Correspondence

Each culture has its own way of

organizing a letter and arranging it
on a page.
English speaking people generally
observe the following rules:
Letters
Our own
address

The name and

address of The date
the person you
are
writing for

Addressing the
people,

The body of
your letter
Letters (a)
Addresses generally follow the
rule of ‘smallest first’:
House number, then street, then
town.
Post code and telephone number/
fax number/ email address come
last.
Don’t put your name with the
address.
Letters (b)
Put the date directly under the
address.
A common way to write the date
is to put the number of the day,
followed by the month and year
(e.g. 17 May 2005)
There are some differences
between British and American
customs.
Letters (c)
 Begin the letter (Dear X) on the left.
 Common ways of addressing people are:
 by first name (informal): Dear Penny
 by title and surname (more formal): Dear
Ms. Hopkins
 Dear Sir(s), Dear Sir or Madam, Dear
Madam (especially to somebody whose
name is not known)
 Some people like to use the first name and
surname (Dear Penny Hopkins) when writing
to stranger or people that they do not know
well.
 Do not use a title Mr. together with the first
Letters (d)
In informal letters,
afterthoughts that are added
after the signature are usually
introduced by P S
(Latin post scriptum = written
afterwards)
Envelopes
Put the first
name before the
surname.
People usually
The name
write a title (Mr., The address of
Mrs., etc) before the person you
the name. are
You can write writing for

one or more
initials
(Mrs. A E
Brokers)
 Abbreviations Used in Letter Writing

cc = carbon copy (when you send a copy of a letter to

more than one person, you use this abbreviation to let
them know)
enc. = enclosure (when you include other papers with
your letter)
pp = per procurationem (A Latin phrase meaning that
you are signing the letter on somebody else's behalf; if
they are not there to sign it themselves, etc)
ps = postscript (when you want to add something after
you've finished and signed it)
pto (informal) = please turn over (to make sure that
the other person knows the letter continues on the
other side of the page)
RSVP = please reply
Content of a Formal Letter

First paragraph
The first paragraph should be
short and state the purpose of
the letter- to make an enquiry,
complain, request something,
etc.
Content of a Formal Letter

The paragraph or paragraphs in

the middle of the letter should
contain the relevant information
behind the writing of the letter.
Most letters in English are not
very long, so keep the information
to the essentials and concentrate
on organising it in a clear and
logical manner rather than
expanding too much.
Content of a Formal Letter

Last Paragraph
The last paragraph of a formal
letter should state what action
you expect the recipient to
take- to refund, send you
information, etc.