Somehow it seems rather strange to use the
salutation of a letter , “Dear…” for our business letters as
well as for our friendly letters. In English, however, it’s a
common usage in letter writing.
Dear
Ann, Dear Mr. Brown,
Dear Mrs. Ames
For a business letter where you do not have the
name of a specific person, you can use:
Dear Sir: Dear Sirs: Gentlemen:
Dear Madam:
Generally speaking a business letter should be
concise, including only the necessary information.
Dear Sir:
Kindly send me
information regarding the summer courses given in your school.
I’m particularly interested in literature courses that are
available in July.
Thank you for your kind
attention.
Yours
truly,
The salutations given at the end of a business
letter can be the following,
Yours truly, Sincerely,
Best Regards, Respectfully,
Those for a friendly letter are more informal.
Love, With
affection, As ever,
It would be a good idea to let the students
practice writing letters.
Friendly letters:
…..write your friend telling him about your
vacation plans.
…..write a letter to invite your relatives to a party.
…..write a letter to your brother thanking him for your
birthday gift.
Business letters:
…..write for information regarding a 5-day
tour in Spain.
…..write to confirm your order for two English textbooks.
…..write to answer a job proposal.
Here are some useful expressions to use in
writing a business letter.
I’m writing in reference to…..
I’m interested in information about…..
In response to your letter dated……
Let me know as soon as possible.
Let me hear from you as soon as possible.
You can end a letter with:
Thanking you in advance.
Thank you for your kind attention
Hoping to have a reply within the week.
Thank you and I await your reply.
Letter writing may seem to be going out of style,
but I must say that receiving a letter that I can reread and
enjoy, is much nicer than getting an e-mail that eventually gets
eliminated.
Here are two rather “unusual” letters that I found
in a magazine. A letter written from a son who was at summer
camp.
“Dear Mom,
I knew all along that something awful was going to
happen.
Well, last night it did!
Love,
Jimmy
In Yale’s rare-book and manuscript library is an
Egyptian letter written in Arabic in the 9th century
A.D. The message read in part.
“We are all well and hope you are the
same. Why don’t you write?”
A Nice Thought
“To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere
without moving anything but
your heart.”