If we want to be able to write business letters, the most important thing is we must be able to write the sentences first. We must be able to write sentences which can be understood and does not bear any misunderstanding. That is the most important point. Meanwhile, to know and master the formats of business letters is not a difficult task. We can know and master them in a short time.
A. There are two ways we can do to make our sentences understandable:
1. Make sure that the sentence we produce or translate is formal and in standard. There must be at least subject and predicate in the sentence. Object or adverb may be added there. If the sentence is compound or complex, make sure that each clause (dependent and independent clause consists at least subject and predicate).
For example : Dia bilang belum siap. ; He said has not been ready. (False)
Dia bilang bahwa dia belum siap. ; He said that he had not been
ready. (True)
2. Start the practice of writing from writing short or simple sentences. Commonly someone tends to succeed to make understandable sentence if the sentence is simple. However, someone commonly makes wrong sentence (not understandable) if the sentence is long and complex. So be sure that we have been able to make good short or simple sentence first; after that we can continue making long or compound or complex sentence.
B. Formats of Business Letters
Conventional Letters
All conventional business letters have the following components:
1. HEADING
The heading or letterhead is usually provided by your company. This part is only used for the first page of a business letter. Heading commonly contains the name of company, line of business, and address. Line of business is the sector of work or business of the company. Usually the block form is used.
For example:
O’NEIL & HOFMAN
Business Methods Consultant
456 Gresley Street. Doncaster NSW 2987
2.
Shoestyle Ltd.
The expert in shoe fashion
54-57 Riverside, Cardiff CFI 1 JW
Telephone : (0222) 59876
Registered No. C198976
Fax : (031) 8978564
3.
THE ALFY CONSTRUCTION CO.
Jl. M.T. Haryono 234, Malang 65145 Telp. (0341) 635432
4.
Aloy Wares Indonesia Ltd.
Sampurna Plaza, 5th floor, Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. X-7 No. 6
Jakarta 12940 - Indonesia
5.
INTERNATIONAL STATIONARY
The castle of stationeries
Jl. R.P. Soeroso 69, Malang 65140
Telp. (0341) 567489, Fax (0341) 567897
6.
BRAMASTYA DEVI & CO. LTD.
10 Ansari Road, New Delhi – 110 022
2. Date
Date is written under the heading (on the left or right).
O’NEIL & HOFMAN
Business Methods Consultant
456 Gresley Street. Doncaster NSW
June 7, 2009
1. INSIDE ADDRESS
Inside address is the name and address of the company or business the letter is being written to. Inside address is the same address that appears on the envelope. If the letter is sent overseas the name of the country must be written completely with capital letters.
For example :
The Chief Buyer
Golden Stones Ltd.
21 Bridge Street
Manchester M14 4M6
UNITED KINGDOM
Furthermore, to write inside address can be done in three ways:
1. The first line is the personal name
Mr. D. Anderson
Marketing Manager
Midland Engineering Ltd.
346 Crewe Street
Carisle Act.26789
2. The first line is the position
Marketing Manager
Midland Engineering Ltd.
346 Crewe Street
Carisle Act.26789
3. The first line is the name of the company
Midland Engineering Ltd .
346 Crewe Street
Carlisle Act. 26789
3. SALUTATION and CLOSING
| SALUTATION | CLOSING |
| Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, etc. | Yours faithfully, Yours truly, Truly yours, |
| Sir, Gentlemen, Madam, Mesdames | Yours respectfully, Your obedient servant |
| Dear Mr. Jones, Dear Miss John | Yours sincerely, Yours truly |
| Dear………….(first name) | Love always, With love |
4. BODY
The business letter is discussed in the body of the business letter. It should be brief, well stated, and easy to read. Business letter must be succinct and to the point. In this body of letter there are mainly three things:
- Opening
Opening sentences usually refer to the previous letter related with same matter. In this case, the number of letter (i.e the date) is important.
For example: “Thank you for your letter……….”
- Message
Message contains the real matter to be told.
- Closing
Like in opening, closing is often a single sentence. Closing is used to restate more confirmed what has been written before, with good manners. Closing is also used to indicate the next action which the writer wants to do in the future.
For example: Thank you very much for your orders and we are looking forward
to serving you soon.
5. SIGNATURE
Signature shows the letter authority. This part contains a written signature of the person who signs, and its position in company. It’s better to provide some space between closing and the name of the person signing.
For example:
Yours faithfully,
J. Hopskin
General Manager
-----------------------------------
LETTERS BY EMAIL
Parts in Email Letters:
- HEADING
- SALUTATION
- BODY
- COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
- ATTACHMENT (ENCLOSURE)
1. HEADING
The only difference between email and conventional letter is that email dos not have a beautiful heading. The heading is as like this:
| From : Heri Date : Monday, August 19, 2009 2:02 PM Subject : “(….Attachment sign, if there is any assignment).Text to translate |
| From : Caturwiranto Date : Monday, August 19, 2009 2:02 PM To : Heri@yahoo.com Subject : Re: Translation |
However in email we do not need to make the heading because it will be created automatically. What we need to do is just filling:
From : ………..(our address)
To : ……….(the address of a person or company we are writing to)
Subject : ………..(what our writing or message about)
*In writing the subject there are several rules:
1. The subject should be brief.
For example:
Subject: need genuine leather shoes by Mon
2. If the letter is for replying begin with RE. But it is automatically created by the computer.
For Example:
Subject : RE : need genuine leather shoes by Mon
3. If the letter is urgent , say URGENT.
For example:
Subject : URGENT : need genuine leather shoes by Mon
4. If the letter is not urgent say FYI (For Your Information Only)
For example:
Subject : FYI : Lunch Treat
5. If the letter is for requesting, start with REQ. Usually the message is a request, but is like an order.
Subject : REQ : collect unused paper
2. SALUTATION
The way to write salutation is same as that in conventional letter.
Dear ……….
After the word dear we can say “Sir”, but it is better to say the name or at least the position of the person. For example: Dear Mr. Yudi, or Dear Purchasing Manager.
3. BODY
Mostly the sentences are brief and informal, but it must still be understandable. Also, keep being careful if we communicate with a formal or new institution; we should be polite and formal. If there is an emphasis we can use italic words or asterisk.
4. COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
It is same as that in conventional letter, but mostly people use:
Thanks,
Thx,
Kind Regards,
Regards,
Rgds
5. ATTACHMENT (ENCLOSURE)
------------------------------
| BRAMASTYA DEVI & CO.LTD. 10 Ansari Road, New Delhi – 110 022 ---------------------------------------------- 7 June 2004 Good Equipment, Ltd. Jl. Tembaan Barat 107 Surabaya 60382 INDONESIA Dear sirs, Your advertisement in the “Indonesia Times” interests us greatly. We are a selling agent for ceramics wares in India. As the company develops greatly, we need to open a branch office in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. Therefore, we need to order some office equipments soon. Could you please send us a brochure, catalog, and price list of the office equipment you produce? Please ensure that the catalog and the price list are sent by air mail. Yours faithfully John Caine Purchasing Manager Our Ref JC/BC | salutation Referring to an advertisement introduction+reason inquiry |
| THE ALFY CONSTRUCTION CO. Jl. M.T. Haryono 234, Malang 65145 telp. (0341) 65432 AR/SGH 23 June 2004 The sisters Co. Ltd. Tokugawa St. 45 Nagoya NGY21 8DJ JAPAN Dear sirs We have seen your advertisement in “The Jakarta Post”, and would be grateful if you would kindly send us the catalog of your type writers. Will you please also indicate delivery times, you terms of payment, and details of discounts for regular purchase and large orders. We look forwards to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully Hj. Alfy Rahmawati Purchasing Manager | |
THE REPLY OF INQUIRY LETTER
| NUSA JAVA Jl. Nangka 55, Yogyakarta 55161 Telp (0274) 364892 Fax (0274) 364899 Email : Nusajava@indosat.net.id Our Ref.: 9846/NJV June 1, 2009 Vendi Website Development Kates Permai Blok III/25 Yogyakarta 55181 Dear Mr. Sunaryo: In response to your inquiry of May 27, 2006, we have much pleasure in enclosing the catalogue and price list of our computer books and IT dictionaries. Many thanks for your inquiry. We are looking forward to receiving your first order in the near future. Yours faithfully, Julian Purwanjana Putra Director of Sales |
--------------------------
. INVITATION LETTER
An invitation letter serves two purposes; one, to invite the individual to the event and two, to ensure that the person receiving the letter is going to attend.
There are two tenses used within the invitation letter, the present and the future. The present tense conveys information about the event and the future tense ensures the guest is going to attend.
Business Invitation Letter
A business invitation letter should be written in a formal tone.
Business invitation letter consists of:
Paragraph 1: Stating the reason / background of inviting someone or some company, and in the end of the paragraph inviting the person or company with the place and time of the event.
Paragraph 2: Stating the agenda and roles of the event, and in the end of the paragraph asking the invited person or company to give the reply; whether being able to attend the or not. The reply should be given before a certain day / date.
Paragraph 3: Stating to look forward to seeing the invited person or company in the event.
For Example:
PJ Party
22 Yew Street, Cambridge, Ontario
Tel: 416-223-8900
-------------------------------
April 7th, 20—
Valued Customer
35 Business Street
Capetown 4890
Dear Valued Customer:
Our records show that you have been a customer of PJ Party Inc. since our grand opening last year. We would like to thank you for your business by inviting you to Spring Extravaganza NEXT Saturday April 10, 2010.
Saturday's sales event is by invitation only. All of our stock, including pajamas and bedding will be marked down from 50-80% off.* Doors open at 9:00 AM sharp. Complimentary coffee and donuts will be served. Public admission will commence (start) at noon.
In addition, please accept the enclosed $25 gift certificate to use with your purchase at Sakadi Store.
We look forward to seeing you at Spring Extravaganza on Saturday. Please bring this invitation with you and present it at the door.
Sincerely,
Linda Lane
Store Manager
---------------------jobs surat
| Jl. Ijen 405, Malang April 17,2004 The Personnel Manager, PT Thomas Apollo, Block 4/A, SIER, SURABAYA 64002 Dear Sir, I have heard that your company is developing very well and is getting its popularity. I am very impressed by the rapid growth. And, therefore, I wish to apply for the post of junior secretary you may offer. I am 22 years of age at the present time. I was educated at Polytechnic Brawijaya University and graduated from it last year. In the Polytechnic, I got my skills in typing, operating computers, speaking and writing English, writing English business letters, and other secretarial skills. For further consideration, herewith, I enclose my photograph, copies of my certificates and academic transcript. The director of the Polytechnic, Dr. Umar Nimran, has given me permission to name him as referee. I am available for interview at any time convenient to you. I can be contacted by phone no. (0341) 560489. Yours faithfully Linda Sujono | address date inside address salutation brief comment formal application personal identity, education, qualification, etc. enclosing « photograph « certificate « etc. referee willingness for interview complimentary close signature |
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