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Guest Posted 21 years ago
Letter Writing

Arrangement of various items in an English letter

0 As a teacher of English I have taught my students the following way to build an English letter. 02br
00Lately there have been remarks from people that the arrangement below is not correct. 02br
00Please tell me if and where I am wrong and what needs changing 02br
02br
00Every item aligns to the left 02br
00-------- 02br
02br
00Addressee 02br
02br
00Date (London, 12 May 2005) 02br
00(is it OK to put the city here as well?) 02br
02br
00Dear sir, madam 02br
02br
00Body of letter 02br
02br
00Yours faithfully, 02br
02br
00Signature 02br
02br
00Name and address 02br
00--------- 02br
02br
00- As you will notice I have put the name of the sender at the base of the letter instead of at the top, I am wondering whether this is allowed (I remember having read about it somewhere but can't remember where). People have remarked that the address of the sender should definitely be at the top but without the name of the sender 02br
00(Is it OK by the way to write the sender's full name AND address at the top?). 02br
00- Concerning the use of commas after address, salutations or date, how strict are the rules about this? 02br
02br
00Please tell me what is allowed and what isn't as I gather that there are several ways to arrange various items in letters. 02br
00Your help will be greatly appreciated. 02br
02br
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Top answer

0Standard business format is: 02br 02br 01blockquote 00Addresser's address 12br 12br 10Date 12br 12br 10Addressee's 11b 10full name12b 10 and address 12br 12br 10'Dear Sir:' 12br 12br 10BODY 12br 12br 10'Yours faithfully,' / 'Sincerely yours,' 12br 12br 10Signature 12br 12br 10Addresser's name12blockquote 12br 02br 02br 02br 00There is room for variation these days, I suppose, and googling 'business letter format' will draw up a number of sites with reputable examples. For teaching the basics, however, I would suggest sticking strictly to the standard format. 02br 02br 0-

— Mister Micawber

  • 0Standard business format is: 02br 02br 01blockquote 00Addresser's address 12br 12br 10Date 12br 12br 10Addressee's 11b 10full name12b 10 and address 12br 12br 10'Dear Sir:' 12br 12br 10BODY 12br 12br 10'Yours faithfully,' / 'Sincerely yours,' 12br 12br 10Signature 12br 12br 10Addresser's name12blockquote 12br 02br 02br 02br 00There is room for variation these days, I suppose, and googling 'business letter format' will draw up a number of sites with reputable examples.
  • For teaching the basics, however, I would suggest sticking strictly to the standard format.
  • 02br 02br 0-
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1 Answers
0
0Standard business format is: 02br
02br
01blockquote
00Addresser's address 12br
12br
10Date 12br
12br
10Addressee's 11b10full name12b10 and address 12br
12br
10'Dear Sir:' 12br
12br
10BODY 12br
12br
10'Yours faithfully,' / 'Sincerely yours,
0

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