LETTER WRITING

By Abhijeet Dawle

Elements of Letter

LETTER HEAD

Example

Mukesh Patel Technology Park, Babulde, Near Tapi Bridge, Mumbai-Agra Road

(NH3),

Shirpur, Dist. Dhule, Maharashtra – 425 405 India. www.nmims.edu

Ph. + 912563 286545

Sender’s Address

Example

DATELINE

WRONG

METHOD

CORRECT

METHOD

2nd August,2015

2 Aug. 15

02/08/15

2 August 2015.

August 2, 2015.

INSIDE ADDRESS

Example

SUBJECT LINE

The purpose of subject line is to let the reader

know immediately what the message is about.

Like reference and attention line it saves time.

The subject can be written before as well as

after salutation.

Subject- Supply of raw material

7

ATTENTION LINE

To obtain prompt response, sometime a letterwhich is addresses to an organization andcompany is marked to the attention of aparticular officer by name or designation.

Attention: Mr. Narendra Sonawane

First Year Course Co-ordinator

Or

Kind Attention: Mr. Narendra Sonawane

First Year Course Co-ordinator

8

REFERENCE

Example

Reference: Our order no.151/225 for

tables & Chairs dated 20

March,2010.

SALUTATION

SALUTATION

COMPLEMENTARY CLOSE

Sir, Dear Sir, Yours

faithfully,

Dear Mr. Ram,

Dear Mrs. Smith, Yours

sincerely,

Dear Customer,

BODY OF LETTER

Introduction

The letter should open with expression of

pleasure, acknowledgment, or with reference to

the ‘action' you have taken in response of the

reader's previous letter, if any

Many thanks for your order of 25th July……..

We thank for your enquiry…………...

With reference to your letter no…….

11

BODY OF LETTER

Main Paragraph

This paragraph contains the subject matter of

the letter. It should be brief and to the point,

but care should be taken to see no relevant

details are omitted from it.

12

BODY OF LETTER

Closing Paragraph

The closing paragraph should be brief. It should be like natural and logical outcome of the main paragraph, motivating the reader to act. It may take the polite wish, special thanks.

We look forward to our next meeting.

We hope to hear from you soon.

13

COMPLEMENTARY CLOSE

Example

Yours faithfully

Sign

Mr. Vivekanand Bagal

Assistant Professor in Physics

Department of Applied Sciences &

Humanities

ENCLOSURE:

Carbon Copy or Courtesy Copy

Notation

• If copy of the letter is to be sent to others for their information, this is shown at the bottom left side of the letter with name(s) of the person to whom the copy is sent.

CC :

1. The Director

2. The Associate Dean

3. The Head of Department

Identification Mark or Reference

Initial

It is now customary to put the initial of the of the person dictating the letter and the person typing it towards the end of the letter near the left hand margin.

For Example

MD:GP

MD : Dr. Manojkumar Deshpande

GP: Mr. Gajanan Patil

Post Script

If we forget to mention some necessary

information in a letter, than we can add one or

two lines through “post script”.

PS : New rates would be implemented from 21

March 2015

Example M.R.ENGINNERING WORKS

46-B Mathura Road

Faridabad , Haryana

Date: 5 January 2015.

Ref: NTPC/PUR/2010/95

The General Manager

National Thermal Power Corporation

Badarpur, Delhi

Kind Attention: Shri S.C. Sharma, Asst Works Manager

Subject : Your order No.1245 dated 12 May 2010

Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for your letter No. NTPC/PUR/2010/95 dated 12 May 2010. We are glad that you have sent an order for themachine tools.

The work on your order would have started by now, but I regret to say that two of our drawing accompanying the order are notquite clear. These drawings are enclosed.

Kindly Send the fair copies of the drawing through a courier so that we may start the work without any delay.

Yours faithfully

( Mahesh Malhotra)

Proprietor

Enc l: Two Sheets of Drawings

Cc : Account Department

PS : 12 %Vat tax would be included on each order.

RK/MM

Letter Formats

Complete Block Format

Main Characteristics

Left Aligned

No Punctuation mark except body

Leave one line between two paragraphs

123 Pine Street

Oak Ridge, NJ 07438

30 March 2015

ABC Company

345 Spruce Street

Whatever, IL 01233

Dear Sir

Insert the part of the body of the letter here. The

body of the letter should tell something about what

you hope to convey.

It should also have a closing paragraph in it. There

should be at least two sentences per paragraph.

Yours faithfully

Mrs. DeGrawMrs. DeGraw, Chairperson

Enclosure

MD/GP

Modified Block Format

Main Characteristics

date, complimentary closing and the signature line are slightly to the right of the center of the paper.

Body of the letter is like Complete Block Format (Left aligned)

Colon after salutation

for example -

Dear Sir:

123 Pine Street

Oak Ridge, NJ 07438

March 30, 2015.

ABC Company

345 Spruce Street

Whatever, IL 01233

Dear Sir:

Insert the part of the body of the letter here. The

body of the letter should tell something about what

you hope to convey.

It should also have a closing paragraph in it. There

should be at least two sentences per paragraph.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs. DeGrawMrs. DeGraw, Chairperson

Enclosure

MD/GP

Semi Block Format: Tips

Punctuation mark is compulsory for dateline,

address, salutation and complementary close

Each paragraph starts with space in body of the

letter.

Do not leave blank line between two paragraphs

in body of the letter

Date line and complementary close is on

extreme right side

123 Pine Street,

Oak Ridge, NJ

07438,

March 30, 2015.

ABC Company,

345 Spruce Street,

Whatever, IL 01233.

Dear Sir,

Insert the part of the body of the letter here. The

body of the letter should tell something about what

you hope to convey.

It should also have a closing paragraph in it.

There should be at least two sentences per

paragraph.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs. DeGrawMrs. DeGraw,

Chairperson

Enclosure

MD/GP

COMPLETENESS

For ex.

I sent you letter hoping that I would receive a reply

by the end of this week. I still have not.

( Which Letter? What was it about? When was it

dated)

CONSIDERATION

(You Attitude)

For ex.

We are delighted to inform that we have

extended shopping time by two hours. ( Why

use ‘we’ so many times? Is it more important

than ‘you’?)

Ans: So that you will be able to shop freely, we

have extended the shopping time by two

hours.

CONCISENESS

For ex.

I want to take this opportunity to tell youthat we are grateful to you for all the helpthat you extended when we were in HongKong.( Why ornament your thought? Say itclearly and simply)

Ans: Thank you for your hospitality in HongKong for being so kind when we were inHong Kong.

CLARITY

Use simple Language

Use Familiar Words, Precise Words

Avoid ambiguous words

CONCRETNESS

Use of figures, facts, names and examples add a special

touch to expressions.

For ex.

I will send the goods to the upper floor by noon. (But

how?)

COURTESY

Be Sincere

Avoid Anger

Use Positive words

Never preach

For ex.

Please sign here. (Make it more polite)

CORRECTNESS

Correct use of grammar

Use Appropriate words

Adopt right level of communication to suit

the receivers level