11. Marutitni otazka_Writing formal letter

Writing formal letter

A letter is a written message between the sender and the recipient. A sender sends and a recipient receives letters. According to the form there are 2 basic types of letters: an informal /personal/ letter, and a formal /official and business/ letter. Letters can be sent by post or email and they can be handwritten or, usually, typed on a computer.

In a formal /official and business/letter people often make an enquiry/ask about sth/a request /ask for sth/, apply for jobs, or social benefits, notify sth., complain about sth. or answer such letters.
The sender's address (without the name) is written in the top-right corner, recipient's address (with the name and position) on the next line on the left and the date on the next line on the right.

Everything in the letter is formal: we usually start with Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Dear Sir or Madam, or with Dear Mr (or Mrs) So-and-so and we conclude with Yours sincerely or Yours faithfully (depending on the opening salutation), our signature with our typed name underneath.

The body of the letter consists of the opening paragraph with the information why we are writing, in the main body we explain the problem in more details and in the concluding paragraph we tell what action we would like the recipient to take, what should he or she do. The last sentence is usually something like: I look forward to hearing from you soon.In formal letters we use Standard English.

Formal letters should be clear, correct, complete and polite and usually not longer than one page.
Business letters use quality paper with the company logo and letterhead (including contact information such as phone numbers, e-mail and website address and account number).

There are three main types of business letters - enquiry, offer and order. The word enquiry means a request for information (we ask for some information - about a job, person, service, product, etc.) These letters are often written in response to an advertisement that we have seen in the paper, a magazine, a commercial on television when we are interested in purchasing a product. There are three or four important parts of a letter of enquiry. In an opening paragraph we give reference. Then we give some information about ourselves, about our company (who we are) and write the reason for writing. In the last paragraph we ask for action/we write what the recipient should do.

Making an offer is an important part of doing business. Usually it is made as a reply to an enquiry. An offer is a serious thing. In fact, it is a suggestion of a contract, it's legally binding and if it is accepted we have to keep what we have offered. That's why it should be written. In our offer we have to write what we offer, how much it costs, when we can supply (possible deadline) and how it should be paid.

Placing an order is an important part of doing business. An order is a legal document and that's why it should be in a written form. Then it is sent off by email or post. The buyer wants to buy certain goods and promises to take the goods over and to pay for them. When the seller accepts the order he has to supply the goods in quantity, quality, time and price according to the customer's order. Orders are legally binding and should be written very carefully and checked thoroughly before they are sent off. It's always good to ask the seller for confirmation of our order to be sure that the goods will be supplied as we need it.