1. Join the two halves of these sentences so that they make good sense.

   I never sign a letter	Before I have read it through
   Please reply at once I shall be able to confirm this Please reply as soon as possible I often prefer to write We cannot confirm the order	after I have checked our stock position. although a phone call is quicker. until we have checked our stock position. so that we can order the supplies we need. in order to save time.

2. Rewrite sentences using the words below. The first sentence is an example.

1. First we will check our inventory and then let you know our delivery date.

   After

   After we have checked our inventory we will let you know our delivery date

2. Please send us another copy of your check and we will pay it at once.

   If	---------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Your letter was delayed in the post and we have not been able to process your order yet.

   Because

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4. Please inform us of your telex number and we will be able to reply to your query at once.

So that

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The opening salutation is never followed by an exclamation mark. In Great Britain the opening salutation is followed by a comma (Dear Sir,) in the USA it is followed by a colon (Dear Sir: ). If you know your correspondent well, you must begin with “Dear Mr. Black” or “Dear Miss Well” and end with complimentary close as “Yours sincerely”. If you do not know your correspondent well, you must begin with “Dear Sir”, “Dear Madam” and end with “yours faithfully”. If you write to a partnership, the correct form of salutation will be “Dear Sirs” and complimentary close should be “yours faithfully”. “Dear Madam” refers to the case when the writer of the letter is not sure, if the lady is married or unmarried. “Dear Mrs. Black” refers to married woman. Thus the complimentary close should match the opening salutation. See the table, which is shown below.

Address	Opening Salutation	Complimentary close
Mrs. N. White Miss N. White	Dear Madam,	Yours faithfully, Yours truly,
Mrs. N. White Miss N. White	Dear Mrs. White Dear Miss White	Yours sincerely, Yours very sincerely

Preliminary Task 2

Choose the correct answer

1. The closing phrases in letters addressed to friends and relatives

1. Yours faithfully

2. Yours sincerely

3. Yours truly

2. The closing phrases in letters addressed to colleagues

1. Yours respectfully

2. Very truly yours

3. Yours sincerely

3. The closing phrases in letters addressed to the institutions, firms etc

1. Yours sincerely

2. Yours faithfully

3. Yours affectionately

4. A partnership can be addressed:

1. the secretary

2. Messrs.

3. Partners

5. “Best wishes” is the right way to make a complimentary close to a letter beginning with a salutation.

1. Dear Sir

2. Dear Madam

3. Dear Marlene

4. Dear Mr. Williams

Preliminary Task 3

Look at the letters and decide what is wrong with each one; underline any mistakes after reading “golden rules”.

We have seen your advertisement in the latest journal and would be grateful if you could kindly send us samples of your materials. Please quote us your best prices. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully.

Rewrite the correct letter.

There are number of queries that I would like to raise about your products and I would be grateful if you could ask a representative to get in touch with me with a view to discussing these queries and hopefully placing an order if the queries are satisfactorily answered.

Decide what is wrong with the letter and write the correct one.

Thank you very much for your letter of 15^th January, which we have received today. In reply to your enquiry we have pleasure in enclosing the necessary information concerning the latest model of equipment as well as the current price-list. If you would like any further information, do please contact me by phone or in writing and I will be pleased to help. I hope that our services will be of interest to you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely.

What is incorrect? Write the correct variant.

Thank you very much for your letter of 15^th January, which we have received today.

In reply to your enquiry we have pleasure in enclosing the necessary information concerning the latest model of equipment as well as the current price list.

If you would like any further information, do please contact me by phone or in writing and I will be pleased to help.

I hope that our services will be of interest to you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely.

There are different expressions, which are used to confirm receipt of letters, references to dates are given in the letter itself.

Preliminary Task 4

Choose expressions corresponding to two groups of them respectfully.

We have received your letter of the 15^th May We refer to your letter of 15^th May In reply to your letter We acknowledge receipt of your letter of 15^th May We have received your letter dated 20^th May

confirmation reference to dates in letters

It is desirable that you should learn and remember some Russian word-combinations such as:

От сегодняшнего числа – of today’s date

От вчерашнего числа – of yesterday’s date

От того же числа – of the same date

See examples:

Our telegram of today’s date…

Our letter of yesterday’s date …

Our cable of the same date.

Preliminary Task 5