995
R. Wincor Contractsin plain English;Princeton review, 1993
E. Gowers Thecomplete plain words;Nelson ELT, 1995
L. Jones, R. Alexander NewInternational English Teacher’sbook; Cambridge University Press, 1996
M. Doherty, L. Knapp. S. Swift Writefor business,Longman, 1995
А.М. АизоваОсновыделовой переписки,Издательскийдом "Дрофа",М., 1996
Э.М. Басс Научнаяи деловаякорреспонденция;Издательство"ПедагогикаПресс", М., 1989
V. Hollett, BusinessObjectives; OxfordUniversity Press, 1991
D. Horner, P. Strutt Wordsat work. Vocabulary development for businessEnglish;Cambridge University Press, 1996
P. O'Connor, A. Pilbeam Negotiating,Longman Group UK, 1992
D. Davies, D. Pickett Englishfor commerce,Longman Group UK, 1997
N. Brieger AdvancedEnglish Contacts;Oxford University Press, 1993
Р.И. ГуськовДеловаяпереписка наанглийскомязыке, МГП"Шарапат",Алма-Ата, 1991
В. В. СафоноваWritten EnglishX-XI Москва"Просвещение",1995
www.writeexpress.com
www.business-letters.com
www.businesstown.com/forms/letters.asp
www.4hb.com/letters/index.html
www.komei.com/wrisamp.htm
www.bctv.net/Eng119/bizlet1.html
www.exec-rewrites.com/businessletters.html
www.bizwriting.com/
http://wordwork.com/freelance/index.html
http://letterworld.narod.ru
http://engring.narod.ru/base/business.zip
http://homejungle.km.ru/sovet/polez/letter/letter1/htm
www.money-at-home.com/business.htm
Conclusion
In recent years English has become a universalbusiness language. As such, it is potentially an instrument of order and clarity. A neatly arranged letter will certainly make abetter impression on the reader, thus good letters make good businesspartners. But words and phrases have unexpected ways of creatingbinding commitments.
Letter-writing, certainly, is not the same as casual conversation,it bears only the same power of thoughts,reflections, and observationsas in conversational talk, but theform may be quite different. What makes the letter soattractive and pleasing is not always the massage of the letter,it is often the manner and style in which the massageis written.
In the case of "scientific correspondence" themajority of letters bear mostly a semi-official character and are concerned with different situations associated with scientificactivities concentrated around the organisation of scientificmeetings (congresses, symposia, workshops, etc.), thearrangement of visit, invitation, publication, the exchange ofscientific literature, information, etc. Letters of this kind have a tone of friendliness, naturalism. Modern English lettersshould not be exaggerated, overburdened, outmoded with time-wornexpressions. The key note is simplicity. Modern letters tendtowards using the language of conversational style.
Writing is not only a means of communication and contact, but also a record of affairs, information, events,etc. So it is necessary to feel the spirit and trend of the stylein order to write a perfect letter.
Business-letter or contract law is a complex andvastly documented subject, only a lawyer can deal with it on aserious level. A number of basic principles, however, can beoutlined sufficiently to mark of encounters that require the use ofspecialised English.
Your knowledge of Business English lexics is cruciallyimportant;
Includejust the right amount of information in your letter. (But better toinclude too much than too little.)
Planyour letter before you start writing, to make sure it sayseverything you want to say and says it in a logical sequence.
Usea simple but polite style of language. Beware of idioms.
Yourletter should be clear and unambiguous. Take care with abbreviationsand figures.
Accuracyis important. Pay special attention to titles, names and addresses,references, prices, and enclosures.
Writing of business letters is highly complicatedscience. It is not enough for a good business letter writingto know lexics and grammar, but you should comprehend the wholerange of such things as: occasions on which the particular letter iswritten, the style of letter, useful expressions, and acceptedidioms. There are certain rules which not everybody could learnsince they have to be felt by correspondents. Letter writingrequires long practice and experience.
In spite of the difficulties of business correspondence,we as teachers of the English language must be able to prepare ourstudents to be proficient in any sphere of the language.
In order to do that we must primarily know how to teachthe “golden rule” which must be followed by everybusiness correspondent that the official letter should be formal,courteous, tactful, concise, expressive, and to the point.
Contents
Introduction …………………………………………………………….…… 3
Part I.
The basic forms of communication …………………………………………… 5
Non-verbalcommunication………………………………………….. 5
Verbalcommunication ……………………………………………… 6
Languagebarriers to business communication……………………… 9
Part II.
Typesof business communication ………………………………………….... 11
Thetypes description………………………………………………... 11
Businesswriting (letters, memos and reports, other documents)…... 12
Part III.
Types of business correspondence…………………………………………… 15
Correspondence onsocial situations
(appointments; travel arrangements; invitations; job applications; goodwill letters; etc) ………………………….. 15
Correspondenceon business situations
(inquires;quotations; sales letters; orders; complaints; acknowledging ofpayment; etc) ……………………………. 20
Part IV.
Structuraland lexical peculiarities of business letters ………………………… 30
Structureof a business letter ……………………………………….. 31
Contentof a business letter …………………………………………36
3. Rules and mannersof writing a business letter …………………….. 40
4. Style of a businessletter……………………………………………. 44
5. Lexicsof business letters
(frequent phrases;cliches; abbreviations, etc.) …………….. 48
Conclusion ……………..………………………………………………………58
Mini-dictionaryof business correspondence ……………………………………………….. 60
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………. 64
Название - Linguistic Background of Business Correspondence (на англ. языке)
Раздел - Иностранные языки (Английский) или Лингвистика (Лексикология)
Назначение - Дипломная работа
Формат - WinWord 97
Автор - Гадюкова Екатерина,
Использование - год сдачи - 2001, преподаватель - Булатова С. М., Алматинский ИнЯз, кафедра лексикологии, оценка 5.
Примечание - 1 - для студентов языковых вузов, особенно для Анг. Педагогических факультетов
2- часть материала четвертой главы взята из реферата Lexico-Semantic Characteristics of Business Letter Correspondence
О получении - пожалуйста, известите меня о получении и размещении моей дипломной работы
Ina man’s letters you know, Madam, his soul lies naked, hisletters are only the mirror of his breast, whatever passes within himis shown undisguised in its natural process. Nothing is inverted,nothing distorted, you see systems in their elements, you discoveractions in their motives. ----Samuel Johnson (1709–84), Englishauthor, lexicographer
Lettersare above all useful as a means of expressing the ideal self; and noother method of communication is quite so good for this purpose. …In letters we can reform without practice, beg without humiliation,snip and shape embarrassing experiences to the measure of our owndesires. … -----Elizabeth Hardwick (b. 1916), U.S. author,critic.
Politenessis as much concerned in answering letters within a reasonable time,as it is in returning a bow, immediately. ----Lord Chesterfield(1694–1773), English statesman,
Sir,more than kisses, letters mingle souls.
For, thus friends absentspeak. -----John Donne (c. 1572–1631), English poet.
Introduction
Letter writing - is an essential partof communication, an intimate part of business and lifeexperience. Each letter-writer has acharacteristic way of writing, his style of writing, his way ofexpressing thoughts, facts, etc. But it must beemphasised that the routine ofthe official or semi-official businessletters requires certain accepted idioms, phrases,patterns, and grammar whichare found in general use today.Therefore certain skills must be acquired by practice, anddetails of writing must becarefully and thoroughly learnt.
The choice of this topic for my diploma paper was mostlyconditioned by the fact that the students studying English at ourUniversity are almost unable to write proper business letters andthat the problem of writing business letters is still notwell-studied.
I think that it is very important toknow a constituent part of modern business communication.As nowadays more and more agreements are made in English, forEnglish is the nearest thing we have to a universal businesslanguage. Joint ventures, bank loans, and trademark licensesfrequently are spelled out in this language even though it isnot native to at least one of the contracting parties.
The subject matter of the diplomapaper is the role of lexics and semantics in the case of businessletter correspondence. The question of the history of officialcommunication, the main stages of business transactions, the role ofperson’s feeling for the proper use of phrases as well as hisknowledge of grammar are highlighted. Moreover, those phrases whichare more often used in business letters are examined from the pointof view of their appropriateness in different situations. Thepractical part contains many examples of business letters; theoccasions on which they were written and some of theircharacteristics are observed.
The aim of my diploma paper is to study business lettersfrom the lexicological point of view and make the matter of businessletter writing less complicated.
The objectives and purposes of the paper may beformulated as follows:
Critical study of the material onthe theme;
Exposure of the aims, place,importance, role and contents of the aspect of letter-writing in thecourse of Lexicology and Business English classes;
Defining the specificity of lexicsin different spheres of business correspondence;
Searching the peculiarities of thestructure, manners and styles of business letters;
Defining and stating the rules ofwriting a business letter;
Arranging and classifying thebusiness letters according to the sphere of usage;
Giving useful tips and advice toanyone interested in business letter writing.
To achieve the set aims I havecollected more then 100 letters on various issues of businesscorrespondence. Then, I made a thematic classification anddescription of letters concerning different spheres of business(trade, finance, industry, international inquiries and reports,etc.). Having analysed each type separately, I came to the conclusionthat there are certain common rules which need through studying.While searching the letters I mostly paid attention to the specificusage of lexics, semantics, manners and styles of business letterwriting.
As resource for my paper I used alist of business books, various reference books, dictionaries,language textbooks, real pieces of business correspondence anddifferent sites of the Internet.
Nowadays, we have a great need ofBusiness English teachers and I do hope that my diploma paper couldbe really useful especially for them. It also contains good materialfor the students of language higher institutions, and could be aswell appreciated by any person interested in the course of businessletter writing.
My diploma paper consists ofIntroduction, four chapters, Conclusion and Appendix.
Kazakh State University ofInternational Relations
andWorld Languages named after Abylay Khan
Chairof Lexicology
E.Gadyukova
Group406
EnglishTeaching Department
TheLinguistic Background of
Business Correspondence
(DiplomaPaper)
ScientificSupervisor
AssociatedProfessor
BulatovaS. M.
Almaty, 2001
PartI
TheBasic Forms Of Communication
As David Glass is well aware, effective communicatorshave many tools at their disposal when they want to get across amessage. Whether writing or speaking, they know how to put togetherthe words that will convey their meaning. They reinforce their wordswith gestures and actions. They look you in the eye, listen to whatyou have to say, and think about your feelings and needs. At the sametime, they study your reactions, picking up the nuances of yourresponse by watching your face and body, listening to your tone ofvoice, and evaluating your words. They absorb information just asefficiently as they transmit it, relying on both non-verbal andverbal cues.
- Non-Verbal Communication
The most basic form of communication is non-verbal.Anthropologists theorize that long before human beings used words totalk things over, our ancestors communicated with one another byusing their bodies. They gritted their teeth to show anger; theysmiled and touched one another to indicate affection. Althoughwe have come a long way since those primitive times, we still usenon-verbal cues to express superiority, dependence, dislike, respect,love, and other feelings.
Non-verbal communication differs from verbalcommunication in fundamental ways. For one thing, it is lessstructured, which makes it more difficult to study. A person cannotpick up a book on non-verbal language and master the vocabulary ofgestures, expressions, and inflections that are common in ourculture. We don't really know how people learn non-verbal behaviour.No one teaches a baby to cry or smile, yet these forms ofself-expression are almost universal. Other types of non-verbalcommunication, such as the meaning of colors and certain gestures,vary from culture to culture.
Non-verbal communication also differs from verbalcommunication in terms of intent and spontaneity. We generally planour words. When we say "please open the door," we have aconscious purpose. We think about the message, if only for a moment.But when we communicate non-verbally, we sometimes do sounconsciously. We don't mean to raise an eyebrow or blush. Thoseactions come naturally. Without our consent, our emotions are writtenall over our faces.
The functions of non-verbalcommunication
Although non-verbal communication can stand alone, itfrequently works with speech. Our words carry part of the message,and non-verbal signals carry the rest. Together, the two modes ofexpression make a powerful team, augmenting, reinforcing, andclarifying each other.
Experts in non-verbal communication suggest that it havesix specific functions:
• To provide information, either consciously orunconsciously
• To regulate the flow of conversation
• To express emotion
• To qualify, complement, contradict, or expandverbal messages
• To control or influence others
• To facilitate specific tasks, such as teaching aperson to swing a golf club.
Non-verbal communication plays a role in business too.For one thing, it helps establish credibility and leadershippotential. If you can learn to manage the impression you create withyour body language, facial characteristics, voice, and appearance,you can do a great deal to communicate that you are competent,trustworthy, and dynamic. For example, Wal-Mart founder Sam Waltonhas developed a homespun style that puts people at ease, therebyhelping them to be more receptive, perhaps even more open.
Furthermore, if you can learn to read other people'snon-verbal messages, you will be able to interpret their underlyingattitudes and intentions more accurately. When dealing withco-workers, customers, and clients, watch carefully for smallsigns that reveal how the conversation is going. If you aren't havingthe effect you want, check your words; then, if your words are allright, try to be aware of the non-verbal meanings you aretransmitting. At the same time, stay tuned to the non-verbal signalsthat the other person is sending.
2. Verbal Communication
Although you can express many things non-verbally, thereare limits to what you can communicate without the help of language.If you want to discuss past events, ideas, or abstractions, you needwords—symbols that stand for thoughts — arranged inmeaningful patterns. In the English language, we have a 750,000,although most of us recognize only about 20,000 of them. Tocreate a thought with these words, we arrange them according to therules of grammar, putting the various parts of speech in the propersequence
We then transmit the message in spoken or written form,hoping that someone will hear or read what we have to say. Figure 1.1shows how much time business people devote to the various types ofverbal communication. They use speaking and writing to send messages;they use listening and reading to receive them.
Speaking and writing
When it comes to sending business messages, speaking ismore common than writing. Giving instructions, conducting interviews,working in small groups, attending meetings, and making speeches areall important activities. Even though writing may be less common, itis important too. When you want to send a complex message of lastingsignificance, you will probably want to put it in writing.
Listening and reading
It's important to remember that effectivecommunication is a two-way street. People in business spend more timeobtaining information than transmitting it, so to do their jobseffectively, they need good listening and reading skills.Unfortunately, most of us are not very good listeners. Immediatelyafter hearing a ten-minute speech, we typically remember only half ofwhat was said. A few days later, we've forgotten three-quarters ofthe message. To some extent, our listening problems stem fromour education, or lack of it. We spend years learning to express ourideas, but few of us ever take a course in listening.
Similarly,our reading skills often leave a good deal to be desired. Recentstudies indicate that approximately 38 percent of the adults in theUnited States have trouble reading the help-wanted ads in thenewspaper, 14 percent cannot fill out a check properly, 26 percentcan't figure out the deductions listed on their paycheques, and 20percent are functionally illiterate. Even those who do read may notknow how to read effectively. They have trouble extracting theimportant points from a document, so they cannot make the most of theinformation presented.
College student are probably better at listening andreading than are many other people, partly because they get so muchpractice. On the basis of our own experience, no doubt realise thatour listening and reading efficiency varies tremendously, dependingon how we approach the task. Obtaining and remembering informationtakes a special effort.
Although listening and reading obviously differ, bothrequire a similar approach. The first step is to register theinformation, which means that you must tune out distractions andfocus your attention. You must then interpret and evaluate theinformation, respond in some fashion, and file away the data forfuture reference.
The most important part of this process isinterpretation and evaluation, which is no easy matter. Whileabsorbing the material, we must decide what is important and whatisn't. One approach is to look for the main ideas and the mostimportant supporting details, rather than trying to remembereverything we read or hear. If we can discern the structure of thematerial, we can also understand the relationships among the ideas.
Picture
3. Language Barriers
If we're doing business in London, we obviously won'thave much of a language problem. We may encounter a few unusualterms or accents in the 29 countries in which English is an officiallanguage, but our problems will be relatively minor. Languagebarriers will also be relatively minor when we are dealing withpeople who use English as a second language (and some 650 millionpeople fall into this category). Some of these millions are extremelyfluent; others have only an elementary command of English. Althoughyou may miss a few subtleties in dealing with those who are lessfluent in English, we’ll still be able to communicate. Thepitfall to watch for is assuming that the other person understandseverything we say, even slang, local idioms, and accents. One groupof English-speaking Japanese who moved to the United States asemployees of Toyota had to enroll in a special course to learn that"Jeat yet?" means "Did you eat yet?" and that"Cannahepya?" means "Can I help you?"
Barriers to written communication
One survey of 100 companies engaged in internationalbusiness revealed that between 95 and 99 percent of their businessletters to other countries are written in English. Moreover, 59percent of the respondents reported that the foreign letters theyreceive are usually written in English, although they also receiveletters written in Spanish and French. Other languages are rare ininternational business correspondence.
Because many international business letters are writtenin English, North American firms do not always have to worry abouttranslating their correspondence. However, even when bothparties write in English, minor interpretation problems do existbecause of different usage of technical terms. These problems do notusually pose a major barrier to communication, especially ifcorrespondence between the two parties continues and each graduallylearns the terminology of the other.
More significant problems arise in other forms ofwritten communication that require translation. Advertisements, forexample, are almost always translated into the language of thecountry in which the products are being sold. Documents such aswarranties, repair and maintenance manuals, and product labels alsorequire translation. In addition, some multinational companiesmust translate policy and procedure manuals and benefit plans for usein overseas offices. Reports from foreign subsidiaries to the homeoffice may also be written in one language and then translated intoanother.
Sometimes the translations aren't very good. Forexample, the well-known slogan "Come alive with Pepsi" wastranslated literally for Asian markets as "Pepsi brings yourancestors back from the grave," with unfortunate results. Partof the message is almost inevitably lost during any translationprocess, sometimes with major consequences.
Barriers to oral communication
Oral communication usually presents more problems thanwritten communication. If you have ever studied a foreignlanguage, you know from personal experience that it's easier to writein a foreign language than to conduct a conversation. Even if theother person is speaking English, you're likely to have a hard timeunderstanding the pronunciation if the person is not proficientin English.
Idiomatic expressionsare another source of confusion. If you tell a foreigner that acertain product "doesn't cut the mustard," chances are thatyou will fail to communicate. Even when the words make sense, theirmeanings may differ according to the situation. For example, supposethat you are dining with a German woman who speaks English quitewell. You inquire, "More bread?" She says, "Thankyou," so you pass the bread. She looks confused, then takes thebreadbasket and sets it down without taking any. In German, thankyou (danke) canalso be used as a polite refusal. If the woman had wanted more bread,she would have used the word please(bitte inGerman).
Part II
Types of BusinessCommunications
- Thetypes description
The primary tools for communicating information inbusiness include e-mail messages, memos, letters, reports, phonecalls, meetings, and conversations. To determine which is the best touse in a given situation, start by asking yourself the followingquestions:
·Howmuch information do I have to pass along?
·Howmany people will receive the message?
·Howquickly does it need to reach them?
·Howmuch time do the recipients need to respond to it?
·Howformal should the presentation be?
·Is themessage confidential?
·How arepeople likely to respond to it?
E-mailMessages
Because of its speed and informality, e-mail is idealfor routine communication between coworkers. For instance, an e-mailmessage is usually the best means of announcing a new policy,introducing a recent hire, informing colleagues of a meeting time,and reminding an employee of an approaching deadline.
E-mail messages are also useful for day-to-dayor extremely timely exchanges with people outside the company.Because of their low cost, they often are preferred for communicatingwith overseas contacts.
Memos
Althoughe-mail messages are now used instead of memos for most intercompanycommunication, memos are still suitable for notes sent to peoplehigher in the company hierarchy, especially in conservativecompanies.
The memo is also appropriate for lengthy, formalcommunications to coworkers that may eventually be circulated to yoursupervisors or to contacts in other companies.
Letters
Theletter is now used primarily for formal correspondence with clients,customers, and others outside the company, particularly people youhave not met.
Imagine, for instance, that you need to ask for adviceor information from someone you do not know personally. The personwill likely give a letter more attention than an e-mail messagebecause a letter conveys an added element of formality and courtesy.
Reports
Acomplex document of more than ten pages, especially one that will beshown to outside contacts, is best presented as a report. A routinereport can be easily produced using a word processor and a laserprinter. Important reports for potential clients, stockholders, orothers you might want to impress usually should be professionallydesigned and printed, often in full color on heavy or glossy paper.
Phone Calls,Conversations, and Meetings
The mainadvantage of a phone conversation is that it allows both parties torespond to each other immediately. If you and a coworker have severalquestions for each other, asking them in a single phone call isusually less time-consuming than exchanging a long series of e-mailmessages.
Personal matters or topics that might elicit a highlyemotional response are best discussed in person. As common sense willtell you, sending an e-mail or memo reading “You’refired!” is not the most delicate or responsible way of dealingwith a difficult situation.
Face-to-face meetings are usually the safest way ofcommunicating confidential information. Meetings are also useful whena quick group decision is needed on a particular problem or issue.Important side benefits of meetings are that they allow employees indifferent departments or divisions to become acquainted and can oftenfoster a sense of shared mission among coworkers.
2.Business writing
Intercultural business writing falls into the samegeneral categories as other forms of business writing. How you handlethese categories depends on the subject and purpose of your message,the relationship between you and the reader, and the customs of theperson to whom the message is addressed.
Letters
Lettersare the most common form of intercultural business correspondence.They serve the same purposes and follow the same basic organizationalplans (direct and indirect) as letters you would send within your owncountry. Unless you are personally fluent in the language of theintended readers, you should ordinarily write your letters in Englishor have them translated by a professional translator. If you andthe reader speak different languages, be especially concerned withachieving clarity:
• Use short, precise words that say exactly whatyou mean.
• Rely on specific terms to explain your points.Avoid abstractions altogether, or illustrate them with concreteexamples.
• Stay away from slang, jargon, andbuzz words. Such words rarely translate well. Nor do idioms andfigurative expressions. Abbreviations, tscfo-nyms(such as NOKAI) and CAD/CAM), and North American product names mayalso lead to confusion.
• Construct sentences that are shorter and simplerthan those you might use when writing to someone fluent in English.
• Use short paragraphs. Each paragraph should stickto one topic and be no more than eight to ten lines.
• Help readers follow your train ofthought by using transitional devices. Precede related points withexpressions like in additionand first, second, third.
• Use numbers, visual aids, and pre-printed formsto clarify your message. These devices are generally understood inmost cultures.
Your word choice should also reflect the relationshipbetween you and the reader. In general, be somewhat more formal thanyou would be in writing to people in your own culture. In many othercultures, people use a more elaborate, old-fashioned style, and youshould gear your letters to their expectations. However, do not carryformality to extremes, or you will sound unnatural.
In terms of format, the two most commonapproaches for intercultural business letters are the block style(with blocked paragraphs) and the modified block style (with indentedparagraphs). You may use either the American format for dates(with the month, day, and year, in that order) or the European style(with the day before the month and year). For the salutation, useDear (Title/Last Name).Close the letter with Sincerely or Sincerelyyours, and sign it personally.
If you correspond frequently with people in foreigncountries, your letterhead should include the name of yourcountry and cable or telex information. Send your letters by airmail, and ask that responses be sent that way as well.
Check the postage too; rates for sending mail to mostother countries are not the same as rates for sending it within yourown.
In the letters you receive, you will notice that peoplein other countries use different techniques for their correspondence.If you are aware of some of these practices, you will be able toconcentrate on the message without passing judgement on the writers.Their approaches are not good or bad, just different.
The Japanese, for example, are slow to come to thepoint. Their letters typically begin with a remark about the seasonor weather. This is followed by an inquiry about your health orcongratulations on your prosperity. A note of thanks for yourpatronage might come next. After these preliminaries, the main ideais introduced. If the letter contains bad news, the Japanese beginnot with a buffer, but with apologies for disappointing you.
Letters from Latin America look different too. Insteadof using letterhead stationery, Latin American companies use a coverpage with their printed seal in the centre. Their letters appear tobe longer, because they use much wider margins.
Memos and reports
Memos and reports sent overseas fall into two generalcategories: those written to and from subsidiaries, branches, orjoint venture partners and those written to clients or otheroutsiders. When the memo or report has an internal audience, thestyle may differ only slightly from that of a memo or report writtenfor internal use in North America. Because sender and recipient havea working relationship and share a common frame of reference, many ofthe language and cultural barriers that lead to misunderstandingshave already been overcome. However, if the reader's native languageis not English, you should take extra care to ensure clarity: Useconcrete and explicit words, simple and direct sentences, shortparagraphs, headings, and many transitional devices.
If the memo or report is written for an externalaudience, the style of the document should be relatively formal andimpersonal. If possible, the format should be like that of reportstypically prepared or received by the audience. In the case of long,formal reports, it is also useful to discuss reporting requirementsand expectations with the recipient beforehand and to submit apreliminary draft for comments before delivering the finalreport.
Other documents
Many international transactions involveshipping and receiving goods. A number of special-purposedocuments are required to handle these transactions:price quotations, invoices, bills oflading, time drafts, letters of credit, correspondence withinternational freight forwarders, packing lists, shipping documents,and collection documents. Many of these documents are standard forms;you simply fill in the data as clearly and accurately as possible inthe spaces provided. Samples are ordinarily available in a company'sfiles if it frequently does business abroad. If not, you may obtaindescriptions of the necessary documentation from the United StatesDepartment of Commerce, International Trade Administration,Washington, D.C., 20230. (For Canadian information, contact theDepartment of External Affairs, Trade Division, Ottawa, Ontario,K1A OG2.)
When preparing forms, pay particular attention to themethod you use for stating weights and measures and money values. Thepreferred method is to use the other country's system of measurementand its currency values for documenting the transaction; however, ifyour company uses U.S. or Canadian weights, measures, and dollars,you should follow that policy. Check any conversion calculationscarefully.
PartIII
Typesof Business Correspondence
- Correspondenceon social situations
Appointmentsand Travel Arrangements
Inpersonal meetings, talks take priority over writing, yet appointmentsand travel arrangements often involve correspondence. Even ifappointments have been made verbally it is wise to confirm them inwriting, as a letter is clearer to all parties concerned than atelephone message, where it is easy to misinterpret dates and places.
Travelarrangements can, of course, be made without writing letters.However, correspondence is necessary if accommodation is to be bookedabroad, or if one is to travel further from places outside one's owncountry.
e.g.
InternationalImport Corporation
44Nasatar St.
Cairo
18August, 1997
DearMr. Carter,
Asmentioned in my letter of 9 August, I am planning to spend a few daysin London next month, on my way to the United States. The dates arenow settled: I shall at Heathrow on Wednesday, 3 September (Flight BA602 15 30) and leave on Friday night. I shall be staying at theCumberland Hotel, Marble Arch, London W1.
OnSeptember 3 I already have some appointments, but could come to youroffice any time on Thursday, 4 September. Would you kindly leave amessage at my hotel letting me know what time would suit you.
Oneof the most important matters to be discussed is the percentage ofcommission you could give us for distributing your SELECT copier inEgypt. As we have already indicated, 10% is unacceptable to us: werequire at least 12% if we are to do a good job of selling thisequipment in Egypt.
Inthe hope that we can come to terms, and looking forward to meetingyou, I am,
Yourssincerely,
AmirHanna
InternationalImport Corporation
AmirHanna
Invitations:Accepting and Declining
Aformal invitation, usually in the form of a letter or printed card,is written in the third person, and replies also follow the samestyle. Other invitations are written less formally. Any writteninvitations should be answered in writing too, not by phone.
Adistinction is made between a formal invitation, a semi-formal andinformal invitation, and the correct form of reply to each isindicated.
e.g.
DearDr Simon,
Onbehalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the OrganizingCommittee of the 10thInternational congress on brain surgery I have the honour andpleasure of extending to you an invitation to participate in the workof Congress and to give a lecture at the Plenary Session coveringyour area of research.
Anearly reply to this letter would be appreciated.
SincerelyYours,
F.N.Pavlov,Professor
Chairmanof the Organizing Committee
e.g.
DearDr. Truman,
Ivery much regret that I am unable to accept your kind invitation to aReception to be held in Hotel Ritz at seven o’clock on Friday,the tenth of March, 2000, as I have already accepted a previousinvitation for that date and time.
YoursTruly,
SimonPerry
e.g.
Johnand Jane Doe
are pleased to accept the kind invitation of
Johnand Jane Smith
to join them in celebrating the graduation oftheir daughter, Jane
Saturday, the twentieth of June, at 4o'clock
at the Riverside Country Club, 4500 Riverside Drive
Thanksfor Hospitality, Requests, Complying with a Request
Itis a matter of courtesy to write to your host personally if you haveenjoyed his/her company's hospitality. Here you can see how toexpress thanks for the fulfilment of other requests, too.
e.g.
DATE:August 29, 1999
Itwas a pleasure meeting you today, Mr Smith. You couldn't have chosena better restaurant. The food was superb.Thank you.
Iam glad we had plenty of time to discuss the construction project.You helped clear up almost all the questions I had. And you pointedme in the right direction to find the answers to the few queries Ihave left.
Ilook forward to meeting you again in the near future. I will call youwhen I return from my trip to the head office and then it will be mypleasure to treat you to lunch.
Regards,
M.J.Johnson
e.g.
TO:J. Watkins
FROM:Dr. J. R Ewing
DATE:August 29, 1999
SUBJECT: Marriage Benefits
Congratulationson getting married, Jim. Best wishes to you and your bride for a longand happy life together.
Nowthat you are changing your status, we need to discuss your healthinsurance and retirement plans. As well, I would like to explain ourcompany policies as they affect you and your wife. Could you drop bymy office as soon as you return from your honeymoon so that we cantalk?
Employment:Applications, Letters of Recommendation, Givingnotice
Whenwriting a letter of application, the applicant would like to say whatjob and conditions he or she would like to have. But a good letter ofapplication should contain facts the prospective employer wants toknow, for instance what experience the applicant has, how useful heor she will be to the company. If he has held several positions, itwould be advisable for the applicant to submit a personal data sheet,the curriculum vitae, containing full personal details andinformation on the past experience, education and certificates ordegrees, special qualifications, and possibly references.
Theletter then can serve to draw the reader's attention to thecandidates' suitability for the vacancy. If you are starting yourcareer and have had one or two jobs, or none at all, all theparticulars can be included in the letter itself.
Acontract of employment defines the conditions of work, the workinghours, holidays allowed, responsibilities and notice. It may containa job description and give information on fringe benefits such ascompany pension scheme, bonuses, expenses and commission whereapplicable. When employment is terminated by either party, notice hasto be given in writing and the set period observed.
e.g.
DearDr. James
Thisletter is in response to your advertisement in the FinancialTimeson November25,l998 for a positionof secretary.I have three years experience in the field of market research.
Iam ready for long hours and travel required to be an effectivepersonalsecretary.
Myresume is attached for your resource.
Sincerely,
J.Kvatson (Ms)
e.g.
DearMrDouglas,
Ihave been working for “NewbornElectronics”for 7years and I always enjoyed and valued my job. As well I alwaysenjoyed and valued my salary.
Howeverthe total crisis in the country and the recent ruble inflation makeme ask for a certain adjustment of my salary which is now 8.000rubles. Three months ago this sum equaled to approx.530US dollars while today it is less the 200US dollars.
Takinginto consideration the above calculations I am requesting a salaryadjustment of 17.000rubles. Thank you in advance for your prompt consideration of thismatter.
SincerelyYours,
F.T.Petrov
e.g.
DearMr Hampshire:
Yourwork has been excellent. However, your absentee record is nowovershadowing your work record. I realize that your health has beenpoor but one of our job requirements is regular attendance. We havedifficulty scheduling when we cannot depend on your attendance.
Wehave discussed this subject with you several times before. Now yourattendance must meet our requirements or we will have to terminateyou.
Sincerely,
J.Johnson
ExportDepartment
Goodwillletters: Congratulations, Introductions, Condolence, Christmas andNew Year Wishes
Agoodwill letter, as its name implies, is not written to obtain anorder, or to collect outstanding bills. It is intended to pay foritself in another way, by building up goodwill. It is difficult tomeasure its value, but if this could be done businessmen wouldprobably write goodwill letters more often.
Theygive both the reader and writer pleasure when the occasion arises toenclose a gift, to send good wishes, to express thanks or to rememberan anniversary. Letters of introduction can also be a great help,both to a young person starting out n a particular field of businessand to the established businessman wishing to expand his operations.
Goodwillletters let customers feel that they are in tough - in good times andbad - when business friends show sympathy, when they offerassistance, and when congratulations are due.
e.g.
November30, 1997
DearDr. Simpson,
Iwant to introduce you to MsJames,who worked with me at ConnaughtCentrefor fiveyears.
Sheis a person of greatintellect and work ability.MsJamesis currently involved in a project which might be of interest to you,and he shall be contacting you soon to arrange a meeting.
Iam sure you will benefit if you agree to see her.
YoursSincerely,
MrWatson
SalesManager
e.g.
HuntersRanch,
Paxton,Florida 32538
May4, 1995
DearMr. Wembley:
Mywife and I are coming to Delhi for a fairy long stay, as I havebusiness there that will keep me several months. I know you havelived in Delhi for several years, and I wonder if you would kindlygive us some introductions.
SinceI shall be very occupied, my wife may feel lonely at times. If sheknew one or two people whom she could visit now and again, it wouldbe very pleasant for her.
Iwould be most grateful for your help. If there is anything I can dofor you - either here in the states or when I am in Delhi - please donot hesitate to let me know.
Sincerelyyours,
HaroldCanning
HaroldCanning
Mr.Clifford Wembley
c/oAmerican Press Office
NewDelhi, India
e.g.
InternationalOffice Equipment Inc.
P.O.Box 295 Nassau
Bahamas
December18, 2000
Ladiesand Gentlemen:
Nearthe close of another year, we would like to take this opportunity ofthanking our friends and customers for their continued confidence andpatronage.
Wesend you and your families our best wishes for Christmas and a veryprosperous New Year.
Sincerelyyours,
H. Raffley
H.Raffley
2.Correspondence on business situations
1.Inquiries
Aninquiry (also spelt enquiry) is sent when a businessman wants someinformation, especially about
thesupply of goods
leafletsor catalogues
quotationor prices
samples
termsand discounts
availabilityof goods
deliverytimes and deadlines
methodof transport
insurance
Abusinessman will save unnecessary correspondence by giving fulldetails that are relevant.
Ifa prospective customer approaches suppliers for the first time, itis useful to tell them something about his own business, the kind ofgoods he needs and for what purpose they are required. In this caseof customers of long standing or repeat orders, the inquiry may bevery simple. Often a phone call or a postcard will do.
e.g.
MATTHEWS& WILSON
Ladies'Clothing
421Michigan Avenue
Chicago,III.60602
MessrsGRANT & CLARKSON
148Mortimer Street
LondonWIC 37D
England
October21, 1993
Gentlemen:
Wesaw your women's dresses and suits at the London Fashion Showheld in New York on October 17. The lines you showed for teenagers,the "Swinger" dresses and trouser suits would be mostsuitable for our market.
Wouldyou kindly send us your quotation for spring and summer clothingthat you could supply to us by the end of January next. We wouldrequire 2,000 dresses and suits in each of the sizes 10-14, and 500 in sizes 8 and 16. Please quote c.i.f. Chicago prices. Paymentis normally made by letter of credit.
Thankyou for an early reply.
Verytruly yours,
P.Wilson. Jr.
Buyer
e.g.
WORLDWIDEDEALERS LTD.
ConnaughtCenter
HongKong
TheVictoria Cycle Works
P.O.Box 9734
Melbourne
June14, 1998
DearSirs,
Ourbusiness agents in India have asked us for quotations for 10,000bicycles, to be exported to Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Nepal.
Pleaselet us know what quantities you are able to deliver at regularintervals, quoting your best terms f.o.b. Brisbane. We shall handleexport formalities, but would ask you to calculate containertransport to Brisbane for onward shipment.
Yoursfaithfully,
P.King
Asst.Export Manager
2.Quotations. Offers
Thequotation in reply to an inquiry may be a simple one, containingsimply the prices and other information asked for. Thesales-conscious businessman, however, will take the opportunity tostimulate his correspondent's interest in his goods or services byincluding a sales message and the assurance that the customer willreceive personal attention.
Offersare also sent without a preceding inquiry when a supplier wants todraw the attention of customers and new customers to a specialproduct or range of goods. A firmoffer is subjectto certain conditions, a deadline for the receipt of orders, or aspecial price for certain quantities.
e.g.(export quotation: firm offer, reply to the first inquiry example)
Grand& Clarkson
148Mortimer Street
LondonW1C 37D
MessrsMatthews & Wilson
421Michigan Avenue
Chicago,Ill. 60602
30thOctober, 1997
Attention:Mr. P. Wilson, Jr.
DearSirs,
Weare pleased to make you an offer regarding our ‘Swinger’dresses and trouser suits in the size you require. Nearly all themodels you saw at our fashion show are obtainable, except trousersuits in pink, of which the smaller sizes have been sold out. Thisline is being manufactured continuously, but will only be availableagain in February, so could be delivered to you in March.
Allother models can be supplied by the middle of January 1998, subjectto our receiving your form order by 15thof November. Our c.i.f. prices are understood to be for sea/landtransport to Chicago. If you would prefer the goods to be sent byair freight, this will be charged extra at cost
Trousersuits sizes 8-16 in white, yellow, red,
turquoise,navy blue, black
Sizes12,14 also in pink per 100 $2,650.00
Swingerdresses sizes 8-16 in white,
yellow,red, turquoise, black per 100 $1,845.00
Prices: valid until 31stDecember, 1997
Delivery: c.i.f. Chicago
Transport: sea freight
Payment: by irrevocable letter of credit or cheque with order
Youwill be receiving price-list, cutting of our materials and a colourchart. These were airmailed to you this morning.
Wehope you agree that our prices are very competitive for these goodquality clothes, and look forward to receiving your initial order.
Yoursfaithfully,
F.T.Burke
ExportDepartment
e.g.
BunburyEstate Builders
17FenRoad
London
EC35AP
24November, 2000
DearSirs,
Inreply to your letter of 21stNovember, we have pleasure in enclosing a detailed quotation forbathroom showers. Besides those advertised in the "Builders'Journal", our illustrated catalogue also enclosed shows varioustypes of bathroom fittings and the sixes available. Most types canbe supplied from stock. Four-six weeks should be allowed fordelivery of those marked with an asterisk. Building contractors allover Britain have found our equipment easy to install and attractivein appearance.
Anyorders you place with us will be processed promptly.
Yoursfaithfully,
S.Stuart
S.Stuart
SalesManager
3.Sales Letters
Direct advertising, in the form of letters to aselected group of readers, is an effective way to promote sales.Such sales letters should appeal to the potential customer. Theyshould:
arouse the reader's attention
create desire to make use of your offer
convince him that these products or services are thebest ones for him
activate him to place an order
Almost any communication can be usedas a sales letter. Announcementsto customers and others or importantchanges can beused to make your company, your products or services better known tothe public, and to attract buyers.
e.g.
FARMERSFRUIT PRODUCTS
Taunton,Somerset
England
November2000
DearSir,
Inthe field of fruit preserves, English jams marmalades have beenregarded as the best for the century and a half. Their reputation isspread by everyone who tastes them: they are recommended by word ofmouth to relatives, friends and many prospective customers. Englishfruit farmers supply FARMARES with the best quality produce fromtheir orchards and gardens. Fresh citrus fruits are imported fromSpain and Israel all year round.
Pleaserefer to the enclosed price-list, and let us know your requirementson the form attached. You may be able to profit from special termson your initial order. Delivery can be made shortly after we receiveyour order. FARMERS look forward to hearing from you soon
Yoursfaithfully,
FARMERSFRUIT PRODUCTS
4.Counter-Proposals, Concessions
A buyer need not accept the pricesand terms offered by the seller unconditionally. There will often begood reason to make a counter-proposalwith the object ofobtaining better prices or terms, or a shorter time of delivery. Asa result of these negotiations, the supplier could make aconcession,particularly for an introductory sale, or if the customer places alarge order.
e.g.
RobertsImport Company
Av.Rio de Janeiro
Grupo505
Riode Janeiro
Farmersfruit products
Taunton,Somerset
England
16November, 1998
DearSirs,
Thankyou for your letter of 10thNovember, enclosing your price-list. The 2 lb tins of marmaladewould not be suitable for our customers, but we should like to buy15,000 1 lb jars. However, there is one disadvantage when comparedwith local produce. Housewives here are used to a jar containing 500grammes; the English pound is only 454 grammes. Therefore we wouldask you to reduce the prices quoted for quality A2 by ten per cent.
Asfar as the settlement is concerned, we would suggest paying half theamount against your invoice on receipt of the goods, and the secondhalf within 30 days, deducting 2 per cent discount.
Thesamples arrived yesterday, and we must admit that your marmalade isdelicious. Would you kindly let us know as soon as possible if youcan supply us on the terms mentioned.
Yoursfaithfully,
R.Wilson
5.Orders, Order Acknowledgements
In comparison to the correspondenceso far, placing anorder is simplefrom the point of view of letter-writing. Very often the purchasingdepartment or the buyer fills in an order form, although he mayprefer to write a letter to make certain points quite clear. Therecould be special import regulations, which make it necessary tocomplete formalities, or he may want to stress delivery instructionsor other matters.
The supplier sends an orderacknowledgementpromptly, to thank his customer for the order. If prices or deliverytimes have changed, the customer must be notified. If the goodsordered are no longer available, a substitute may be offered.
e.g.
MATTHEWS& WILSON
Ladies'Clothing
421Michigan Avenue
Chicago,III.60602
GRANT&CLARKSON
148Mortimer Street
LondonW1C 37D
November4, 1996
Gentlemen:
Thankyou for your quotation of October 30. We have pleasure in placing anorder with you for
1,900‘Swinger’ dresses at Price:$38,745
inthe colours and sizes specified below:
| Quantity | Size | Colour |
50 | 8,16 | white |
100 | 10,12,14 | white |
50 | 8,16 | turquoise |
100 | 10,12,14 | turquoise |
50 | 8,16 | red |
100 | 10,12,14 | red |
50 | 16 | yellow |
100 | 10,12,14 | yellow |
50 | 16 | black |
100 | 10,12,14 | Black |
Delivery:air freight, c.i.f., Chicago
Weshall open a letter of credit with your bank as soon as we receiveyour order acknowledgement. Please arrange for immediate collectionand transport since we need the dresses for Christmas.
Verytruly yours,
P.Wilson
Buyer
6.Dispatch, Packing, Transport
When the supplier has made up theorder and arranged shipment, the customer is informed of this in anadvice of dispatch.This may be done on a special form or in a letter.
e.g.
SATEXS.P.A.
Viadi Pietra Papa, 00146 Roma
Telefono:Roma: 769910
Telefax:(06) 681 5473
Mr.Crane, Chief Buyer
NessonHouse
BirminghamB3 3EL
TheUnited Kingdom
29March, 1990
DearMr. Crane,
Wewould like to advise you that your order has been shipped on the SSMarconissaand should reach you within the next ten days.
Meanwhileour bank has forwarded the relevant documents and sight draft for $1, 445.60 to the Northminister Bank Birmingham.
Weare sure you will be pleased with the consignment and look forwardto your next order.
Yourssincerely,
D. Causio
e.g.
GRANT&CLARKSON
148Mortimer Street
LondonW1C 37D
MATTHEWS& WILSON
Ladies'Clothing
421Michigan Avenue
Chicago,III.60602
20thNovember,1996
DearSirs:
Wehave pleasure in notifying you that your credit was confirmed by ourbank yesterday, 19thNovember. We have had the 1900 ‘Swinger’ dressescollected today for transport by British Airways to Chicago on 25thNovember.
Enclosedis our invoice for the goods in question plus the extra charges forair freight, packing list to facilitate customs clearance at yourend, certificate of origin, air waybill and insurance policy.
Hopingthat this initial order will lead to further business, we are
Yoursfaithfully,
F.T.Burke
Exportdepartment
7.Payment and Reminders
Customers usually settle theiraccounts by cheque when payment is due, according to the terms ofpayment. However, some overlook the date and have to be reminded ofthe amount outstanding. The first letter is written in a friendlytone, as the delay may have been due to an oversight. When paymenthas not beenreceived in reply to this reminder,the creditor will write again in a firmer tone. If the debtor givesno reason for non-paymentand sends no remittance, the last course is to use the services of acollection agency or to take legal actions.
Theremay be good reasons for a customer's inability to pay. Wherepossible he should at least make a part payment, and agree to settlethe balance of his account within a reasonable time.
e.g.
Themanville corporation
Wilmington,Conn. 71226
July19, 1998
Gentlemen:
Insettlement of your invoice No. 20015, we enclose our cheque for$870. May we add that we are pleased with the way you executed thisorder. The furniture arrived exactly on time, and could be put onsale without delay.
Thankyou.
Sincerelyyours,
WilliamS. Carsons
Enc.Cheque
e.g.
THEMANVILLE CORPORATION
Wilmington,Conn. 71226
CarsonInc.
BayAvenue
SanFrancisco
July22, 1998
DearMr. Carsons:
Wewere pleased to receive your check for $870. It has been credited toyour account, which is now completely clear.
Pleasegive us an opportunity of serving you again in any way we can.
Sincerelyyours,
RobertL. Thomas
Enc.Receipt
8.Complaints, Handling complaints
Mistakes may occur in day-to-daybusiness, and these give cause for complaints.There might have been a misunderstanding about the goods to besupplied; perhaps the warehouse clerk made an error in addressingthe parcel; sometimes a consignment is dispatched too late or delaysare caused in transit; damages may have occurred during delivery; amanufacturing defect is discovered when a machine is used. Thecustomer is understandably annoyed.
He will get better results if he takes the trouble toexplain his complaint clearly, and to propose ways in which matterscan be put right. His company may make mistakes too: firms oftenhave to manage with insufficiently trained personnel or to contendwith staff shortage, so mistakes and accidents happen.
It is particularly necessary toexercise tact in handlingcomplaints. Adisappointed customer cannot be put off with mere apologies –he is entitled to know how the mistakes will be remedied: when hewill receive the goods ordered; what he is to do with the wrongconsignment or the damaged goods he received; when he will receive areplacement for his defective machine, or if it can be repairedquickly.
e.g.
MATTHEWS& WILSON
Ladies'Clothing
421Michigan Avenue
Chicago,III.60602
November22, 1996
GRANT&CLARKSON
148Mortimer Street
LondonW1C 37D
Gentlemen:
Thankyou for your delivery of ‘Swinger’ dresses which wereordered on November 4. However we wish to draw your attention to twomatters.
Ofthe red dresses supplied one lot of 100(size 12) included clothes ofa lighter red than the other sizes. Since we deliver a collection ofvarious sizes to each store, it would be obvious to customers thatthe clothes are dissimilar. In addition the red belt supplied doesnot match these dresses. We are returning two of these by separatemail, and would ask you to replace the whole lot by 100 dresses size12 in the correct colour.
Asfar as your charges for air freight are concerned, we agree to paythe extra costs which you invoiced. However your costs for packingand insurance must have been lower for air cargo, and we request youto take this fact into consideration and to make an adjustment tothe invoice amount. Would you please send us a rectified invoice,reduced accordingly.
Welook forward to your dealing with these questions without delay.
Verytruly yours.
Wilson.
e.g.
GRANT&CLARKSON
148Mortimer Street
LondonW1C 37D
MATTHEWS& WILSON
Ladies'Clothing
421Michigan Avenue
Chicago,III.60602
2ndDecember, 1996
DearSirs:
Thecolour of the dresses about which you complain is indeed lighterthan it should be. Apparently this was overlooked by controllerresponsible. Please accept our apologies for the oversight.
Weare sending you a new lot by air this week, and would ask you toreturn the faulty clothes at your convenience, carriage forward.Alternatively you may keep this lot for sale as seconds at a reducedprice of &1,120.
Youare perfectly correct in saying that packing and insurance costs arenormally less for cargo sent by air. May we remind you, however, inthis case your request to send the goods by air was made at veryshort notice. It was not possible for us to use the lighter airfreight packing materials, as most of the dresses were ready forshipment by sea freight (please see our letter of 9thNovember). Furthermore, our insurance is on an open policy at a flatrate, and depends on the value of the goods, not the method oftransport. For these reasons our invoice No.14596 dated 15thNovember 1996 is still valid, and we look forward to receiving yourremittance when due.
Yoursfaithfully,
P.Burke
.
Part IV. Structural and lexical peculiarities of a businessletter
Bredgate51, DK1260,S
ender'saddressCopenhagenK,DENMARK
9thMay 2001D
ate
SounsonicLtd.,Warwik House,
I
nsideaddress Warwik Street,(Receiver'saddress) Forest Hill,
London SE23 1JF
UNITEDKINGDOM
A
ttentionline Forthe attention of the Sales ManagerS
alutation Dear Sir or Madam,
Pleasewould you sent me details of your quadrophonic sound system, whichwere advertised inthe April edition of "Sound Monthly"?
B
odyof the letterI am particularinterested in the Omega
range of eguipmentthat you specialize in.
C
omplimentaryclose Yoursfaithfully,
Ekaterina GadyukovaS
ignature E. Gadyukova (Ms)P
erpro p.p. D. SampsonC
ompanyposition Sales managerE
nclosure Enc. 
1.Structure of a business letter
Sender'saddress
Incorrespondence that does not have a printed letterhead, the sender'saddress is written on the top right-hand side of the page.
In the UK, in contrast to the practice in somecountries, it is not usual to write the sender's name before thesender's address.
Date
Thedate is written below the sender's address, sometimes separated fromit by a space. In the cases of correspondence with the printedletterhead, it is also usually written on the right-hand side of thepage.
The month in the date should not bewritten in figures as they can be confusing; for example, 11.01.1998means 11thJanuary 1998 in the UK, but 1stNovember 1998 in the US. Nor should you abbreviate the month, e.g.Nov. for November, as it simply looks untidy. It takes a moment towrite a date in full, but it can take a lot longer to find amis-filed letter, which was put in the wrong file because the datewas confusing.
Many firms leave out theabbreviation 'th' after the date, e.g. 24 October instead of 24thOctober. Other firms transpose the date and the month, e.g. October24 instead of 24 October. These are matters of preference, butwhichever you choose you should be consistent throughout yourcorrespondence.
Inside's(or receiver's) address
Thisis written below the sender's address and on the opposite side of thepage, i.e. the left-hand one.
Surnameknown
If you know the surname of the personyou are writing to, you write this on the first line of the address,preceded by a courtesy title and either the person's initial(s) orhis/her fist given name, e.g. MrJ.E. Smith or MrJohn Smith, not MrSmith. Courtesytitles used in addresses are as follows:
Mr(with or without a full stop; the abbreviated form 'mister' shouldnot be used) is the usual courtesy title for a man.
Mrs(with or without a full stop; no abbreviated form) is used for amarried woman.
Miss(not an abbreviation) is used for an unmarried woman.
Ms(with or without a full stop; no abbreviated form) is used for bothmarried and unmarried women. Many women now prefer to be addressedby this title, and it is a useful form of address when you are notsure whether the woman you are writing to is married or not.
Messrs (with or without a full stop;abbreviation for Messieurs, which is never used) is usedoccasionally for two or more men, e.g. MessrsP. Jones and B.L. Parker)but more commonly forms part of the name of a firm, e.g. MessrsCollier & Clerk & Co.
Specialtitles, which should be included in addresses are many. Theyinclude:
academicor medical titles, e.g. Doctor (Dr.), Professor (Prof.)
militarytitles, e.g. Captain (Capt.), Major (Maj.), Colonel (col.)
aristocratic title, e.g. Sir (whichmeans that he is a Knight; not be confused with the salutation 'DearSir' and always followed by a given name - SirJohn Brown, notSir J. Brownor Sir Brown),Dame, Lord, Baroness, etc.
Esq (with or without a full stop;abbreviation for Esquire) is seldom used now. If used, it can onlybe instead of 'Mr' and is placed after the name, e.g. BruceHill Esq., not MrBruce Esq.
2. Title known
Ifyou do not know the name of the person you are writing to, you mayknow or be able to assume his/her title or position in the company,e.g. the Sales Manager, or the Finance Director, in which case youcan use it in the address.
3.Department known
Alternativelyyou can address your letter to a particular department of thecompany, e.g. The Sales Department, or The Accounts Department.
4.Company only
Finally,if you know nothing about the company and do not want to make anyassumptions about the person or the department your letter should goto, you can simply address it to the company itself, e.g. SoundsonicLtd., Messrs Collier & Clerke & Co.
Orderof inside addresses
Afterthe name of the person and/or company receiving the letter, the orderand style of addresses in the UK and in the US, is as follows:
British style | American style |
| 1.Inside MessrsBlack & Sons, 159Knightsbridge, LondonSWL 87C TheInternational Trading Company 24Churchill Avenue Maidstone,Kent ZH892B | Address(company) InternationalTrading Company SabasBuilding 507A. Flores Street Manila Philippines TheAmerican Magazine 119Sixth Avenue New York, NY 11011 |
British style | Americanstyle |
| 2.Addressing an individual TheManager TheHongkong and Shanghai BankingCorporation MainOffice KualaLumpur Malaysia DearSir, DearSirs, MessrsMahmound & Son 329Coast Road Karachi,Pakistan 3.Addressing an individual T.Hardy, Esq., c/oWaltons Ltd., 230Snow Street, Birmingham,England DearTom, MissClaire Waterson c/oMiller & Sons Pty. Ltd. Box309 SydneyNSW 2000 Australia | oncompany business Mr.C.C. Pan FarEast Jewelry Co. 68Queen's Road East HongKong DearSir: Gentlemen: TheStandard Oil Company MidlandBuilding Cleveland,Ohio 44115 onprivate business Mr.C. Manzi CreditoMilano ViaCavour 86 Milan Italy DearMr. Manzi, ContinentalSupply Company 321Surawongse Bangkok Thailand |
Styleand punctuation of addresses
Boththe addresses may be 'blocked' (i.e. each line is vertically alignedwith the one above) or 'indented', as below:
Bredgade51,
DK1269,
CopenhagenK,
DENMARK
There areno rules stating that one style or the other must be used, thoughblocking, at least in addresses, is more common. In any case you mustbe consistent, i.e. do not block the sender's address and then indentthe inside address.
Ifpunctuation is used, each line of the address is followed by a comma, except the last line. But, the majority of firms now use openpunctuation, i.e. without any commas.
'Forthe attention of'
Analternative to including the recipient's name or position in theaddress is to use an 'attention of'.
e.g. Forthe attention of Mr. R. Singh (British English) or
Attention:Mr. E.G. Glass, Jr. (American English)
Salutations
DearSir opens a letterwritten to a man whose name you do not know.
DearSirs is used toaddress a company. Note: in the US - Gentlemen.
DearMadam is used toaddress a woman, whether single or married, whose name you do notknow.
DearSir or Madam isused to address a person you know neither the name nor the sex.
Whenyou do not know the name of the person you are writing to, thesalutation takes the form of Dear followed by a courtesy tille andthe person's surname. Initials or first names are not generally usedin salutations: DearMr Smith, notDear Mr J. Smith.The comma after the salutation is optional.
Thebody of the letter
This maybe indented or blocked. It is as matter of choice. Whichever styleyou use, you must be consistent and use that style all through theletter.
It isusual to leave a line space between paragraphs in the body of theletter; if the blocked style is used, this is essential.
For theinformation concerning the linguistic aspect of writing the body ofthe letter, consult the following chapters of my diploma paper.
Complimentarycloses
Ifthe letter begins with DearSir , Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, Dear Sir or Madam,it will close withYours faithfully.
Ifthe letter begins with a personal name - DearMr James, Dear Mr. Robinson -it will close with Yourssincerely.
Avoidclosing with old-fashioned phrases such as Weremain your faithfully, orRespectfully yours,etc.
Notethat Americans tend to close even formal letters with Yourstruly or Trulyyours, which isunusual in the UK in commercial correspondence. But a letter to afriend or acquaintance may end with Yourstruly or thecasual Best wishes.
The commaafter the complimentary close is optional. The position of thecomplimentary close - on the right, left or in the center of the page- is the matter of choice. It depends on the style of the letter(blocked letters tend to put the close on the left, indented letterstend to put them in the centre) and on the firm's preference.
Signature
Alwaystype your name after your handwritten signature and your position inthe firm after you typed signature. This is known as 'the signatureblock'. Even though you may think your signature is easy to read,letters such as 'a', 'e', 'o', and 'v' can easily be confused.
It is, to some extend, a matter ofchoice whether you sign with your initial(s), e.g. D.Jenkins, or yourgiven name, e.g. DavidJenkins, andwhether you include a courtesy title, e.g. Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms. Inyour signature block. But if you give neither your given name noryour title, your correspondent will not be able to identify your sexand may give you the wrong title when he/she replies. It is safertherefore, to sign to sign with your given name, and safest of all toinclude your title.
Includingtitles in signatures is, in fact, more common among women then amongmen, partly because many women like to make it clear either that theyare married (Mrs.) or unmarried (Miss) or that their martial statusis not relevant (Ms.), and partly because there is a tendency tobelieve that important positions in a company can only be held bymen. It would do no harm for men to start including their titles intheir signatures.
Perpro
The term 'per pro' (p.p.) issometimes used in signatures and means 'for and on behalf of'.Secretaries sometimes use p.p.when signing a letter on behalf of their bosses.
Whenwriting on behalf of your company, it is useful to indicate yourposition in the firm in the signature.
Enclosures
If ther are many enclosures, e.g.leaflets, prospectus, etc., with the letter, these may be mentionedin the body of the letter. But many firms in any case write Enc.or Encl.At the bottom of the letter, and if there are a number of documents,these are listed, e.g.
Enc.
Billof landing (5copies)
Insurancecertificate (1 copy)
Billof exchange (1 copy)
Somefurther features of a business letter
'Privateand confidential'
Thisphrase may be written at the head of a letter above salutation, andmore importantly on the envelope, in cases where the letter isintended only for ht eyes of the named recipient.
Thereare many variations of the phrase - 'Confidential', 'StrictlyConfidential' - but little difference in meaning between them.
2. Subject title
Somefirms open their letters with a subject title (beneath thesalutation). This provides a further reference, saves introducing thesubject in the first paragraph, immediately draws attention to thetopic of the letter, and allows the writer to refer to it throughoutthe letter.
It is not necessary to begin thesubject title with Re:e.g. Re: Applicationfor the post of typist.
3.Copies
c.c.(= carbon copies) is written, usually at the end of the letter, whencopies are sent to people other than the named recipient.
b.c.c.(=blind carbon copies) is written at the copies themselves, thoughnot, on the top copy, when you do not want the named recipient toknow that other people have received the copies as well.
2.Content of a business letter
Length
Howlong should a letter be? The answer is as long as necessary and thiswill depend on the subject of the letter.
It may be a simple subject, e.g. thanking a customer fora cheque, or quite complicated, e.g. explaining how a group insurancepolicy works. It is a question of how much information you put in theletter: you may give too little (even for a brief subject), in whichcase your letter will be too short, or too much (even for acomplicated subject), in which case it will be too long. Your styleand the kind of language you use can also affect the length. Theright length includes the right amount of information.
The three letters that follow are written by differentpeople in reply to the same enquiry from a Mr. Arrand about thecompany's product:
1. Too long
DearMr. Arrand,
Thankyou very much for your enquiry of 5 November which we receive today.We often receive enquiries from large stores and always welcome them,particularly at this time of the year when we know that you will bestocking for Christmas.
Wehave enclosed our winter catalogue and are sure you will be extremelyimpressed by the wide range of watches that we stock. You will seethat they range from the traditional to the latest in quartzmovements and include ranges for men, women and children, with pricesthat should suit upper-market bracket priced at several hundredpounds. But whether you buy a cheaper or more expensive model weguarantee all merchandise for two years with a full service.
Enclosedyou will also find our price-list giving full details on c.i.f.prices to London and explaining our discounts which we think you willfind very generous and which we hope will take full advantage of.
Weare always available to offer you further information about ourproducts and can promise you personal attention whenever you requireit. This service is given to all our customers throughout the world,and as you probably know, we deal with countries from the Far East toEurope and Latin America., and this fact alone bears out ourreputation which has been established for more than a hundred yearsand has made our motto a household world - Time for Everyone.
Onceagain may we thank you for your enquiry and say that we look forwardto hearing from you in the near future?
Yourssincerely,
There are a number of things wrong with a letter of thissort. Though it tries to advertise the products and the companyitself, it is too wordy.
There is no need to explain that stores or shops arestocking for Christmas; the customer is aware of this. Rather thandraw attention to certain items the customer might be interested in,the letter only explains what the customer can already see, thatthere is a wide selection of watches in the catalogue covering thefull range of market prices.
In addition, the writer goes on unnecessarily to explainwhich countries the firm sells to, the history of company and itsrather unimpressive motto.
2. Too short
DearSir,
Thankyou for your enquiry. We have a wide selection of watches which weare sure you will like. We will be sending a catalogue soon.
Yoursfaithfully,
There are number of points missingfrom this letter, quite apart from the fact that, since the writerknew the name of his correspondent he should have begun the letterDear Mr Arrandand ended Yourssincerely. There isno reference to the date or reference number of the enquiry.
Catalogues should be have sent with a reply to theenquiry; it is annoying for a customer to have to wait for furtherinformation to be sent. Even if a catalogue is sent, the customer'sattention should be drawn to particular items that would interesthim/her in the line of business. He/she might be concerned with theupper or lower end of the market. He might want moderately priceditems, or expensive ones.
3. The right length
Here is a letter that is more suitable:
DearMr Arrand, Thank you for your enquiry of 5 November.
Wehave enclosed our winter catalogue and price-list giving details ofc.i.f. London prices, discounts and delivery dates.
Thoughyou will see we offer a wide selection of watches, may we draw yourattention to pp. 23-28, and pp. 31-37 in our catalogue, which wethink might suit the market you are dealing with? And on page 34 youwill notice our latest designs in pendant watches, which are becomingfashionable for both men and women.
Asyou are probably aware, all our products are fully guaranteed andbacked by our world-wide reputation.
Ifthere is any further information you require, please contact us.Meanwhile, we look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yourssincerely,
Let's sum up the basic rules concerning the letterlength.
The letter should be neither too long nor too short. Itis better to include too much information than too little. Yourreader cannot read your mind. If you leave out vital information, hewon't know what he wants to know, unless he writes back again and hemay not bother to do that.
If you include extra information, at least he'll havewhat he wants, even though he may irritated by having to read theunnecessary parts. Provided, of course, that you include the vitalinformation as well as the extras: the worst letter of all is the onethat gives very piece of information about the product, except forthe price.
Order and sequence
As well as containing the right amount of information,the letter should also make all the necessary points in a logicalsequence, with each idea or piece of information linking up with theprevious one in a pattern that can be followed. Do not jump aroundmaking a statement, switching to other subjects, then referring backto the point you made a few sentences or paragraphs before.
1. Unclear sequence
Consider this badly-written letter. There is no clearsequence to the letter, which makes it difficult to understand.
DearSir,
Weare interested in your security system. We would like to know moreabout the prices and discounts you offer.
Abusiness associate of ours, DMS (Wholesalers) Ltd., mentioned yourname to us and showed us a catalogue. They were impressed with thesecurity system you installed for them, so we are writing to youabout it. Do you give us guarantees with the installations?
Inyour catalogue we saw the 'Secure 15' which looks as though it mightsuit our purposes. DMD had the 'Secure 18' installed, but as wementioned, they are wholesalers, while we are a chain of stores. Wewould like something that can prevent robbery and shoplifting, so the'Secure 15' might suit us.
Howlong would it take to install a system that would serve alldepartments? Could you send us an inspector or adviser to see us atsome time?
Ifyou can offer competitive prices and guarantees we would put yoursystem in all our outlets, but initially we would only install thesystem in our main branch.
Wewould like to make a decision on this soon, so we would appreciate anearly reply.
Yoursfaithfully,
2.Clear sequence
Here is a better version of the same letter, in whichthe ideas and information are in logical order.
DearMr. Jerry,
Weare a chain of retail stores and are looking for an efficientsecurity system. You were recommended to us by our associates DMS(Wholesalers) Ltd. for whom you recently installed an alarms system,the 'Secure 18'.
Weneed an installation which would give us comprehensive protectionagainst robbery and shoplifting throughout all departments; and the'Secure 15' featured in your catalogue appears to suit us. However, ifone of your representatives could come along to see us, he wouldprobably be able to give us more advice and details of the availablesystems.
Initially,we will test your system in our main branch, and if successful, thenextend it throughout our other branches, but of course a competitivequotation and full guarantees for maintenance and service would benecessary.
Pleasereply as soon as possible as we would like to make a decision withinthe next few months. Thank you
Yourssincerely,
Paragraphs
First paragraph
The first sentence or paragraph of a letter is animportant one since it gets the tone of the letter and gives yourreader his first impression of you and your company. Generallyspeaking, in the first paragraph you will thank your correspondentfor his letter (if replying to an enquiry), introduce yourself andyour company if necessary, state the subject of the letter, and setout the purpose of the letter. Here are two examples:
Thankyou for your enquiry dated 8 July in which you asked us about ourrange of cosmetics. As you have probably seen in our advertisementsin fashion magazines, we appeal to a wide age-group from the teenagemarket trough to more mature women, with our products being retailedin leading stores throughout the world.
Thankyou for your letter of 19 August which I received today. We cancertainly supply you with the industrial floor coverings you askedabout, and enclosed you will find a catalogue illustrating our widerange of products, which are used in factories and offices throughoutthe world.
Middle paragraphs
This is the main part of your letter and will concernthe points that need to be made, answers you wish to give, orquestions you want to ask. As this can vary widely with the type ofletter that you are writing, it is dwelt in other parts of my diplomawork.
It is in the middle paragraphs of a letter that planningis most important, to make sure that your points are made clearly,fully and in logical sequence.
Final paragraph
When closing the letter, you should thank the person forwriting, if your letter is a reply and if you have not done this atthe beginning. Encourage further enquiries or correspondence, andmention that you look forward to hearing from your correspondentsoon. You may also wish to restate , very briefly, one or two themost important of the points you have made in the main part of theletter. Here are some examples:
Onceagain thank you for writing to us, and please contact us if you wouldlike any further information. To go briefly over the points I havemade - all prices are quoted c.i.f. Yokahama; delivery would be sixweeks from receipt of order; and payment should be made by bankdraft. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Ihope I have covered all the questions you asked, but please contactme if there are any other details you require. May I just point outthat the summer season will soon be with us, so please place an orderas soon as possible so that it can be met in good time for when theseason starts. I hope to hear from you in the near future.
Weare sure that you have made the right choice in choosing thisparticular line as it is proving to be a leading seller. If there isany advice or further information you want, we shall be happy tosupply it, and look forward to hearing from you.
3.Rules and manners for writinga business letter
Main steps
Technical layout of letter
A letter's style
Writing an effective business letter is an importantskill for every manager and business owner.In this brief overview wewill examine the five main steps in creating an effective businessletter.
Main Steps:
1.Identifyyour Aims:
Clearly establish what you wantto achieve from the letter- whether it is to win back a dissatisfiedcustomer or to reprimand an employee.Whatever the aim, create yourletter from these goals.
2. Establishthe facts:
Make sure you have the relevantaccurate facts available. For a late payer,this might includerelevant invoices, complaint forms, talks with your sales departmentand any previous correspondence from the customer.
3. Knowthe recipient of the letter:
Writein the language of your recipient. Try to put yourself in theposition of the recipient. Read it from his point of view. Is theletter clear or open to misinterpretation. If you know the recipient, use thisknowledge to phrase the letter to generate your desired response.
4. Createa sample Copy:
Havingestablished your aims, amassed the relevant facts with a consciousview of the recipient- write down the main points of your letter.
5. Decideon Physical layout of letter.
Thephysical appearance of a letter consists of the paper and theenvelope. Thefirst thing a recipient sees is the envelope. It is essential that itis of suitable quality with the name and address speltcorrectly.Quality envelopes and paper suggest a professional company. It is wise to make sure the envelopematches the size of the paper.While you will use 81/2 x 11 inches(A4size) sized paper for the majority of letters - a 4 x 6 inches(A5)can be used for specific shorter letters.But insist that properlysized envelopes are used for this A5 size paper,allowing you maintainand convey an coordinated image.
Technical layout of letter:
1.Letterhead:
Thiswill include your company's name, address, telephone number, faxnumber and email address. Include your web address if available.Other information may be required depending on the legal status ofyour business formation.Contact your legal adviser for exact details.
2. Nameand address:
Always include therecipient's name, address and postage code. Add job title ifapproriate. Double check that you have the correct spelling of therecipient 's name .
3.Date:
Alwaysdate your letters.Never abbreviate January to Jan. 31.
4.Reference:
Theseare optional.They are a good idea if you have a large volume ofcorrespondence.These day modern word processors made this an easytask to complete and maintain.
5.Salutations:
Thetype of salutation depends on your relationship with the recipient.Always try to personalise letter thus avoiding the dear sir/madamsituation.
6.Subjectmatter:
Againthis is optional, but its inclusion can help the recipient in dealingsuccessfully with the aims of your letter. Normally the subjectsentence is preceded with the word Re: It should be placed one linebelow the greeting.
7.Communication:
Thiswill contain a number of paragraphs, each paragraph dealing with onepoint and one point only.
8.Signature:
Thesignature should be clear and legible-showing you are interested inthe letter and consequently the recipient.Your signature should alsobe followed underneath by a typed version of your name and your jobtitle.
9.Enclosures:
Ifyou include other material in the letter, put 'Enclosure','Enc', or'Encs', as appropriate, two lines below the last entry.
A letter's style:
Previously we created the main points ofour letter, now we must transform this into a final version.To dothis, fourmain considerations are necessary.
1.Format:
Thereare three main formats: blocked, semi-blocked and indented.
The former has all entries tight against the left -handmargin.The semi-blocked format sets the references and the date tothe right margin for filing and retrieval purposes, with theremaining entries placed against the left margin.
The indented format follows the same layout as either ofthe above, but indents each paragraph by five or six spaces.
2.Prose:
Clarityof communication is the primary goal.Don't use technical jargon if therecipient is unlikely to understand it. Short sentences are lesslikely to be misunderstood or misinterperted.Be precise , don't ramble. Check eachsentence to see if it is relevant.Does it add to the point ?
3. Manner:
Alwaystry to personalise your letters. Always try to be civil and friendlyeven if the subject matter is stern and sensitive.Give the impressionto the recipient that some effort and thought has gone into theletter.
4. Accuracy:
Oncethe final version of the letter has been created, polish it off witha final spelling and punctuation check.
Letterwriting etiquette
Always make sure you start and end your letterscorrectly. If you are writing to Mrs Jane Smith then you should startthe letter 'Dear Mrs Smith' and finish it with 'Yours sincerely' -N.B. 'sincerely' does not start with a capital 'S'.
Particular care is required when you are writing to awoman. If she has just written her name as Jane Smith do you startthe letter 'Dear Jane' or 'Dear Ms Smith'. She might be offended ifyou refer to her as 'Ms' and you might not feel comfortable writing'Dear Jane' as it sounds too familiar. To get round this problem allyou have to do is ring the company and ask them how she likes to beaddressed. If there is not a telephone number for the company in theadvertisement just call Directory Enquires (dial 192 in the UK). Whenyou ring the company all you have to say is that you are writing toJane Smith and you would like to know whether she is a Ms, Mrs orMiss so your letter can be correctly addressed.
If the advertisement just says reply to J.Smith how would you address the letter? Dear Sir? or Dear Madam? DearMr Smith? You would be well advised to ring the company and find outJ. Smith's full name and title (Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss). Remember politenesscosts you nothing, butit can really pay dividends and you willprobably be the only person who has bothered to find out. This maydistinguish you from everyone else who applied - being noticed is thekey to writing a potential interview-winning covering letter.
If the advertisement just says write to the PersonnelDepartment or reply to Box Number 55 it may not be possible for youto find out who will be handling your reply. In these cases you willhave to start your letter 'Dear Sir/Madam' and finish the letter with'Yours faithfully'. Please note that 'faithfully' does not start witha capital 'F'.
Striking the Right Tone
An underlying goal of mostbusiness letters you write is to promote goodwill between you andyour reader. Especially when writing to someone for the first time,you should use a tone that will encourage that person to listen toyou and want to work with you now and in the future
If your letter is primarily informational or containsgood news, a direct approach is usually best. State your point oroffer your news immediately and briefly, and then explain any otherinformation the reader needs to know.
Finding the proper tone is more difficult if you aredelivering bad news. In this case, taking an indirect approach may bea better strategy. In the first few sentences, for example, you couldbegin on a positive note by stating how much you want to work withthe reader’s company or by reminding the reader of times youaccommodated his or her requests in the past. When you do get to yourpoint, try to minimize the reader’s disappointment or anger bydelivering the message in carefully considered language that conveysyour news clearly but tactfully.
Establishing a Courteous Tone
The fast pace of letters makes it easy to send a message withoutfully considering the nuances of its tone. If you do not take thetime to think about your words and how they may be perceived, yourletters may seem overly blunt or eveninsulting.
A simple rule can keep you from writing inadvertentlyoffensive letters:Always ask yourself how you would feel if you received the messageyou are sending. If you would bristle at its terseness, you canassume the reader will as well. If you are unsure how the messagemight be taken, ask for someone else’s opinion, or let it sitovernight and read it again the next morning with a fresh eye.
If someone sends you a rude e-mail message (or “flame,” ine-mail slang), take a moment to calm down before responding. The bestway to douse a flame is to write back using the most neutral andmeasured tone you can muster. In some cases it’s best not torespond to a flame.
4. Styleof a business letter
Now I will dealwith some common writing problems that donot involve rules of grammar. These problems—of parallelism,redundancy, and the like—are more rhetorical than grammatical;that is, they involve choices you must make as a writer trying tocreate a certain style of expression. You must determine whatstylistic choices will afford greater clarity and cogency to each ofyour efforts to communicate. We all make different choices when facedwith different communicative tasks depending on what we feel will bemost effective. An expression that is appropriate for a formal lettermay be utterly off-putting in an informal message.
A successful and distinctive writing style is an elusivebird of paradise. It is unmistakable once you see it but difficult tofind. It involves many things: creating an appropriate voice for yourpurpose, choosing the right words for the subject and audience,constructing elegant sentences whose rhythm reinforces their meaning,presenting an argument in a logical fashion that is both engaging andeasy to follow, finding vivid images to make thoughts accessible toyour readers. You can probably add to this list. You may, forexample, want to shock or jolt your audience rather than court it,and this strategy requires stylistic features that are quitedifferent from those you would use for gentle persuasion.
Parallelism
Most memorable writing has as one of its recognizablefeatures the ample use of parallel grammatical structures. A basicguideline about parallel constructions is to make sure that all theelements in a balanced pair or in a series have the same grammaticalform. That is, if you start with a that-clause, stick withthat-clauses; if you start with an infinitive, stick withinfinitives; if you start with a participle, stick with participles;and so on. What you don’t want is a mixed bag, as in She had astrong desire to pursue medicine and for studying literature or Thescientist asked for volunteers with allergies but who had not givenblood recently.
A second point is to make sure that once you havechosen the kind of grammatical forms you want to make parallel, youstructure them symmetrically. Remember that an initial article,preposition, auxiliary verb, or modifier will tend to govern allelements in the series unless it is repeated for each element. Forexample, if you set up a series of nouns with the first modified byan adjective, the reader will expect the adjective to modify the restof the series as well. Thus you should say The building has newlighting, plumbing, and carpeting but not The building has newlighting, plumbing, and different carpeting. The same is true forarticles: He brought the rod, reel, and bait. If you want to restricta modifier to only one noun, repeat the article for each noun: Hebrought the light rod, the reel, and the bait.
When you spot a faulty parallel, recast the structureto give all the elements equivalent treatment. If your new parallelconstruction does not seem much of an improvement, rewrite thesentence completely to avoid the parallel construction. Better tohave no parallel structures than to have parallel structures thatsound overblown or stilted.
Faulty parallelism is all around us. We see and hearit every day—often without taking notice. How many times haveyou heard Please leave your name, number, and a brief message? Afterwaiting for the tone, have you ever objected to the imperfectsymmetry of this sentence? In our most recent ballot we presentedsome sentences with questionable parallelism to the usage paneliststo see how tolerant they would be. As we expected, they had a rangeof opinions.
Crafting sentences with flawless parallelism takeseffort and practice. Even if your readers don’t notice orobject when you make mistakes, balance and symmetry are worthstriving for in your writing. There are certain constructions thatare notorious for throwing things out of whack. I listedsome of them below.
both … and …
comparisons with as and than
compound verbs
either … or / neither … nor
not only … but also
rather than
Passive Voice
Writing handbooks usually include warnings about thepassive voice—it is wordy and clumsy and leads to static ratherthan dynamic writing. There is truth to this, certainly, but thepassive voice also has legitimate uses, and in many instances it ispreferable to the active voice.
Such phrases as "Thematerial willbe delivered"; "The startdate is to be decided"; "The figures must be approved"are obscure ones leaving unsettled who it is that delivers, whodecides, and who does the approving. Which side it is to be?Lawsuits are the plausible outcome of leaving it all unsettled.Passives used in contracts can destroy the whole negotiations."You will deliver" is better for it identifies the onewho will do delivering. Certainly, "must be approved by us"violates other canons. "We shall have the right but not theobligation to approve" is less unfortunate.
There is no doubt that passives do not suit businessletters, and if they go all the way through without adding somethinglike "by you" or "by us" they are intolerable. Once in a long while one may find passives used purposely to leavesomething unresolved.
Redundancy
A certain amount of redundancy is built in to theEnglish language, and we would never consider getting rid of it. Takegrammatical number, for instance. Sentences such as 'Hedrives to work'and 'Weare happy'contain redundant verb forms. The -s of drives indicates singularityof the subject, but we already know the subject is singular from thesingular pronoun he. Similarly, are indicates a plural subject, whichis already evident from the plural pronoun we. Number is alsoindicated redundantly in phrases like this book and those boxes,where the demonstrative adjective shows number and the noun does aswell.
But there are redundant ways of saying things that canmake the rest of your writing seem foolish. Many of these are commonexpressions that go unnoticed in casual conversation but that stickout like red flags in writing. Why say at this point in time insteadof now, or because of the fact that when because will do? Somethingthat is large in size is really just large. The trouble lies less inthe expressions themselves than in their accumulated effect. Anyonecan be forgiven for an occasional redundancy, but writing that islarded with redundancies is likely to draw unwanted laughs ratherthan admiration.
Listed below are some of the more problematicredundancies.
but … however
close proximity
consensus
consider as / deem as
cross section
else
empty rhetoric
equally as
free gift
from whence
inside of
mental telepathy
old adage
rarely ever / seldom ever
reason is because
reason why
refer back
revert back
VAT tax
Wordiness
In a world in which efficiency has become a prime value,most people view economy in wording as a sign of intelligence. Itsopposite, therefore, is often considered a sign of stupidity. Most ofus are busy and impatient people. We hate to wait. Using too manywords is like asking people to stand in line until you get around tothe point. It is irritating, which hardly helps when you are tryingto win someone’s goodwill or show that you know what you’retalking about. What is worse, using too many words often makes itdifficult to understand what is being said. It forces a reader towork hard to figure out what is going on, and in many cases thereader may simply decide it is not worth the effort. Another sideeffect of verbosity is the tendency to sound overblown, pompous, andevasive. What better way to turn off a reader?
It is easy to recommend concision in expression but muchharder to figure out how to achieve it. In general, wordy writing hasthree distinguishing characteristics: weak verbs, ponderous nouns,and lots of prepositional phrases. The three are interconnected.
The key to writing clearly and concisely is to usestrong active verbs. This means that you should only use the passivevoice when you have a solid reason for doing so. If you look down apage you have written and see that you are relying on forms of theverb be and other weak verbs like seem and appear, you can often boildown what you have written to a fraction of its size by revising withactive verbs.
Here is an example:
Itis essential to acknowledge that one of the drawbacks to theincreased utilization of part-time employees is that people who arestill engaged full-time by the company are less likely to becommitted to the recognition and identification of problems in theproduction area.
This passage has 45 words. We can boil it down to 14by cutting out the unnecessary words, using active verbs, and usingnoun modifiers to do the work of prepositional phrases:
Usingmore part-time employees often makes full-time employees less willingto report production problems.
A certain amount of repetition and redundancy hasits uses. It never hurts to thank someone and add that you appreciatewhat was done. The recapitulation of the major points in acomplicated essay can be a generous service to the reader, not aneedless repetition. If you keep focused on what you are trying toaccomplish and on what will help your readers or your listeners, youwill have less need to remember formal rules of good writing. Youwill be able to trust your instincts and your ear.
5.Lexics of business letters
From the lexicological point of view isolated words and phrases mean very little. In context they mean a great deal,and in the special context of contractual undertakings they meaneverything. Contract English is a prose organised according toplan.
And it includes, without limitation, the right butnot the obligation to select words from a wide variety of verbalimplements and write clearly, accurately, and/or with style.
Two phases of writing contracts exist: in the first,we react to proposed contracts drafted by somebody else, and in thesecond, which presents greater challenge, we compose our own.
A good contract reads like a classic story. Itnarrates, in orderly sequence, that one part should do this andanother should do that, and perhaps if certain events occur, the outcome will be changed. All of the rate cards charts, and otherreference material ought to be ticked off one after anotheraccording to the sense of it. Tables and figures, code words andmystical references are almost insulting unless organised and defined. Without organisation they baffle, without definitionthey entrap.
In strong stance one can send back the offendingdocument and request a substitute document in comprehensible English. Otherwise a series of questions may be put by letter, andthe replies often will have contractual force if the document islater contested.
Contract phrases
Now it appears logical to examine the examples offavourite contract phrases, which will help ease the way to fullerexamination of entire negotiations and contracts. A full glossary isbeyond reach but in what follows there is a listing of words andphrases that turn up in great many documents, with comments oneach one. The words and phrases are presented in plausible contractsequence, not alphabetically.
"Whereas"Everyone's idea of how a contract begins. Some lawyers dislike"Whereas" and use recitation clauses so marked todistinguish them from the text in the contract. There the realissue lies; one must be careful about mixing up recitals of historywith what is actually being agreed on. For example, it would befolly to write: "WhereasA admits owing B $10,000..."because the admission may later haunt one, especially if draftsare never signed and the debt be disputed. Rather less damagingwould be:
e.g. "Whereas the parties have engaged in a series of transactions resulting in dispute over accounting between them..."
On the whole "Whereas" is acceptable, but whatfollows it needs particular care.
"Itis understood and agreed"On the one hand, it usually adds nothing, because every clause in thecontract is "understood and agreed" or it would not bewritten into it. On the other hand, what it adds is an implicationthat other clauses are not backed up by this phrase: by including theone you exclude the other. «It is understood and agreed»ought to be banished.
"Hereinafter"A decent enough little word doing the job of six ("Referred tolater in this document"). "Hereinafter" frequentlysets up abbreviated names for the contract parties.
e.g. "Knightsbridge International Drapes andFishmonger, Ltd (hereinafter "Knightsbridge").
"IncludingWithout Limitation"It is useful and at times essential phrase. Earlier I've notedthat mentioning certain things may exclude others by implication.Thus,
e.g. "You may assign your exclusive Britishand Commonwealth rights"
suggests that you may not assign other rights assumingyou have any. Such pitfalls may be avoided by phrasing such as:
e.g. "You may assign any and all your rights including without limitation your exclusive British andCommonwealth rights".
But why specify any rights if all of them are included? Psychology is the main reason; people want specificthings underscored in the contracts, and "Including Without Limitation" indulges this prediction.
"Assigneesand Licensees" These are important words which acceptability depends on one'spoint of view
"Knightsbridge, its assignees and licensees..."
suggests that Knightsbridge may hand you over tosomebody else after contracts are signed. If you yourself happen tobe Knightsbridge, you will want that particular right and should usethe phrase.
"WithoutPrejudice" Itis a classic. The British use this phrase all by itself, leaving thereader intrigued. "Without Prejudice" to what exactly? Americans spell it out more elaborately, but if you stick to American way, remember "Including Without Limitation", or you may accidentally exclude something by implication. Legalrights, for example, are not the same thing as remedies the law offers to enforce them. Thus the American might write:
"Without prejudice to any of my existing orfuture rights or remedies..."
And this leads to another phrase.
"And/or"It is an essential barbarism. In the preceding example I've usedthe disjunctive "rights or remedies". This is not alwaysgood enough, and one may run into trouble with
"Knightsbridge or Tefal or either of themshall..."
What about both together? "Knightsbridgeand Tefal",perhaps, followed by "oreither". Occasionally the alternatives become overwhelming, thus and/or is convenient and generally accepted, although more detail isbetter.
"Shall"If one says "Knightsbridge and/or Tefal shall have..."or "will have...", legally it should make no differencein the case you are consent in using one or theother. "Shall", however, is stronger than "will".Going from oneto another might suggest that one obligation is strongersomehow than another. Perhaps, one's position may determine thechoice. "Youshall",however is bad form.
"Understanding"It is a dangerous word. If you meanagreement you ought to say so. If you view of affairs thatthereis no agreement, "understanding"as a noun suggests theopposite or comes close to it. .it stands, in fact, as amonument to unsatisfactorycompromise. The softness of the wordconjures up pleasing images. "In accordance withourunderstanding..."can be interpreted in a number of ways.
"Effect"Here is a little word which uses areinsufficiently praised. Such a phrase as "We willproduce..." isinaccurate, because the work will besubcontracted and the promise-maker technically defaults.Somebody else does theproducing. Why not say "Wewill produceor cause to beproduced..."? This is in fact often said, but itjars the ear. Accordingly "We will effect production..."highlights the point with greater skill.
"Idea"This word is bad for your own side but helpful against others. Ideas as such are not generally protected by law. If you submit something to a company with any hope of reward you must findbetter phrasing than "myidea". Perhaps, "myformat" or possibly "my property"is more appropriate. Naturally, if you can develop an idea into a format or protectable property, the more ambitious phrasing will be better justified.
"Asbetween us" Itis useful, because people are always forgetting or neglecting to mention that a great many interests may be involved in what appears to be simple dialogue. "Ireserve control over..."and "You havethe final power of decision over..."sound like division of something into spheres, but frequently "I"am in turn controlled by my investors and "You"- by a foreign parent company, making thelanguage of divisioninaccurate. Neither of us really controlsanything, at least ultimately.
Thus it will be useful to say,"As between us,I control..."and so on.
"Spanning"Time periods are awkward things: "...for a periodcommencing August,1and expiring November,15..." is clumsy; "...from August,1 toNovember,15..."is skeletal when informing how long a contract obligation endures.
But during particular time periods one may bereporting for work, for example, three days out of every five, ordoing something else that is within but not completely parallel tothe entire time period involved.
A happy solution is the word"Spanning".It goes this way:
"Throughout the period spanning August,1 -November,15 inclusive you will render services as a consultantthree days out of every five."
It will be useful to put"inclusive"at the end for without it you may lose the date, concluding theperiod being spanned.
"Negotiatein Good Faith" The negotiators have worked until late at night, all points butone have been worked out, the contract will never be signed withoutresolution of some particular impasse. What is there to do?
Agree to "Negotiatein Good Faith"on the disputed point at later time. This is done frequently, but make no mistake about the outcome. The open point remains open. Ifit happens to be vital you may have no contract at all. "Negotiate inGood Faith" isone of those evasions that must be used sparingly. At the right timeit prevents collapse, at the wrong time it promotes it.
"Confirm"It suggests, of course, that something has been agreed upon before.You are writing now only to make a record of it. "Iwrite to confirmthat you admit substantial default in delivery"Frequently we encounter it in ordinary correspondence: "Confirmingyour order","Confirming themain points of our agreement",and so on.
"Furnish"It is a handy word which usefulness lies in the avoidance ofworse alternatives. Suppose you transact to deliver a variety ofelements as a package.
"Deliver" leaves out, even though it may well be implied, thepreliminary purchase or engagement of these elements, and at theother end it goes very far in suggesting responsibility for gettingthe package unscathed to where it belongs. Alternatives also may gowrong, slightly, each with its own implications. "Assign"involves legal title; "give"is lame and probably untrue; "transmit"means send.
Thus each word misses some important- detail or implies unnecessary things. "Furnish" is sometimes useful when more popular words fall short or go too far.It has a good professionalring to it as well:
"Iagree to furnish all of the elements listed on Exhibit A annexedhereto and made part hereof by incorporation."
Who is responsible for non-deliveryand related questions can be dealt with in separate clauses."Furnish" avoids jumping the gun. It keeps away fromwhat ought to be treated independently but fills up enough space to stand firm. The word is good value.
"Rightbut Not Obligation" One of the most splendid phrases available.Sometimesthe grant of particularrights carries with it by implication a duty to exploit them.Authors, for example, often feel betrayed by their publishes, whohave various rights "but do nothing about them." Royaltiesdecrease as a result; and this situation, whether or not it reflectsreal criminality, is repeated in variety of industries and courtcases. Accordinglyit well suits the grantee of rights to make clear at the verybeginning that he may abandon them. Thispossibility is more appropriately dealt with in separate clausesreciting the consequences. Still,contracts have been known to contain inconsistent provisions, and preliminary correspondence may not even reach the subject ofrights. Aquick phrase helps keep you out of trouble:"The Right but NotObligation". Thus,
"Weshall have the Right but Not Obligation to grant sublicenses inAustria"("But if we fail, we fail").
Even this magic phrase has itslimitations because good faith may require having a real go toexploiting the rights in question. Nevertheless "Right but NotObligation" isuseful, so much so as to become incantation and be said whenever circumstances allow it.I the otherside challenges these words, it will be better to know this at once and work out alternatives or finish up the negotiationscompletely.
"Exclusive"It’s importance in contract English is vast, and its omission creates difficulties in good many informal drafts. Exclusivityas a contract term means that somebody is -barred from dealing withothers in a specified area. Typically an employment may be exclusivein that the employee may not work for any one else, or a licensemay be exclusive in the sense that no competing licenses will be issued.
Antitrust problems cluster around exclusive arrangements but they are not all automatically outlawed. It followsthat one ought to specify whether or not exclusivity is part of many transactions. If not, the phrase "nonexclusive" does well enough. On the other hand, if a consultant is to beengaged solely by one company, or a distributorship awarded tonobody else except X, then "exclusive" is a word that deserves recitation. "Exclusive Right but Not Obligation"is an example that combines two phrases discussed here. The linking of concepts is a step in building a vocabulary of contract English.
"Solelyon condition that"One of the few phrases that can be considered better than its shortcounterparts. Why not just "if"? Because "if" by itself leaves open the possibility of open contingencies:
"IfBaker delivers 1,000 barrels I will buy them"is unclear if you will buy them only from Baker. Therefore whatabout "only if"? Sometimes this works out, but not always.
"I will buy 1,000 barrels only if Baker deliversthem" is an example of "only if" going fuzzy. Onepossible meaning is "not more than 1,000 barrels" with"only" assimilated with the wrong word. Here then a moreelaborate phrase is justified.
"Iwill buy 1,000 barrels solely on condition that Baker delivers them"makes everything clear.
"Subjectto" Few contracts can do without this phrase. Many promises can be made goodonly if certain things occur. The right procedure is to spell out these plausible impediments to the degree that you can reasonably foresee them. E.g. :
"Wewill deliver these subject to our receiving adequate supplies";
"Our agreement is subject to the laws ofConnecticut";
"Subject to circumstances beyond our control ".
"Repeat" This word is often used in cables to emphasize a negative,
e.g. Donot REPEAT not send order 18551.
Or to emphasize an important detail,
e.g. Flightdelayed by six REPEAT six hours.
Foreign esotericwords
Every now and then a scholarly phrase becomes acceptedin business usage.
"Pro rate" and "pari passu" are Latin expressions but concern money. "Prorata" proveshelpful when payments are to be in a proportion reflecting earlier formulas in a contract. "Pari passu" isused when several people are paid at the same level or time out of a common fund. Latin, however, is not the only source of foreignphrases in business letters.
"Forcemajeure" is aFrench phrase meaning circumstances beyond one's control.
English itself has plenty of rarewords. One example is "eschew";how many times we see people struggling with negatives such as "and we agree not to produce (whatever it is) for a periodof X". The more appropriate phrase would be "wewill eschew production".
But here it should be mentioned that not everyone can understand such phrases. Therefore rare words should be usedonly once in a long while. Those who uses them sparinglyappears to be reliable.
Abbreviations
Abbreviationscan be useful because they are quick to write and easy to read. Butboth parties need to know what the abbreviations stand for.
The abbreviations c.i.f.and f.o.b.,for example, are recognized internationally as meaning cost,insurance, and freightand free on board.But can you be sure that your correspondent would know that o.n.omeans or nearestoffer?
Someinternational organizations, e.g. NATO, are know in all countries bythe same set of initials, but many are not, e.g. EEC (EuropeanEconomic Community) and UNO (United Nations Organization). Nationalorganizations, e.g. CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and TUC(Trades Union Congress), are even less likely to be known by theirinitials in other countries. So, if you are not absolutely certainthat an abbreviation will be easily recognized, do not use it.
The International Chamber ofCommerce uses a set of terms for delivery in overseas contracts -these are called Incoterms.
Now let me examine some of the abbreviations mostfrequently used in business correspondence.
c.i.f.- cost, insurance, freight.
If consignment is to be delivered according toc.i.f., then the supplier insures the goods and pays for the wholedelivery.
f.o.b.- free on board.
If consignment is to be delivered according tof.o.b., then the supplier pays for transportation to port, steameror air shipment and dispatch; and the customer pays for onward transportation and insurance.
f.o.r.- free on rail.
It is the same as f.o.b., but for railwaytransportation.
c & f- cost and freight.
If consignment is to be delivered according to c &f, then the supplier pays for the whole delivery and the customer -for insurance.
CPT( Carriage Paid To) named place of destination
Delivery happens when goods are given to the carrier (ifmore than one, the first carrier, or a freight forwarder). The sellerpays the costs of delivery to the named place and the buyer's risksstart from here.
CIP(Carriage and Insurance Paid) named place of destination
Delivery occurs, as in CPT with the buyer's risks beingthe same. The only change is the exporter pays the cost of cargoinsurance.
DAF (Deliveryat Frontier) named place
Delivery happens when the buyer gets the goods at anamed place on the frontier, cleared for export, but not cleared forimport. The buyer assumes risks from here. The exporter pays all thecosts to this point, but does not pay for unloading or importclearing charges.
DES(Delivery Ex Ship) named port of destination
Delivery happens when buyer gets goods at named port. Hethen assumes all risks, but the exporter pays all costs to thatpoint, but not unloading or import clearance.
DEQ(Delivery Ex Quay - Duty Paid) named port of destination
Delivery happens when the buyer gets the goods onhis/her quay (dock) and assumes all risks from that point.
DESand DEQcan only be used for sea and inland waterways.
DDU(Delivery Duty Unpaid) named place of destination
Delivery takes place when the buyer gets the goods atthe named place in the importing country and takes all the risksthereafter. The seller pays all costs to this point, but not dutiesand taxes.
DDP(Delivery Duty Paid) named place of destination
Delivery happens as in DDU, with the buyer taking thesame risks. The seller pays all costs to this point including dutiesand taxes.
Ex-Works(EXW) e.g. from thefactory or warehouse
Seller packs and prepares goods for dispatch withdelivery taking place at his/her factory or warehouse. The buyer nowtakes all transit risks.
FCA(Free Carrier)named place e.g. where the carrier - the plane or ship etc., pick upgoods
Deliveryoccurs when the seller gives the goods to the carrier (airline,shipping company, or freight forwarder) who is named by the buyer.The seller will pay all the costs up to the point, including exportformalities and licences. From this point the buyer takes the risksfor the goods and transit.
FAS (FreeAlongside Ship) withport of shipment named e.g. where the goods are leaving from
Deliveryoccurs alongside the ship named by the buyer at the named port of theshipment. The buyer has the expense of loading. The seller pays costsup to and including delivery alongside the ship, including alldocumentation. This term is only used for sea and inland waterways.
Hereis list of abbreviations not mentioned above:
A/C,a/c acc. - account current
adsd- addressed
adse- addressee
ad- advertisement, pl- ads
a.m.- ante meridiem, afternoon
app.- appendix
ASAP-as soon as possible
AWB- air way bill
attn.- attention
B/E,B.E., b.e. - bill of exchange
B/L,B.L., b/l, b.l., - bill of landing
cc.,cc - copies
CEO-chief executive officer
Cf.- confer, compare
Co.- company
COD- cash on delivery
contr.- contract
corp.- corporation
cur.- 1.currency, 2. Current
CV-curriculum vitae
dd- 1.dated; 2.delivered
dep.,dept., - department
doc.- document,( pl-docs)
doz.,dz. - dozen
eaon- except as otherwise noted
e.g.- exempli gratia, for example
enc.,encl., - enclosed, enclosure
exc.,excl. - except, exception, exclude, exclusion
expn- expiration
fig.- 1.figure (1,2 ,3 ); 2.picture, scheme
FY- fiscal year
h.a.- hoc anno- this year
hf.-half
H.Q.,HQ, h.q. - headquaters
id.- idem- the same
i.e.,ie -id est- that is
inc.,incl. - including
inc.,inc - incorporated
info- information
inv.- invoice
IOU- I owe you
L/C,l.c. l/c - letter of credit
LLC- limited liability company
Ltd.,ltd. - limited
LOC- letter of commitment
mdse- merchandise, goods
memo- memorandum
M.O.,m.o. - 1. mail order, 2. Money order
M.T.- metric ton
MV- merchant (motor) vessel
N/A- not applicable
N.B.,NB - nota bene- an important note
NC,N.C., n/c - no charge, free
o/l- our letter
PA- power of attorney
p.a.- per annum - per year
par.- paragraph
Plc,PLC - public limited company
PO- post office
pp.- pages
pp,p.p. per pro- on behalf of
qv- quod vide- see there
R&D- research and development
rct- receipt
rept– report
re- 1 regarding, 2. Reply
ref.- reference
RSVR- rependez s'il vous plais- reply please
RMS- root-mean-square
Shipt- shipment
Sig- signature
tn.- ton
urgt- urgent
v.,vs. -versus
VAT- value-added tax
VIP- very important person
v.s.- vide supra- see above
v.v- vice versa-
w/- with
w/o- without
&- and
@- at (when stating a unit price)
# - number (AE)