Business English Letter, Wrinting Principles, Wrinting Technique.

时间:2024.3.19

The Writing Principles and Techniques of

Business English Letters

1. Basic Parts of a Business English Letter

Most business letters have 7 standard parts. They are: letterhead, date, inside address, salutation, body, complimentary close, and signature. We appropriate, any of the following optional parts can be included: attention, subject, enclosure, postscript.

1.1 Letterhead

The letterhead expresses a firm’s personality and is generally printed on the firm’s stationery. It helps to form the impression of the writer’s firm. Styles vary considerably, but they all give similar information, usually containing all or some of the following elements: the company’s name and address, postcode, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, even web address. They are usually positioned in the center.

1.2 Date

Business letters should have the correct date typed under the letterhead. The date should be typed or written in full, not in abbreviated form since the date records when the letter is written and may serve as an important reference. It is usual to show the date in the order of date /month/ year/ (British practice), or month / day / year. (American practice).

Regarding the date line, pat attention to the following points:

A. Year should be typed in full. Avoid abbreviation. For example, 2003 cannot be replaced by 03.

B. Month is preferably spelled out in letters, to avoid confusion. For example, 12/11 can be November 12 or December 11.

C. Day either cardinal number or ordinal numbers can be used. So the recommended forms for the date are as followings: October 25, 2011 or 25 October, 2011.

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1.3 Inside Address

The inside address consists of the name and the complete address of the receiver. We include the address in the letter although it already appears on the envelope because the envelope is usually thrown away. Then the letter itself, which is to be kept on file, can indicate for whom the massage was intended. It is usually placed two spaces below the date line, aligned with the left margin.

If the letter is address to a group, the inside address includes only the address and the group name. If it is to a person, use either a courtesy title or a professional title. Care should be taken to address the recipient as exactly as it appears on the envelope of the letter.

1.4 Salutation

Salutation is the complimentary greeting with which every letter begins. Salutation can be followed by a comma or a colon. Colon is formal in American business letters, comma in British. Be sure to salute to the correct addressee appearing in your inside address or in the attention line.

The customary formal greeting in a business letter is “Dear Sir(s), Dear Madam (s), Dear Ms” or an official title like “President or Doctor”. If the receiver is known to the writer personally, a less formal and warmer greeting is used: “Dear Mr White, Dear Ms John”.

1.5 Body

Body is the most important part of a letter since it contains the actual message. The body of the letter deserves special attention no matter how brief it may be. It is advisable to bear the following principles of “5C’s” in mind when writing this core part. Then careful planning and logical arrangement are needed for the paragraphs. A typical 3-paragraph letter would like the following.

Keep the first sentence short and easy to understand and keep the opening paragraph short, probably no more than two or three lines.

The middle paragraph supports the first paragraph and provides more information. Here, try to bring in your involvement or what service or information you can offer.

The closing paragraph is the summary of the letter; it stresses the action that you want to the reader to take and keep the closing short and friendly.

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1.6 Complimentary Close

The complimentary close is simply a polite way to end a letter. The expression for the complimentary close should match the salutation. It appears in the middle of the page and two lines below the closing sentence for indented layout while it starts at the left- hand margin for fully blocked letters. Only the initial letter in the first word of any complimentary close is capitalized.

1.7 Signature

The signature is the signed name or seal of the writer. It is generally put two lines below the complimentary close. It should be signed by hand and in ink. Under the handwritten signature, the signer’s name and his or her position are usually followed.

2. The Writing Principles of Business English Letters

Business English letters play an important role in the development of goodwill and friendly trade relationship. They should be friendly and courteous, easy to read and easy to understand. In writing a business letter, there are certain principles for you to follow. Called “5C’s”, they are: conciseness, clarity, completeness, courtesy and consideration.

2.1 Conciseness

Conciseness means to write the fewest possible words without sacrificing completeness and courtesy. A concise business English letter saves time and expense for both sender and receiver. Conciseness contributes to emphasis. By eliminating unnecessary words, you help make important ideas stand out. To achieve conciseness, try to observe the following suggestions.

2.1.1 Shorten or Omit Words or Expressions

As few words as possible should be used to give complete and clear meanings. The expression of the long-winded plays no role in the sentence. For example, “at the present time”, we can use “now”to express the same meaning .As is clearly the latter better reflect the principle of conciseness.

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2.1.2 Avoid Unnecessary Repetition

Sometimes repetition is necessary for emphasis. But if the same thing is said several times without reason, the Business English letter becomes boring. For example , “Will you ship us any time during the month of December,or even November if you are rushed,for November would suit us just as well.” In this sentence, what the writer want to express is the reader can ship by the end of November shipment, so we put the sentences into“Please ship us by the end of November”, that will be able to clearly express the writer 's intention, and not have to constantly repeat.

2.2 Clarity

Clarity means your purpose and the words are clear to your readers so that the reader will not misunderstand what you are trying to convey. Clarity is the most important principle of English Business Letter Writing.

A business letter is effective only when it communicates the necessary ideas to its readers with clarity. Be certain about what you wish to say, express it in plain, simple words, and present it in well-constructed sentences and paragraphs, if necessary, in tables or graphs. Avoid ambiguity and expressions that are liable to misunderstand. Accurate, straight-forward, and simple English is preferred in business letters.

2.3 Completeness

Completeness means your message contains all facts that the receiver needs for the reaction you desire, so Business English letters are complete when they contain all the necessary information. The letters were sent before audit expression information integrity is the most basic requirement.

Keeping the following guidelines in mind will help you achieve completeness.

2.3.1 Make All Points Detailed

Evidence must be precisely stated. The significance of the facts in relation to the problem must be shown. The treatment of each section of the article must be complete or the reader may misunderstand that particular sections. The analysis is a basis for the conclusions, and the conclusions are a basis for the recommendations.

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2.3.2 Answer All Questions Asked

If you need to reply to an inquiry containing one or more questions, answer all questions clearly stated and implied. If you have no information on a particular question, you must say so clearly, instead of omitting an answer.

2.4 Courtesy

Courtesy is not merely politeness with mechanical insertions of “please” and “thank you”. Rather, true courtesy needs to use tactful tone and respectful expression to show the honest attitude, and sincere politeness.

Answer letters promptly, for punctuality will please your recipient who hates waiting for days for a reply.

Adopt the right tone in the writing. Before you begin to write, think carefully about the way in which you want to influence your customer, and then express yourself accordingly, being persuasive, firm, or apologetic.

Avoid courtesy blunders in your letters. Discrepancy often occurs in business, but it should be handled and settled with diplomacy and tact without ill with on either side. Never show your anger in a business letter. Never use irritating, offensive and belittling statements. For example,

Poor: We are sorry you have misunderstood us.

Better: We are sorry we did not make ourselves understood clearly.

2.5 Consideration

The interrelationship between the sender and the receiver profoundly affects communicative effectiveness. Consideration means the writer prepares the writing with the reader in mind and tries to put yourself in his or her place.

To indicate you are considerate, you can use the followings.

2.5.1 Focus on “You” Instead of “I” and “We”

Your readers are usually more concerned about themselves than about you. They are more interested in your writing when they see the pronoun “you” rather than “I, we”. Try to give the consideration to the receivers’ wishes, demands, interest and difficulties by adopting their viewpoint. For example.

Poor: I am happy to tell you …

Better: You will be happy to know…

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2.5.2 Use “Positive Sentence” instead of “Negative Sentence”

Usually, negation tends to sound critical of the reader and disappointed on the part of the writer, while positivism sounds encouraging to both parties. It would serve the function of effective communication if we sometimes turn negative messages into positive ones. Compare the following.

Poor: We hope you won’t be dissatisfied with the new range of our electric products.

Better: We are sure you will be satisfied with the new range of our electric products.

3. The Writing Techniques of Business English Letters

Business letters are letters written between one firm and another to convey and exchange information, news, ideas or opinions. But a business letter is effective only if it reflects in the mind of the receiver a true image of the thought conveyed by the writer. We should be skilled in using some writing skills except certain writing principles.

The following guidelines will help us write effectively.

3.1 Simplify the Words

More simple and common words, less lengthy and uncommon words, in order to reduce misunderstandings. And the readers can quickly understand the meaning what you want to express. For example, “never” instead of “under the no circumstances”, “as you requested” instead of “as per your requested”, “expedite” “speed up” instead.

3.2 Adopt the Right Tone

If a business letter is t achieve its purpose, its tone must be right. Before beginning to write think carefully about the way in which you want to influence your reader. Ask yourself, “What do I want this letter to do?” and then express yourself accordingly, being persuasive, apologetic, obliging, firm and so on, depending on the effect you want to produce. As we all know, people would like to hear that something could be done and what they could get.

3.3 Note The Use of Jargon

The frequent use of the jargon and acronyms is a major feature of the English Business Letter Writing. In order to avoid resulting in serious losses, we should be 6

skilled in using the terms. There are many Business English terminologies. For example, insurance policy, premium, letter of credit or L / C, CIF, FOB, container, bill of lading.

3.4 Use Active Voice rather than Passive Voice

Generally, active voice produces a more concise and powerful sentence than passive voice. An active construction immediately identifies the sentence’s subject so readers can quickly understand and visualize who is doing what. Because of this clarity, the active voice is almost the best choice in composing documents that are intended primarily to exchange information, such as foreign trade letters and memos.

In business writing, the passive sentence is usually used to state something unpleasant or something that has been done improperly by the reader to make the writing more objective and courteous. For example,

Poor: Your letter of June 12 was received by us today.

Better: We received your letter of June 12 today.

3.5 Vary Sentence Length

Short sentences lead to clear meaning and easy understanding, but overlong sentences may obscure the intention with too much information and being confusing. However, a series of short sentences may seem boring. It works better to vary.

The average sentence length is about 15-18 words. This is the best length the reader to understand quickly the meaning. Therefore, we had better use long sentences and short sentences interchangeably so that we can give a deep impression on the readers.

3.6 Take Suitable Paragraph Length

The opening paragraph and the concluding paragraph length should not exceed 3-4 lines. If an opening paragraph is too long, it can make the readers feel tired and do not want to take the time to read on. A concluding paragraph should be also concise, clearly and completely expresses what you mean.

In addition, the body paragraph should be no more than eight lines. In business writing, it is suitable for paragraphs to contain 7-8 lines. If a paragraph is too long, it may make the main idea unclear and lead to a loose structure. If a paragraph is too short, your reader may be impressed that your topic is not adequately supported. 7

4. Conclusion

As we know, business English letter plays an important role in international trade. It has its own particular writing principles and styles. The most effective business letter should be easy to read and easy to understand.

For the purpose of an effective business letter, some specific writing principles should be applied. They are: courtesy, consideration, completeness, clarity, conciseness. Through detailed illustrations, the fundamental principles of business letter writing were revealed and explored together with some theoretical bases.

When you communicate with others who come from different countries or regions, you also should pay attention to their social customs. At the same time, you should pay attention to the approach of business communication. You should use the commonly used expressions and specific statements in business letter. Attention should be paid to the tone, attitude, choice of words and signs, which are explained with examples in the thesis.

So we not only need to be familiar with “5Cs” but also demand to learn well about some writing techniques except that we should know well about the layout of business English letters. Only in this way, we can do write an effective and good business English letter.

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Bibliography

[1] 许楠. 商业书信英语. 首都经济贸易大学出版社, 2000:6

[2] 徐克强. 英语写作外贸函电. 南京大学出版社, 2010:10-11

[3] 曲清德,蓝天. 外贸英语函电. 东北财经大学出版社, 1995,2:8

[4] 安然,孙继红.实用商务英语写作. 北京国防工业出版社, 2008:4

[5] 霍莉·罗迪克. 如何写出完美的商务英语信函. 上海世界图书出版公司

2005:199-200

[6] 刘慧玲,郐军. 国际商务函电. 对外经济贸易大学出版社, 2009,2:25

[7] 谢金领. 世纪商务英语翻译教程. 大连理工大学出版社, 2009,3:138

[8] 常玉田. 英语商务信函写作. 对外经济贸易大学出版社, 2006:99-100

[9] 简·沃特森. 商务英语写作指南. 上海世界图书出版公司, 2004:35

[10] 崔长青. 英语写作技巧. 中国书籍出版社, 2010:18-20

[11] 黄文伟,刘美华. 商务英语函电与合同. 上海大学出版社, 2008:33

[12] 刘生, 耿宁,攀肇昌. 经贸英语翻译与写作. 山东教育出版社, 2001:29

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