• If you don't know the person's name:

• There are several possibilities to address people that you don't know by name:

  salutation	when to use
  Dear Sir / Dear Sirs	male addressee (esp. in British English)
  Gentlemen	male addressee (esp. in American English)
  Dear Madam	female addressee (esp. in British English)
  Ladies	female addressee (esp. in American English)
  Dear Sir or Madam	gender unknown (esp. in British English)
  Ladies and Gentlemen	gender unknown (esp. in American English)
  To whom it may concern	gender unknown (esp. in American English)

• Business partners often call each other by their first names. In this case, write the salutation as follows: Dear Sue.

• Punctuation

• In British English, don't use any punctuation mark or use a comma.

• Dear Mr Miller or Dear Mr Miller,

• In American English, use a colon:

• Dear Mr. Miller:

• Ms, Miss or Mrs?

• Mrs – to address a married woman

• Miss – to address an unmarried woman (rarely used now)

• Ms – to address a woman whose marital status you don't know; also used to address an unmarried woman

• Note: The abrreviations Mr, Mrs etc. are usually written without full stops (Mr) in British English and with full stops (Mr.) in American English.

• 6. Subject line and heading in a business letter

• Subject line

• Subject line is a word or phrase to indicate the main subject of the letter, which is preceded by the word “Subject:” or “Re:” (Latin for “matter”). Subject lines may be emphasized by underlining, using bold font, or all capital letters.  They can be alternatively located directly after the "inside address," before the "greeting."  Informal or social letters rarely include a subject line.

• A subject line is not really necessary. You may want to use one, however, so that the reader immediately knows what your letter is about. There are three common methods to distinguish the subject line from the body of the letter:

• Use "Subject:" or "Re:"

• Type the subject in bold letters

• Type the subject in capital letters

• British English

• The subject line is usually placed between the salutation and the body of the letter (with a blank line in between).

• 

• American English

• In American English, the subject line can also be placed between the recipient's address and the salutation (with a blank line in between).

• 

• Headings

• It is always best to give a heading to a business letter. This helps to ensure that our letter is dealt with as efficiently as possible. Headings come immediately after the greeting, and should be underlined or typed in bold. Make your heading brief and specific. For example:

• Dear Sir or Madam,

• Closure of bank account no. 56777889

• I would like to inform you ……..

• 7. Body of a business letter

• When writing a business letter, be careful to remember that conciseness is very important. In the first paragraph, consider a friendly opening and then a statement of the main point. The next paragraph should begin justifying the importance of the main point. In the next few paragraphs, continue justification with background information and supporting details. The closing paragraph should restate the purpose of the letter and, in some cases, request some type of action.

• Your letter should be neither too long nor too short. The length of your letter will depend on whether the subject of the letter is a simple or a complicated one. You have to decide on the right amount of info to include in your letter. The reader will not be able to understand the message if you leave out important information. If you include too many details, he may be irritated.

• Planning your letter in advance is the best thing to do. In this way you will be able to decide what to include, in which order and how you are going to express it. The best way produce a good business letter is to use the KISS formula (keep it short and simple). The body of most letters can be divided into three paragraphs, though some more may be necessary sometimes.

• You should also avoid informal, colloquial language as well as phrasal verbs, idioms and short forms. This kind of vocabulary is considered inappropriate.

• Capitalise the first word of the text (even if the salutation ends with a comma). The text is left-justified and a blank line is put after each paragraph. It is not common to indent the first line of a paragraph.

• Content

• first paragraph: introduction and reason for writing

• following paragraphs: explain your reasons for writing in more detail, provide background information etc.

• last paragraph: summarise your reason for writing again and make clear what you want the recipient to do

• Note: Your text should be positive and well structured.

• To sum up

• The language used should be:

• clear but courteous

• simple but formal

• The message should:

• be neither too long nor too short

• have a clear sequence