《商务英语函电教程》Unit 1商务信函写作基础

1、BUSINESS ENGLISHBUSINESS ENGLISHCORRESPONDENCECORRESPONDENCEUnit OneBasic Knowledge of Business Letter WritingLearning Objective To learn the structure of Business letters To know the formats of Business letters To know how to Address Envelops To understand the general principles applied to business

2、 letter writing 1.The Structure of Business Letters1）The Basic parts of Business Letters Letterhead Reference Dateline Inside Name and Address Salutation Subject Line Body Complimentary Close Signature Letterhead Letterhead includes the senders name, postal address, the companys logo, telephone numb

3、er, telex number, cable address and E-mail address, etc. Its position: It may be positioned in the center of the letter or at the left margin for full block style or flush at the right margin for indented style.Shanghai Huali Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd Room 606 Plaza Building, Fax: 86-21-64253378 1302 Mei

4、long Road, 200237 Tel: 86-21-64255578 Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China E-mail:In some countries the letterhead contains other details. For example, in the U.K. the directors names of a company is given. Director Edmond HalleyCapital Food Co., Ltd15 PARKGTE ROAD, LONDON SW12 4NQ. U.K. Reference In

5、clude: a file number, departmental code or the initials of the signer followed by that of the typist of the letter. These are marked “Our ref:” and “Your ref:” to avoid confusion:Your ref: AMD/IP Our ref: WRL/QN position: They are often placed two lines below the letterhead. If desired, the referenc

6、e initials can also be placed at the lower left margin two lines below the name of the signer. Dateline The dateline consists of the month, day, and year with the month written in full, nor abbreviated or represented by figures. Never use the short form of the month (e.g. Jan. Feb. Oct). Dont write

7、08 instead of 2008 for the year, or give the date in figures (e.g. 10/12/2008)Both of the following styles are acceptable. 28 March 2008 March 28, 2008Inside Name and Address The name and address of the receiver is typed at the left-hand margin at least two lines below the date. Precede the addresss

8、 name with a courtesy with title (such as Mr., Ms. or Dr.). If you do not know whether a person is a man or woman, and you have no way to find out, omit the courtesy title and give the full name. Do not use both kinds of titles with one name, however, As shown below, the title of a persons position

9、within an organization may be included and typed either on the same line below the persons name, whichever position results in better balance. If the title appears on the same line, place a comma between the name and the title. For example:(1) Mr. George Russell, Director 164 Bay Road, Liquorland Ok

10、lahoma City, OK 73125 U.S.A(2) Mr. Thom Collins Assistant Vice President The Hercules Engineering Co., Ltd. Brazennose Street, Manchester M60 8AS England If the name of a specific person is unavailable, you may address the letter to the department, followed by the name of the company. Customer Servi

11、ce Department Acme Construction Company In order to avoid ambiguity, when you write letters to other countries, always include the name of the country, even if the city mentioned is the countrys capital. See the example below: Mrs. Ann Meadows Warner - Thompkins Company 210 Tracy Avenue Spokane, Was

12、hington 99202 U.S.A Salutation The salutation is the complimentary greeting to the receiver. Place it two lines below the inside address, flush with the left margin. Its form depends on the writers relationship with the receiver. （1）The customary formal greeting in a business letter is ： for address

13、ing one person Dear Sir, Dear Madam, for addressing two or more people Dear Sirs, Dear Madams Gentlemen: (always should be in plural form and never write “Gentleman”) （2）If the receiver is known to the writer personally, a less formal and warmer greeting is used as follows: Dear Ms. Katherine Black,

14、 Dear Dr. Harry The trend is toward “Ms.” as the courtesy title for all women regardless of their marital status. Subject Line Subject line is actually the general idea of a letter. It is inserted between the salutation and the body of the business letter either at the left-hand margin for fully-blo

15、cked letter form or centrally over the body of the letter to call attention to the topic of the letter. (1) Dear Sir or Madam, Subject: Annual Trade Fair (2) Dear Sir, Re: Contract No.2216 for 200 M/T of Walnuts (3) Gentlemen: Sales Confirmation No. TE88 Body The body is the main part that conveys y

16、our message. It expresses the writers idea, opinion, purpose and wishes. A typical plan for a three-paragraph letter includes: Paragraph one Refers to any previous correspondence or introduces the purpose of the letter. Paragraph two Supports the opening and provides what service or information you

17、have to offer. Paragraph Three End the body of the letter with the action or idea that you want the reader to consider or with the results you would like to have. Complimentary Close The complimentary close is merely a polite way of ending a letter. It appears in the middle of the page or flush with

18、 the left margin in fully blocked letters and two lines below the closing sentence. Salutation Formal Less Formal Informal Dear Sir or Madam Dear Mr. Smith Dear Sirs, Dear Ms. Yen Dear Marry Gentlemen Dear Bob Dear Tom Complimentary Yours faithfully, Yours sincerely, Sincerely, Faithfully yours, Sin

19、cerely yours, Cordially, Truly yours Cordially yours, Best regards, As the salutation and complimentary close are merely a matter of courtesy and dont mean anything to the message, they can be omitted in the simplified form used nowadays. The complimentary close, when it is used, must never be separ

20、ated from the substance of a letter by carried to a separate sheet. If faulty layout occurs, the letter should be retyped leaving narrower space to layout the letter within one sheet of paper or rearranging the letter with some portion of the body carried over to the next sheet. The next page or pag

21、es should have the same quality, sizeand color as the first page to show:the number of the sheet ( in the center of the page)the name of your correspondence( on the left-hand side)the date of the letter( on the right-hand side) The following styles are often used for continuation sheets:Ms. GranePag

22、e 2October 6, 2008-2-Smart Textiles Trading Co., Ltd. June 6, 2008-2-Ms. S. R. Mehta May28, 2008Signature The signature is the signing of the message senders name. Type the name below complimentary close, leave enough blank lines to sign your name by hand in black or blue ink. Never “sign” with a ru

23、bber stamp. If your letter is on plain paper and you want to emphasize that you are legally representing your company, you may type the companys name in Capital letters below the complementary close and place the title of the message sender on the same line with or below the typed name. The followin

24、g are examples of different ways of signing a business letter:(1) An official signing for his company Yours faithfully, MAINRICH INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. Nancy Nancy (2) A partner signing for his firm. Sincerely yours, Dennis Brown Dennis Brown2）Additional Parts of Business Letters Enclosure Carbon C

25、opy Notation PostscriptEnclosure An enclosure notation should be added to the business letter, when such documents as brochures, catalogues, samples, price lists are attached to the letter. The enclosure notation follows two lines after the signature block. Type the word “Enclosure”, or its abbrevia

26、tion written as “Enc.” Or “Encl.” with the number of enclosures. Here typical enclosures might read: Enclosure 4 samples Encl. Price ListCarbon Copy Notation Carbon copy notation is used when copies of the letter are sent to others. Type “CC” or “cc” with the names of the persons who will receive th

27、e copies of the letter, usually positioned two lines below the signature block at the left margin. Many companies are now using “PC” (for photocopy). For example:PC; Margaret RuthCC; The Chamber of Commerce for Metal and Minerals.c.c. Mr. DavidPostscript If the writer wished to add something he forg

28、ot tomention or for emphasis, he may add his postscript twolines below the carbon copy notation, and flush with the left margin. For example, P.S. The catalogue will be sent to you tomorrow. The adding of a P.S. should, however, be avoided asfar as possible, since it may suggest the writer failed to

29、plan his letter well before he typed it. The following letter is designed to illustrate the Position of each part mentioned above: Specimen Letter-1二、二、The Formats of Business Letters1）Indented style2）Full Block Style 3）Semi-block Style4）Simplified style1) Indented style The indented style is a trad

30、itional British practice with the letterhead usually in the middle and the date line on the right-hand side. The complimentary close may be in the center or commence at the center point. The indented style takes 4 or 5 letters in the first line of each paragraph in the body of the business letter. I

31、t looks attractive and makes for easy reading, but it is not convenient to type. See Specimen Letters-2. London Trading Co., Ltd Black road, Hammersmith W5 3DT Tel: 41 23895563 Fax: 41 23895887 E-mail: May 15, 2008Beijing Garments Imp/Exp Corporation812 Jianguo Road, Beijing, China 100088 Dear Mr. C

32、hen, Your letter of November 1, 2007 has been received. As we are anxious to finalize this transaction, we have been exertingourselves to persuade our clients to accept your prices. Eventually, they have decided to accept. We are glad to have been able to conclude the business with you. Await your s

33、ales confirmation. Yours faithfully, Colin Ryan21 Century Traders77 Cooper ST # 4HLondon 2039, UK 9 October 2007National Geographic Society475Kenwood StDuluth, MN55811U.S.ADear Mrs. Mason,Thank you for your letter of 12 August, concerning yourforthcoming visit to my company. Ill be glad to meet you

34、at the time of your visit. Please confirm your flight number, so that my assistant, Helen. We will meet you at the airport.I look forward to seeing you.Yours sincerely,Johnson MorganCapital Electrical Products Co., Ltd15 Parkagate Road, London SW12 4NQ U.K.Tel: 44-35987048 E-mail: 25 July 2007The Co

35、mmercial AttacheBritish EmbassyBeirutDear Sir,For a number of years we have imported electric shaves from the United States, but now learn that these shaves can be obtained from British manufacturers. We wish to extend our present range of models and should be glad if you could supply us with a list

36、 of British manufacturers likely to be able to help us. If you cannot supply the information from your records, could you please refer our enquiry to the appropriate quarter in London? Yours faithfully, Fred Johns SHANGHAI LIHUA IMP. & EXP. CO., LTDRm.9012 Union Building, 1202 Hingham RoadShanghai,

37、China 20026TEL: 86-21-64257881 E-mail: August 28, 2008Global Trade Group Ltd.56W 39th ST #3New York, NYU.S.AIn compliance with you request in your letter dated August28, 2008, we have sent you our latest brochure, by separate airmail, for your reference.If you are interested in any item of our produ

38、cts, please let us know as soon as possible. We are looking forward to your specific enquiry.Henry Lai3. Addressing Envelopes Business Envelopes usually have the return address already printed in the upper left corner. The receivers name and address should be typed about half way down the envelope.

39、The postmark or stamps should be placed in the up right-hand corner, while the bottom left-hand space is for post notation like “By airmail”, “Confidential”, “Secret”, “Printed Matter”, etc. The format of address on the envelope can be in blocked or indented style, but it is better to keep the same

40、format with the inside address for the letter.Specimen Envelop -1 (Block style)ASIA SUNHAND CO., LTDSuit 3B, Galore Building, 28-30, On LAN Street, Central Mr. Ali Imitate Middle East Ltd. P. O. Box 2216 Jeddah 12641 Saudi Arabia BY AIRMAIL Specimen Envelop-2 (Indented style) Jack Simpson Central Bu

41、siness Consultants Hyde Towers Hong Kong Dr. David Zhang No.305 Jinxing Building Naming Rd. Shanghai,20026 China Guidelines for Writing A good business letter can promote the sale of the products, keep a good impression of the company and enhance the work efficiency. Business letter writing is one o

42、f the necessary business activities. Here are a few general 7S principles that are applied to business letter writing. Courtesy Consideration CompletenessConcreteness 4. The general principles that are applied to business letter writingCorrectness ConcisenessClarity1. Courtesy Courtesy plays a consi

43、derable role in business letter writing as in all business activities. Courtesy means to show tactfully in your letters the honest friendship, thoughtful appreciation, sincere politeness, considerate understanding and heartfelt respecting. Compare the following sentences: Your letter is not clear at

44、 all. I cant understand it. (Impolite) If I understand your letter correctly, (polite and tactful) You should give us more details on your products. (Impolite) Will you give us more details on you products? (Courteous) Compare the following sentences: You must correct all these documents by noon. (S

45、entence with “you”) All these documents must be corrected by noon. (Sentence without “you”) You shouldnt load this kind of goods on deck. (Sentence with “you”) This kind of goods cannot be loaded on deck. (Sentence without “you”) Courtesy also involves a prompt reply after receiving a business lette

46、r. Please do remember not to keep your reader waiting.2. ConsiderationuConsideration emphasizes You-attitude rather than We-attitude. Compare the following pairs of sentences: We allow 5 percent discount for payment within 10 days. (“We” attitude) You earn 5 percent discount if you pay within 10 day

47、s. (“You” attitude) We offer T-shirts in different colors and styles. (“We” attitude) Select you T-shirts from different colors and styles. (“You” attitude)uAs the saying goes “Every cloud has a silver lining”, focus on the positive side rather than on the negative. Stress what can be done rather th

48、an what cannot be done so that the reader may feel you are sincere and considerate. Compare the following sentences: It is impossible to fulfill your order this month. (Negative) Your order will be fulfilled next month. (Positive)3. Completeness A business letter is successful and functions well onl

49、y when it contains all the necessary information. To achieve this, see to it that all questions are answered and all the matters are discussed. Compare the following sentences: We have arranged to ship the goods within this week. (Incompleteness) We have arranged to ship the goods by S.S “Virgin Mar

50、y” which is scheduled to sail for you port on October 25. (Completeness) 4. Concreteness The following guidelines can help us write concretely: use specific facts and figures; put action in your verbs, prefer active verbs to passive verbs or words in which action is hidden. Compare: We have drawn on

51、 you as usual under you L/C. (Rewriting) We have drawn on you our sight draft No.123 for the Invoice amount, USD500, under your L/C 211 of the Bank of China.5. Correctness Correctness refers not only to correct usage of grammar, punctuation and spelling, but also to standard language, appropriate to

52、ne, proper statement, accurate figures as well as the correct understanding of commercial jargons. Compare: We are sending you under separate cover two bags of samples for the goods you ordered by air as instructed. (Poor punctuation) We are sending you, under separate cover, two bags of samples by

53、air for the goods you ordered. (Good punctuation) Please inform us the earliest shipment we can have as soon as possible. (Incorrect place of modifiers) Please inform us as soon as possible the earliest shipment we can have. (Correct place of modifiers) Working as fast as possible, the goods are rea

54、dy to be delivered. (Incorrect use of noun and pronoun) Working as fast as possible, we have got the goods ready to be delivered. (Correct use of noun and pronoun)6. Conciseness Conciseness means saying thing in the fewest possible words. To achieve conciseness of your letter writing, try to keep your sentences short, and avoid wordy expression and redundancy, or repetition, and eliminate excessive details. Compare the following sentences:We have begun to export our products to countries abroad. (Wordy)We have begun to export our products. (Concise)Will you