商务信件写作格式及方法BusinessLetterWriting

1、Business Letter Writing Business Letter layout I. Basic Layout: Note the position of 1. Letterhead 2. The dateline 3. The opening (inside address) 4. The salutation 5. The body 6. The Closing 7. The signature and name 8. P.S. (Postscript) There are two styles of composing letters. One is indented st

2、yle, and the other is block style. Nowadays, block style is more popular especially in business world. For indented style, you should indented 4 letters at the beginning of each paragraph, and you need not leave space between paragraphs. While for the block style, you need to leave space between par

3、agraphs, but you need not indented 4 letters at the beginning. Just write along side. 1. Letterhead The letterhead is also called return address, which is the full address of the writer. It is typed in the upper right- hand corner of the first page. In business world, letterhead is normally printed

4、on the top of the letter paper in the middle. Thus you need not to write it again. Just write the date. For personal letter, you also need not to write the letterhead. Notes for letterhead: 1) You should be aware of the order you write letterhead is just reversed from that in Chinese ,i.e., from the

5、 smallest unit to the biggest unit. For example, the number of the room, number of the building, number of the street, city, province and then the country. 2. Dates Be careful! In China the 14th April 2003 is written 2003/04/14 In England the 14th April 2003 is written 14/4/2003 or 14/04/2003 In Ame

6、rica the 14th April 2003 is written 4/14/2003 or 04/14/2003 It is probably safest to write 14th April, 2003 or April 14, 2003 ! 3. The opening The opening is also called the inside address, which is the address exactly the same as that on envelope. The opening goes above the salutation on the left,

7、which is always omitted in pers on al letters. The order of the in side address is the same as the order of letterhead. While in bus in ess world, if you know the receivers n ame and positi on, you should write them before the compa ny n ame and address. 4. The salutation The salutati on is the gree

8、ti ng, which goes one or two spaces below the ope ning at the left-hand margin. Usually it is best to say “Dear” you know the name of the receiver, or just“ Dear Sir/Madam ” if you do not know the receiver s name. The should use a comma (,) or nothing. We Chin ese no rmally use a colon (:) After the

9、 salutation, while, in English letter, colon should not be used. It is not correct. In salutation, you still should pay much attention to the title, Mr. for male, Mrs., Miss, Ms. For female. They should be followed by surname, family name. For example, Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown (husband s surname), Ms.

10、Smith, Miss White etc. Note: In China, people always address the title of one position, such as manager, director, and teacher etc. In En glish, however, these are not the address in g. It is not correctly used that you write“ Dear Teacher Zhang ” ,“ Dear Manager Yang ” , and on and so forth. 5. The

11、 body It is the most important part of the letter the content of the letter. It is one or two spacesbellow the salutation. The length of the line should be adjusted to the len gth of the paper. Leave marg ins on either side. The paragraph should be blocked or inden ted, accord ing to the style chose

12、 n. Usually it is sin glespaced for a bus in ess letter. It usually consists of at least two paragraphs even if the second paragraph is nothing more tha n “Tha nks and best wishes to you, ”or someth in g. It contains in troducti on, purpose and con clusi on in the body of the letters. 6. The closing

13、 It is the way of say ing goodbye. In bus in ess writ ing, it is always the complime ntary clos ing. There are various of words to choose in En glish clos in g. It should match the tone established by the salutatio n and carried through the body of the letter. It is usually two spaces bellow the bod

14、y of the letter, together with the sig nature group. How a letter is closed depends on how it is opened. The closing should match the ope nin g. If you use a comma (,) after the salutati on, you should use a comma after the clos in g. If you use nothing after the salutatio n, you also should use not

15、hing after the clos ing. Dear Sir or Dear Madam Dear Sir/Madam Yours faithfully Dear Mr. Smith, Yours sin cerely, Dear Mrs. Wan g, Dear Ms. Lee, Yours truly,* Dear Rose Dear Jack Best wishes With kind regards Yours Love (in formal, close frie nds) Cordially yours, 7. The signature and name The sig n

16、ature is the last part of a letter. Skip a line after the clos ing and sig n your n ame in line with the first word of the clos ing. In bus in ess letters, you should sig n your full n ame. Your n ame should be typed also in ano ther line. In order to make the people know how to addressyou when repl

17、y, lady writers should list Mrs. Ms., Or Miss in pare nthesis after your n ame. However, i n pers on al letters, you can sig n your full n ame, first n ame or nick n ame accord ing to the relati on ship with the receivers. sec on dly, our warehouse is not large eno ugh to store our goods; thirdly, o

18、ur computer systems are also not so moder n as to satisfy the n eed of company s expansion. I promise that orders will surely be delivered promptly and correctly. See to it that we have already taken some actions. Now we have already invited more staffs; and we have already rent a warehouse acquired

19、; moreover, we have already invested enough money to improve the computer systems to cope with the pace of the expansion. Accordingly, the poor services as before will not appear anymore. Yours faithfully, Henry Henry, the manager Exercises1.4.1-3 :Write a reply to show the apology about the walkman

20、 mentioned above, and give your solution of the problem. 4. Information Asking for information Could you please tell me that Could you possibly Would it be possible to I would be grateful if you would. Would you mind doing I wonder if you could I am writi ng to you in the hope of / to inq uire about

21、 Offering information It is my pleasure to. I would like to tell you We would like to inform you that. Thank you for your inquiry about 5. Suggestion I d like to suggest that May I suggest that Perhaps we could Could you please Sample letter Dear Sir/Madam I am organizing a group of students to pay

22、a visit to the historical exhibition in your town. This visit wil l be part of our schools activities to encourage the students to take part in social surveys. Therefore, I would be grateful if you would supply me with the following information: First of all, what are the opening and closing dates b

23、etween which the exhibition will be held, and what are the daily opening hour? Secondly, what is the size of the exhibition, what is its theme and what objects are on display? Thirdly, are there any other activities being held in connection with the exhibition? I should let you know that I hope to b

24、ring over 100 students to the exhibition. So I would like to inquire if there is any discount available on entrance tickets for students. If so, how much is the discount and what is the minimum number of students necessary to qualify for it? I look forward to your reply. Yours sincerely, George Moor

25、e George Moore 2) Dear Dr. Evans, Thank you for your letter. I was very pleased to hear you will be visiting Beijing and hope the following information will help you to enjoy your stay. First of all, Beijing is cosmopolitan city with a long history, which is the center of politics, culture and comme

26、rce. There are many international quality hotels and restaurants as well as shopping centers, markets and entertainment places. However, I think you would like to see some places that are unique to my country. I know you are interested in culture and history, so firstly I suggest you visit the Great

27、 Wall, it shows the talent of Chinese people. Secondly, the Palace Museum, for it will show you the lives of the royal family of China. And it has a large collection of art and other cultural items. Other interesting places are the Summer Palace, Heaven Temple and millennium monument etc. They will

28、all show you the traditional Chinese cultures. I hope these suggestions will be helpful. As you only have a short time in Beijing, you probably will not be able to do much more sightseeing. But if I can help in any other way, please let me know. Yours sincerely, Amy Amy Exercises1.4.1-4:Write to a f

29、oreign university to inquire the courses they offer, and show your intention of study there. Then write a reply on be half of the university to offer the information required. 6. Congratulations I would like to deliver my con gratulati ons to you. I was pleased to hear that you were promoted to be t

30、he Gen eral man ager of your compa ny. I was so happy to know that Con gratulati ons on your Sample letter Dear Holly, I was pleased to hear that you have bee n promoted to Gen eral man ager of ACE compa ny. This n ews came as no surprise to me; I always con sider you as a pers on who was going plac

31、es! I am very happy to see your abilities recognized - I know you will do an excelle nt job in your new positi on. Please accept my sin cere pers onal con gratulati on s. I am so happy for your good future. Si ncerely, Mary Exercises1.4.1-6Your colleague just give a birth to a baby, write a letter t

32、o give your con gratulati ons. 7. Thanks Thank you for your I appreciate your help Thank you very much for I am grateful for Sample letter Dear Susa n, Thank you very much for letting me live at your house while I was in Beijing. I had a great time at the football game. I really enjoyed myself. I ho

33、pe that you can pay me a visit whe n you come to Guan gzhou soon. Yours, James James Exercises1.4.1-5:O ne of your frie nd bought a book you n eed for you from abroad, write a letter to thank him. 8. Application and replies For a job I am a senior in Beijing University and will be graduated in July

34、I am in terested in the job you offered I learned from the newspaper advertisement that there is a vacancy for I would like to apply . in your company. I should like to apply for the post of which you advertised in yesterdays China Daily I am an experie n(ed . Thank you for your time and considerati

35、on. I look forward to hearing from you and I do hope I shall have the opportunity of an interview. I can come for an interview at any time convenient to you. Reply: I received yourand I am pleased to inform you We would like to offer you the positi on of We were very much interested in your letter a

36、pplying for Can you come in for an in terview on While we are very much interested in your qualifications, we are afraid that you do not quite meet our current needs. We shall keep your offer on file/in mind when there is a vacancy /should there be any openings. For entry to a college I am writing t

37、o ask whether you could send me some information about your college and for the application forms. I am writing to you in the hope that I may obtain an opportunity to do graduate study in your university. I wish to study for an MBA degree in your school. Reply Thank you for your enquiry aboutWe shou

38、ld be very pleased to welcome you here Sample letter Dear Sir/Madam; I learned from the newspaper advertisement that there is a vacancy for an accountant in your company. I wish to be considered as an applicant for the position, and beg to state my qualifications as follows: I am 28. I graduated fro

39、m Beijing University, and my major was finance. I had been working part time in some companies when I was in the university. I am an experienced accountant who has been working as an accountant at IBM company for more than 3 years. My boss there is an America, accordingly, I must communicate with hi

40、m in English. Therefore, I have very good proficiency and knowledge of English, and I passed CET band 6 when I was in the University. Please check my references. They will tell you I am conscientious and that I have an agreeable personality and good appearance and that I get along exceedingly well w

41、ith people. I know that Your company is a large company with good reputation. If I am successful in my application, I shall discharge my duties to the best of my ability. As for the salary, I would like to get $2000 per month in your company. I am looking forward to your earliest reply. Yours faithf

42、ully, Chen Xin Chen Xin Exercises1.4.1-7:Star Company needs a secretary, female, up to 25 with good English and computer knowledge. Write a letter to apply the position. More samples: 1 338E. 44th St. Apt.11A New York, NY10017 U.S.A. May 16, 2008 Professor Wang Yiming Department of English Beijing f

43、oreign Studies University Beijing, 100089 Peoples Republic of China Dear Professor Wang, I am interested in teaching English in China. I am qualified to teaching reading, writing and literature. An acquaintance of mine, Mr. Liu Yongli of your University suggested that I should write to you. Presentl

44、y, I work as a teaching assistant in X college in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. My background is strong in the liberal arts, especially in the English language. I have a ph. D. degree in linguistics from University of Michigan. Enclosed you will find a copy of resume. Basically, I am interested in

45、 position as a foreign language expert or as a teacher. If you have any position available, please allow me to interview with you. Thank you for your time and consideration. Respectfully yours, (Signature) Christine Stein Reply: June14, 2008 Dear Ms. Stein, Thank you for your letter of May 16. I mus

46、t apologize for taking so long in answering, a situation caused by a number of recent conferences. We appreciate your desire to offer your service to our University. From the information you supplied about yourself, there would be no question about your qualifications. However, we have only a small

47、quota for foreign teachers, and all our positions for this year and the coming academic year have already been filled. We shall keep your offer on file and inform you, should there be any openings. In the meantime, you might try other colleges here in Beijing or other cities. Thank you once again fo

48、r your offer. Best wishes for success. Sincerely yours, Wang Yiming 9. Introductions The Physics Department Sichuan Teacher s College Chengdu, Sichuan Oct.13,2007 To Whom It May Concern, The bearer of the letter, Mr. Wang hai, a secretary of our department, is entrusted with the task of making neces

49、saryarrangementsfor our students and teachers to go to your attached middle school to conduct teaching practice. Please favor him with an interview. yours faithfully, Liming Office Head of the Department 10. Asking for leave Dear sir, Because of an attack of a bad cold with a fever, I shall not be a

50、ble to attend classes today. I have to ask for leave of absence. Enclosed is a medical certificate issued by the school clinic. Your kind permission will be greatly appreciated. Yours respectfully, Ivan Fox The Writing of Notes, Fax, and Memorandum Writing of Notes Notes are short letter of various

51、kin ds. It is composed with simple and colloquial Ianguage. It can be just one sentence or more. Some elements in letter writing can be omitted in no tes, such as letterhead, the salutati on, the ope ning, the clos ing, and the sig nature. Well, the date must be clearly displayed there. The no tes a

52、nd the message must be simple and clear. For example: Notes Date: Jan. 12h, 2004 rom ne od We will have a week s holiday during the spring festival 1 till 7 of the lunar cale ndar. Each sect ion should have someo be on duty duri ng this period in case of emerge ncy. Take a go be careful. 13 Writing of Fax Fax is a convenient way of com muni cati on betwee n compa ni es. The writi ng of it is just like the writing of the notes: simple, concise, and polite. You