The Essential Parts of the Business Letter

1. The Essential Parts of the Business Letter • The Heading: the letterhead and date. • The Inside Address. • The Salutation. • The Body of the Letter. • The Complimentary Close. • The Signature. Saudi Cable Company 200 King Abdullah Road Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 11220 October 20, 2006 AL-Fowaz and Broths, Co. 110 New Street Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2600 Gentlemen: ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. Sincerely yours, Ali Ahemed Ali AL Ahemed

2. Heading (letterhead and date) Saudi Cable Company 200 King Abdullah Road Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 11220 October 20, 2006 • It is usually printed, showing the name and address. • The date is typed two spaces below the last line of the letterhead. The exact position of the date depends onthe design of the letterhead and the style of the typing. • If the heading not printed, it must be typed in the upper right-hand part of the letter sheet, with at least an inch margin at the top and to the right. • The words avenue, street, etc., are not abbreviated.

3. Numbered streets up to ten are spelled out, but numbered streets beyond ten are written in figures. • Do not use st, nd, rd or th when figures are used for numbered streets or for days of the month in the dates. • The name of cities must be written in full, but the name of states should be abbreviated. • Be sure to include the ZIP Code. • Do not abbreviate the names of the month in the date line and place a comma between the day of the month and the year.

4. The Inside Address Saudi Cable Company 200 King Abdullah Road Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 11220 October 20, 2006 AL-Fowaz and Broths, Co. 110 New Street Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2600 • It gives the name and address of the firm or individual to whom the letter is addressed. • It is placed at the left-hand side of the sheet, at least two spaces below the heading. • The inside address must occupy at least three lines. • The exact position of the inside address depends on the length of the letter and the size of the sheet.

5. Regardless of the letter style, such words as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., etc., must always appear before the name. • if the person to which the letter addressed has an official or business title, this should appear after the name, either next to it or on the following line. • Do not abbreviate official or business title. • If there is apartment, room, or suite number, it should be placed after the street address on the same line.

6. Salutation • Placed two spaces below the inside address, flush with the left-hand margin. • The first and last words and every noun are capitalized. • A colon (:) follows the salutation except in open punctuation. • Common used forms of salutation are: singular form (Dear Mr., Mrs. or Ms.). • Plural form (Gentlemen or Ladies). Other forms could be used. Mr. Saad Al yousef AL-Fowaz and Broths, Co. 110 New Street Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2600 Gentlemen: Dear Mr. AL yousef ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????. Mr. Saad Al yousef AL-Fowaz and Broths, Co. 110 New Street Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2600 Gentlemen: Dear Mr. AL yousef ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.

7. The body of the letter • A business letter should be clear, concise, and direct. It is suggested that: • make sure that the subject matter of the letter is presented in well-organized paragraph. • Use words that are in common, accepted usage, avoid slang or trite expressions. • be careful of the spelling of the words. • Use capital letters where necessary and punctuate to make your meaning clear. • It is advisable to keep copies of business letters for future reference. AL-Fowaz and Broths, Co. 110 New Street Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2600 Gentlemen: ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.

8. The complimentary close. • It is placed two spaces below the body of the letter. • It appears at the right-hand side of the sheet except in the full-block style in which appears at the left-hand margin. • It is omitted when the simplified style is used. • Only the first word of the complimentary close is capitalized. • A comma is placed at the end, except when open punctuation is used. ????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????. Sincerely yours,

9. The signature. • it is placed directly below the complimentary close. • It must be handwritten in ink, and legible. • No punctuation follows the signature. • Titles or degrees, such as Mr., Ph.D., etc., are not used in with the signature. • The name of person who signing the letters is typed four spaces below the complimentary closing. • If the simplified style is used the complimentary close is omitted and the signature line is typed four spaces below the body. ????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????. Sincerely yours, Ali ALahmed Ali ALahmed Manager -------------------------------------------- Sincerely yours, Saudi Gulf Co.

10. An official title, if used, is placed directly below the typewritten name. • In business letters, if the pronoun “W” is used instead of “I”, the name of the firm appears before the writer’s signature. The firm’s name is typed two spaces below the complimentary closing followed by the writer’s name four spaces below the firm’s name. • When a secretary signs the employer’s name to a letter the employer dictated, the secretary places his or her initials directly below the handwritten signature. • When a secretary signs a letter in his or her own name, he or she indicates that.

11. Some Special Features of the Business Letter • The personal notation • The reference line • The attention line • The subject line • The identification line • The enclosure notation • The mailing notation • The carbon copy distribution notation • The postscript

12. Date Personal INSIDE ADDRESS • The personal notation If the letter is a confidential, and it is wanted to be read only by a particular person, the word personal or confidential is used . such notation should appear four spaces above the inside address as well as in the envelop. • The reference line It can refer to a bill, an order, a code or a letter. It is typed four spaces below the date line. Date Refer to File No. 550 INSIDE ADDRESS

13. INSIDE ADDRESS Attention Mr. AL ahemd Gentlemen: • The attention line if you want your letter is directed to the attention of a particular person, use the attention line. It is placed two spaces below the inside address and two spaces above the salutation. It may be flush with the left-hand margin indented five spaces, or centred. Because the letter directed to the firm, a plural salutation is required. • The subject line It indicates the subject matter of the letter and makes it unnecessary to devote the first paragraph to giving this information. this line is generally centred on the same with the salutation or two spaces below. If the full block style is used, type the subject line flush with the left –hand margin two spaces below the salutation. Place a colon after the word Subject and use initial capital letters for all important words. If the simplified style is used, the subject line is typed in all capital letters, but “Subject:” is omitted. SALUTATION ---------Subject: or Subject: Shipping Policy

14. // signature // SJW: am Enclosure or 2 Encls. • The identification line. It made up of the initials of the name of the person who dictated the letter and those of the secretary or typist. The initials may be in capital letters, in all small letters, or in capitalized letters for dictator and small letters for the secretary or typist. It is usually typed two spaces below the signature, flush with the left-hand margin. • The enclosure notation. when the letter has enclosure, the notation is typed directly below the identification line, flush with the left-hand margin. Either the entire word enclosure, or its abbreviation, Enc. Or Encl. be used. If there is more than one enclosure, the number should be indicated.

15. // signature // SJW: am Enclosure or 2 Encls. Special Delivery cc: Mr. Saad • The mailing notation. This notation states the method of mailing: whether the letter is sent registered, airmail, special delivery…etc,. it is typed directly below the identification line or enclosure notation. It serves as a record to indicate that the letter was sent by other than regular mail. • The carbon copy distribution notation. this notation states that a carbon copy of the letter is being sent to another person. It is typed two spaces below all other notation, flush with the left hand margin. Either the word Copy to or the abbreviation cc: may be used. The blind carbon copy notation (bcc:) is used when the addressor does not wish to indicate the distribution of the carbon copies to the addressee. It appears on all internal copies, but not on the letter sent to the addressee.

16. The Forms and Mechanics of Business Letters Letter Forms Block Form: Semi-block The Complete-block Simplified Letter The Hanging-indention From

17. The Block Form • It is the most widely used form today. • the block form takes its name from the fact that the inside address, the salutation, and the paragraphs of the letter are arranged in blocks without indention. • Two spaces between each unit and a single space within the unit. ///////// Letterhead ////////// /////////////////////////////////////// Date //////////////////////////////// //// Inside Address//// ///Salutation/// ////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////The Body //////////// /////////////////////////////. Complementary Signature

18. The open form of punctuation should alwaysaccompany the block form. • The block form offers two definite advantage: It offers time saving, because each part of letter except the date, the complimentary closing, and the signature is aligned with the left-hand margin. Second, it is widely acceptable today.

19. The Semi-block • This form is exactly like the block form except for the indention of paragraphs. • Most general practice is to indent 10 spaces. • Many typists let the salutation govern the spaces in the indention. For instance, if the salutation and the name of the individual whom the letter addressed to occupy 20 space, the spaces in the indention will be 20 space. ///////// Letterhead ////////// ///////////////////////////////////// Date //////////////////////////////// //// Inside Address//// ///Salutation/// indention ////////////////////////////// ////////////////The Body //////////// /////////////////////////////. //Complementary close// //Signature//

20. The Complete-block ///////// Letterhead ////////// ///////////////////////////////////// // Date// //////////////////////////////// //// Inside Address//// ///Salutation/// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////The Body //////////// /////////////////////////////. //Complementary Close// // Signature// • The basic principle of this form is to bring all the elements of the letter to the left-hand margin.

21. Simplified letter The main characteristics of this form are The complete elimination of the salutation and complimentary close and the left-hand format, which is in general like that of the complete-block. ///////// Letterhead ////////// ///////////////////////////////////// // Date// //////////////////////////////// //// Inside Address//// ///////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////The Body //////////// //////////////////////////////. // Signature//

22. The hanging-indention form //////////// Letterhead ////////// ////////////////////////////////////////// Date //////////////////////////////// //// Inside Address//// ///Salutation/// //////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////The Body //////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////////. ///////////////////////////////////////////// Complementary Signature It is acceptable in sales letters. The block form with open punctuation is used in the inside address; within the body of the letter, the first line in each paragraph is brought out to the left margin, but every other line in each paragraph is indented five spaces. This form is effective in attracting attention because of its different arrangement from the common letter arrangement.

23. Mechanics of the Letter • Arrange and center the letter on the page for symmetry and balanced appearance. • Select letterhead and stationery on the basis of simplicity of design and quality. • In the salutation and complimentary close capitalize only the first letter of the first word, except for proper names and titles. • The salutation and the complimentary close should agree in tone. • Punctuate the salutation with a colon (:) and complimentary close with a comma (,). • Company policy should determine the signature. • Signature should be legible. • The date is usually written in the upper right-hand margin. • The salutation should agree with the first line of the inside address. • The second page of the letter should not be on letterhead paper and should be clearly numbered. • The initials of the dictator and the stenographer as well as a reference to any enclosures should be indicated at the bottom of the letter. • Envelopes should give the compete address.