Letter Writing
Parts of Official/Business Letter:
1) Sender’s
Address:
a) Sender’s address is written on the right side and at
top of the letter.
b) There are two types of sender’s address:
i) Address with punctuation marks
e.g.
M. K. Patil,
Plot
No. 50, Om Nagar,
Bhadgaon
Road,
Chalisgaon- 424101.
ii) Address without punctuation marks
e.g.
M. K. Patil
Plot No. 50 Om Nagar
Bhadgaon Road
Chalisgaon-
424101
2) Date: Date comes after sender’s address exactly below it. There are three
methods of writing date –
i) English Method – 2nd Oct. 2015
ii) American Method – Oct. 2, 2015.
iii)
Indian Method – 2/10/2015
3) Receiver’s
Address: The place of receiver’s address is at
the left hand margin of the page. In it the designation of the receiver is
mentioned. E. g. The Principal, The Manager, The Headmistress, etc. After that,
the official address of the receiver is given. It is written like sender’s
address.
4) Subject: Subject is in one sentence in the middle part of the page. It comes
after the receiver’s address. It is optional element in the letter.
5) Reference: Subject is followed by reference. It is written exactly below the
subject in one sentence. It refers to the source of the subject or the source
on the basis of which the letter is being written. It is optional element in
the letter.
6) Salutation: The place of salutation is at the left hand margin of the page below the
reference or receiver’s address. It is a way of greeting. A comma is used after
salutation. In salutation of official letter both the words ‘Dear’ and
‘Respected’ are preferred to show affinity and respect about the receiver. e.g
‘Dear Sir/Madam’ or ‘Respected Sir/Madam’.
7) Beginning
Paragraph: Beginning paragraph is short. Here, the
purpose of letter is briefly written.
8) Main
Body: In the main body of letter, the
intention of writing a letter is elaborately written.
9) Ending
Paragraph: Ending paragraph is short and is about
the writer’s expectations/hope/apology. Generally ending paragraph of official
letter is followed by the phrase- ‘Thank you’.
10) Complimentary
Close: Complimentary close comes at the right
side of the bottom of the letter. The words such as Yours faithfully, Yours
sincerely, etc are used in it.
11) Signature: The sender has to put his signature below the complimentary close.