Of all the creative activities that man may indulge in, letter writing is perhaps the only one that even the most non-creative of minds may be required to do. Despite the increasing use of several new modes of communication, letter writing continues to be the most commonly used form written communication. However popular the e-mail may have become in recent years, if one looks at its contents, the email too, is nothing but letter writing- the only distinction being that instead of paper we need an electronic screen to write on.
Parts Of A Letter
Listed below are the several parts or components of a letter.
1. Head address: This is an extremely important part of the letter and is also known as the letter-head or heading. The printed letter-sender's name, complete postal address, email address, telephone number/s, fax number, etc. The logo of the company is also a part of the letter-head. Traditionally, the address is printed at the top center, however, it may appear on the right hand corner as well.
2. Date: Generally, the date is written at the right hand corner of a letter, about two to five spaces below the address. There can be several ways of writing the date:
11-8-2014
August 11, 2014
11th August, 2014
All of those styles are in use, though now writing nd, th, rd, etc, after the date is avoided. It is best to write the date in order of day, month, year (DD-MM-YY, MM-DD-YY)
3. References: The references may be written in one or two lines and is located below the head address at the left corner. This covers information such as file number, letter number, etc. In a reply letter it's essential to give corresponding reference number against 'our reference', usually written as,
Your reference:
Our refernece:
Reference number:
4. Inside address: This contains the name, designation and address, etc., of the recipient of the letter and should be exactly the same as what appears on the envelope. The inside address is usually written at the left-hand corner, above the salutation, and generally two to five spaces below the date line.
5. Attention line: If the letter calls for the attention of a particular individual, the name of the person appears in the attention line. For instance,
'Attention of Mr......'
or
'For the attention of Mr. Jack Brown'
6. Salutation: Salutation is a greeting to the receiver and is placed between the inside address and the body of the letter. This is a courteous opening of the letter and is usually followed by a comma, e.g., Dear Sir, Dear Sir/Madam,
7. Subject line: This appears below the salutation, at the center of the sheet. It underlines the main subject of the letter, or what the letter is being written about. The subject line is very useful as it is through this that the receiver knows at a glance where the focus of the letter lies.
8. Body of the letter: Needless to say, the body of the letter is of utmost importance, as it is for the sake of this that the entire exercise has been undertaken. This is located between the salutation and the complimentary closing. It contains the main text or the substance of the letter and like any piece of good writing, is usually divided into three parts, namely,
a. introductory paragraph
b. central part or message
c. closing paragraph or conclusion
9. Complimentary closing: Just as a letter must open on a polite, courteous note, so must it end. The degree of intimacy between the sender and receiver determines how the writer wishes to close the letter.
10. Signature: The signature line is about five lines below the complimentary closing. Here the name of the letter-writer appears in print and the writer signs by hand just above it.
11. Reference initials: This line gives the initial letters of the typist's or transcriber's name.
12. Enclosures: This indicates if any relevant matter, which may support what has been conveyed in the body of the letter, has been attached along with the letter. Any papers, charts, maps, or any other annexures are to be mentioned under this head. This is located below the signature line.
13. Copy notation: This line appears at the left-hand corner below the enclosures line. It indicates if copies of the letter have been sent to other persons. The names of other addresses appear after CC or PC, which stand for 'Carbon Copy' and 'Photo Copy', respectively.
14. Postscript or PS: If any material is to be included in the letter as an afterthought, it comes under the post-script or what is popularly known as PS. Attention must be paid while writing the letter that no information is inadvertently left out as a post-script may give an impression of hurried, careless writing.
15. Superscription: This is the address that is written on the envelope and is the same as the inside address.
SPECIMEN OF LETTER PARTS
To be continued...........
Parts Of A Letter
Listed below are the several parts or components of a letter.
1. Head address: This is an extremely important part of the letter and is also known as the letter-head or heading. The printed letter-sender's name, complete postal address, email address, telephone number/s, fax number, etc. The logo of the company is also a part of the letter-head. Traditionally, the address is printed at the top center, however, it may appear on the right hand corner as well.
2. Date: Generally, the date is written at the right hand corner of a letter, about two to five spaces below the address. There can be several ways of writing the date:
11-8-2014
August 11, 2014
11th August, 2014
All of those styles are in use, though now writing nd, th, rd, etc, after the date is avoided. It is best to write the date in order of day, month, year (DD-MM-YY, MM-DD-YY)
3. References: The references may be written in one or two lines and is located below the head address at the left corner. This covers information such as file number, letter number, etc. In a reply letter it's essential to give corresponding reference number against 'our reference', usually written as,
Your reference:
Our refernece:
Reference number:
4. Inside address: This contains the name, designation and address, etc., of the recipient of the letter and should be exactly the same as what appears on the envelope. The inside address is usually written at the left-hand corner, above the salutation, and generally two to five spaces below the date line.
5. Attention line: If the letter calls for the attention of a particular individual, the name of the person appears in the attention line. For instance,
'Attention of Mr......'
or
'For the attention of Mr. Jack Brown'
6. Salutation: Salutation is a greeting to the receiver and is placed between the inside address and the body of the letter. This is a courteous opening of the letter and is usually followed by a comma, e.g., Dear Sir, Dear Sir/Madam,
7. Subject line: This appears below the salutation, at the center of the sheet. It underlines the main subject of the letter, or what the letter is being written about. The subject line is very useful as it is through this that the receiver knows at a glance where the focus of the letter lies.
8. Body of the letter: Needless to say, the body of the letter is of utmost importance, as it is for the sake of this that the entire exercise has been undertaken. This is located between the salutation and the complimentary closing. It contains the main text or the substance of the letter and like any piece of good writing, is usually divided into three parts, namely,
a. introductory paragraph
b. central part or message
c. closing paragraph or conclusion
9. Complimentary closing: Just as a letter must open on a polite, courteous note, so must it end. The degree of intimacy between the sender and receiver determines how the writer wishes to close the letter.
10. Signature: The signature line is about five lines below the complimentary closing. Here the name of the letter-writer appears in print and the writer signs by hand just above it.
11. Reference initials: This line gives the initial letters of the typist's or transcriber's name.
12. Enclosures: This indicates if any relevant matter, which may support what has been conveyed in the body of the letter, has been attached along with the letter. Any papers, charts, maps, or any other annexures are to be mentioned under this head. This is located below the signature line.
13. Copy notation: This line appears at the left-hand corner below the enclosures line. It indicates if copies of the letter have been sent to other persons. The names of other addresses appear after CC or PC, which stand for 'Carbon Copy' and 'Photo Copy', respectively.
14. Postscript or PS: If any material is to be included in the letter as an afterthought, it comes under the post-script or what is popularly known as PS. Attention must be paid while writing the letter that no information is inadvertently left out as a post-script may give an impression of hurried, careless writing.
15. Superscription: This is the address that is written on the envelope and is the same as the inside address.
SPECIMEN OF LETTER PARTS
To be continued...........
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