In this short tutorial you will learn about the separate parts of a firm letter and for what they are used. You are already customary with most of the parts, but may not know their names or all their functions.
Parts of a Letter
All Pc Parts
Parker Morgan Finnigan
Lawyers
Po Box 2345
Sydney Nsw 2000
[The part above is called the sender's address block]
29 October 2010
[This is, of procedure the date of the letter and it should be in long format]
Ms Janette Jameison
Po Box 34687
North Sydney Nsw 2005
[This is the Receiver's address block]
Dear Ms Jameison
[Complimentary address or opening]
Contract With Acme Finance Corporation - Our Ppb:234/239/10
[Subject line - normally block letters and bold]
I refer to our former correspondence requesting a copy of the compact between you and Acme Finance Corporation.
[The first sentence is called the chance sentence which we'll discuss in depth in a later tutorial]
If you do not furnish us with a copy of the primary contract, I'm afraid we will not be able to act on your behalf. We need the compact to accurately compare the claims you have made and to ask legal staff from Acme Finance Corporation.
Please send us a copy of the compact at the earliest so we can get this matter under way.
Yours sincerely [Complimentary close]
Parker Johannson
Principal Legal Consultant
Parker Morgan Finnigan
[Subscription block]
Supplementary Annotations
At the bottom of your letters you may have some or all of the following annotations:
Encl or Encl(3) [This advises that something is enclosed with the letter]
Att or (Att (3) [This advises that something is attached to the letter]
Both of these annotations are intended to recommend mail room clerks that an enclosure or attachment was required to be inserted/attached before the letter was sent. Also, it advises the someone receiving it at the other end that something is supposed to be enclosed or attached. If it isn't, then the recipient can call the sender and recommend that the enclosure/attachment was missing from the envelope.
rh [If someone else types the letter for signature, his/her initials may appear underneath]
Cc [This stands for 'carbon copy', but as nobody uses carbon copy paper anymore, should be changed to Pc for photocopy]
Bcc [Blind Carbon Copy - never shown on the original, only on the file copy indicates to whom copies have been sent without the knowledge of the primary addressee. Should now maybe be changed to Bpc]
Handling File Referencing
File referencing can whether quote the sender's reference or the recipient's reference and should indicate clearly which it is. Some habitancy use a isolate line for file references, often at the very first line of the letter above the address block. I prefer to place it with the subject line, but that's purely a
personal choice.
By now you should be ofay with the parts of a letter and, if you read Tutorial One, how to format them. Tutorial Three advises how to write a good potential letter and has tips for chance and ending sentences.
Copyright 2005 Robin Henry
Writing company Letters - Tutorial 2: Parts of a company Letter