Lesson 4. Structure and Parts of a Letter

Return address

Receiver’s address Date

Greeting

Body

Closing

Signature

Typed name

Enclosure

1. Return The return (or sender’s) address is usually in the top right

address corner or in the middle of the sheet, often printed

or typographically. The heading contains the name of organization

heading or firm, sending the letter, its address (number of house, street,

city, state /province, county/, ZIP Code and country), telephone,

fax, e-mail. A comma separates the city from the state or country.

Example: 18 Anderson Road, Madrid, Spain

DO NOT indicate your name here.

2. Date The date is usually below or above the return address. Dates are

abbreviated in business letters. A comma separates the month

and day from the year. In international correspondence dates

can be confusing if only numbers are used.

British form: day/month/year

9 January, 2007 or 9^th January, 2007

American form: month/day/year

January 9, 2007

Note: 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd.

3. Receiver’s The receiver’s address is on the left side of the sheet and

Address contains the addressee’s title (Mr., Ms., Dr., Mrs.), first name,

last name, job title, company name, street address, city, state

(province, county), ZIP Code, country.

Example: Mr. Bill Rubin

Vice President of Operations

Garnet Company

24 Dexter Road

San Francisco, California,

USA 92654.

3. Reference In many business letters or e-mails, there is a subject or a

or Subject reference that tells the reader what the focus of the letter is.

A common reference represents the initials of the person who

wrote the letter and those of the typist who typed it.

Example: Our Ref: MRE/JNK (the initials of the author of

the letter/the initials of the typist)

Subject: Invitation.

3. Greeting - When you do know the reader’s name:

salutation Dear Sir,

Dear Madam,

Dear Sir or Madam, (if you do not know the sex of the

receiver)

Dear Sirs, (if the letter is addressed to a firm)

• When you know the reader’s name:

Dear + (title) + Last Name Dear Mr. Maxwell,

Dear Ms. Smith,

Dear Miss,

Dear Dr. Robins,

American form: with semicolon:

Dear Sirs: or Dear Mr. Black:

3. Body There are generally three parts:

• opening: give your reason for writing: