BasicKnowledgeofBusinessLetterWritingThefunctionofabusinessletteristogetortoconveybusinessinformation,tomakeortoacceptanoffer,todealwithvariousbusinesses.ChapterOne

SectionOne

Thebusinessletteristheprincipalmeansusedbyabusinessfirmtokeepintouchwithitscustomers;customersformtheirimpressionofthefirmfromthetoneandqualityofthelettersitsendsout.Thewholesecretofgoodbusinessletterwritingistowritesimply,inaneasyandnatural—likeonefriendlyhumanbeingtalkingtoanother,tomakeyourlettersthen,soundasmuchaspossiblelikegoodconversation.RequirementstotheWriter

Ifabusinessletteristoachieveitspurpose,thewritershouldhave（1）agoodcommandofstandardEnglish

（精通標準英語）；（2）knowledgeofbusinesstheoryandpractice

（通曉貿易理論與實務）；（3）knowledgeoftechnicalterms

（通曉專業術語）；（4）knowledgeofpsychology

（掌握人的心理）；（5）skillsinsalesmanship（掌握熟練的推銷技巧）。Thereareseveralacceptablestylesforbusinessletterwriting.Themostpopularformsarefull-block,indented，semiblock,modifiedblockandsemiblockstylewithindentedparagraphs.SectionTwoLayoutofaBusinessLetterFull-blockstyle(Letterhead)(ReferenceNumber)(Date)(InsideAddress)

(Salutation)(SubjectLine)

(Body)

(Closing)Everylineinthefull-blockstylebeginsattheleftmargin,andtheopenstyleofpunctuationhasbeenadoptedIndentedstyle

Themainfeatureofthisstyleisthateachlineofthe“InsideNameandAddress”shouldbeindented2-3spaces,andthefirstlineofeachparagraphshouldbeindented3-8spaces,i.e.(Letterhead)(ReferneceNumber)(Date)(InsideAddress)

(Salutation)

(Body)

(Closing)

Modifiedblockstyle

Inthisstyle,paragraphsarenotindented.The“Date”,“ComplementaryClose”and“signature”arealignedslightlypastthecenterofthepage,e.g.ExampleMEMPHISSTATEUNIVERSITYMEMPHIS.TENNESSEE38452December18,2000Mr.JoeClaiborneOfficeManagerSwallowsInsuranceCompany5983MaplewoodCoveMemphis,TN38117DearMr.ClaiborneThankyouforyourinterestinourproducts.Inreplytoyourrequest,weencloseourillustratedcatalogueandapricelistshowingdetailsofourproducts.Welookforwardtohearingfromyou.

Yourssincerely(Signature)BinfordH.PeeplesSalesManagerShouldyoudecidetoadoptthisstyle,Iwouldmendthatthedateandclosinglinebeginatthecentrepointofthepage.SemiblockstylewithindentedparagraphsThisstyleissimilartothemodifiedblockstylewithoneexception:thefirstsentenceofeachparagraphisindented3-6spaces.（見課本P5）StructurofBusinessLetterThebasicstructureofabusinessletter:外貿業務信函的結構：Letterhead（信頭）Ref.NO.（發文編號）Date（日期）InsideNameandAddress（信內名稱和地址）Salutation（稱呼）SubjectLine（事由標題）BodyoftheLetter（信的正文）ComplimentaryClose（結尾敬語）Signature（簽名）EnclosureNotation（附件）CarbonCopy（抄送）Postscript（附言）SectuionThreeTheheading

Letterhead,asthefirstandmostobviouspartofacompany’sbusinessletter,hastwofunctions.DateandReferenceNumber

1）Date（日期）Everylettershouldbedated—neversendoutaletterwithoutadate.Thepositionofthedatebelowtheletterhead(eitherontherightorontheleft)dependsonthestyleyoudecidetouse.Nowtherearedifferentwaysofwritingthedate:August10,2007—Britishform10thAugust,2007—Americanform2）ReferenceNumber（發文編號）

Thereferencenumberisgenerallyusedasausefulindicationforfiling,soitmustbeeasilyseen.Thereferencenumberoftheletterunderreplyshouldalsobeincluded,ifany,asitservesasaguidelineforfilingbytherecipient.So,ifGeorgeWilliamssentalettertoJohnSmith,typedbytheGradePeters,thereferenceonJohnSmith’sreplywouldlikethis:A.Ourref:515BW/gp(inaningletter)B.Yourref:386JS/lbInsideAddressandSalutation

Theinsideaddress（信內地址）

Thenameandaddressofthereceiveristypedattheleft-handmarginatleasttwolinesbelowthedate.Thesalutation（稱呼）

Abusinesslettershouldalwaysbeginwith“Dear…”.Itshouldbetypedtwolinesbelowtheaddress,andshouldmatchthenameontheenvelopeandtheaddress.AttentionandsubjectlineThiscomestwolinesbelowthesalutation,eitherbeginningattheleftmarginorinthecentre,dependingonthestyleyouareusing.ThebodyoftheletterThebodyofabusinesslettershouldbegintwolinesbelowthesubjectline,ifany,oratleasttwolinesbelowthesalutationifthereisnosubjectline.Itcontainstheopeningsentence（開頭語）,theactualmessageoftheletter，andtheclosingsentence（結束語）.ComplimentaryCloseandSignature

1）ComplimentaryClose（結束敬語）

Themostcommonlyusedsetsofsalutationandcomplimentary2）TheSignature（簽名）SpecialNotationsEnclosureNotation（附件）

CarbonCopy（抄送）

Postscript（附言）AddressingEnvelopesTheaddressontheenvelopemustbecorrect,legible,andplacedintheappropriatelocation.SectionFourBlockstyleIndentedstyleSectionFiveGoodWritingPrinciples（1）Completeness（完整