ESL Lesson: Writing Business Letters

This blog entry is all about writing business letters. Our previous blog post discussed writing letters in general, but business letters are a bit special. Business letters are letters used by professionals to communicate with colleagues, bosses and clients as well as potential ones. A business letter might be a cover letter, which a job-seeker sends to a potential employer stating his or her case for candidacy for employment. Business letters also include company memos, inquiries to other businesspersons and responses to clients’ or customers’ complaints. Business letters should use formal English rather than informal English. Words should be spelled out, contractions should be avoided, slang should be eliminated, and proper titles and a respectful tone should be used. Write out your name, company, address, city, state/province and mailing code in order at the top left-hand side as shown below. Do this in every mailed letter, but especially in every business letters. For business emails, use a signature that reads like a business card(name, title, contact information).  Here is an example:

Tomas Servo
Universal Exports
1111 Main Street,
Hartford, CT
10101

Dear Mr. Henry Johnson,

It is my distinct pleasure of inviting you to our open house at the Ritz Carlton next Wednesday, April 4th, at 1pm. We were very impressed by the cover letter and resume you sent us last week, and I think you would be very interested in the positions open at Universal Exports. I believe it will be a wonderful opportunity for me to learn more about what you bring to the table and to discuss what employment at our company is like.

Please tell me whether you are able to come by calling me at 555-123-4567.

Sincerely,

Tomas Servo

Have you ever written business letters before? Do you have any questions or comments about this or any other ESL subject? Leave them in the comment section and we will answer them. Stay tuned for more free advice on this and other subjects as well as promotions and news! If you want individual tutoring and help in learning English, contact Kingston University USA today!!


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