BASIC AND OPTIONAL PARTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER Flashcards
“In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what importance it used to play in people’s lives.”
Anatole Broyard
It is composed of the following basic parts: letterhead or heading, dateline, inside address, salutation, body of the letter, complimentary close, signature line, and written signature.
Business Letter
Basic Parts of a Business Letter
Letterhead, Dateline, Inside Address, Salutation, Body of the letter, Complimentary Close, Signature Line, Written Signature
This part of a business letter includes the company name, company mailing address, and company contact numbers.
Letterhead
This part contains the month, day, and year when the business letter was written.
Dateline
This part consists of three, four or five lines which include the complete name as well as the job title/s of the receiver on the first line, the complete position of the receiver on the second line, the complete division or department of the receiver on the fourth line, and the complete name of the company or organization followed by the complete address of the company or organization.
Inside Address
is composed of the word “Dear” followed by the last name of the receiver of the letter. Use the colon (American English) at the end of the salutation or comma (British English).
Salutation
This consists the message of the writer. Some claim that the first and last sentences are the most important parts of the body of the letter.
Body of the letter
This is sometimes called closing, the part where sender says goodbye to the receiver of the letter in a formal way. You may use the standard complimentary close such as Sincerely or Sincerely yours, or Respectfully or Very respectfully yours.
Complimentary Close
This is composed of the complete typewritten name of the writer and his official designation, or the name of the company.
Signature Line
This refers to the sender clearly scribing or affixing his specimen signature in the space between the complimentary close and the printed name.
Written Signature
Optional Parts of a Business Letter
Attention Line, Subject Line, Identification Initials or Reference Initials, Enclosed or enclosed reference or enclosure notation, Copy Notation, Carbon Copy Notation (cc), Blind Carbon Copy Notation (bcc), Mailing Notation
This is used when the letter urgently needs to be received by the best person who can handle it.
Attention Line
This is used in short reports to let the reader know the content of the letter immediately. It may be placed above or below the inside address; maybe flushed to the left, indented, or centered.
Subject Line
This includes the initials of the secretary or typist who took the dictation in lower case and initials of the one who dictated or dictator in upper case placed at the lower left hand corner of the letter two spaces below the last line of the signature part.
Identification Initials or Reference Initials
