Letter Formation

 

1 The Heading

The letterhead bearing the heading creates the first impression of the writer's firm. The heading contains the name and address of the firm. The name is usually printed in the middle of the paper and the address in the right hand comer. The telephone number and telegraphic ad­ dress and e-mail address may be printed on the left hand side.

Sample Heading

MAHALAKSHMI TRADERS

Publishers and Distributors

Telephone : 8489385

Cable : LAKSHMI

44, Mattummal

Chungam7348398

The address is sometimes given below the name of the firm. The telephone number and telegraphic address and e-mail address may be printed on the left hand side. The emblem of the firm is used in the heading, but the size is kept small enough. Most firms prefer a simple design in a single colour.

     LAKSHMI NARAYAN SONS

(Publishers and Distributors)

33, Rema Nagar Ottapalam 68934

Telephone : 726349839

Cable : LAKSHMANA

If a company is registered with limited liability, 'Limited' must be written after its name. It's registered ad dress is also indicated in the letter head. Now-a-days many firms seek the help of computer graphic designers to de­ sign attractive design.

 

2. Date

The date appears two spaces below the last line of the letterhead. Some letter heads contain a printed line, indicating where the date should be typed , in others the typist chooses the right place for it. In all formal letters the name of the month is spelled out in full, the year is also written in full as 2006. The date can be written in either of the following ways in the upper light hand corner as:

2 June, 2006

       or

June 2, 2006

While writing the date, one should note that the month and year are written in full and no suffix such as 'nd' or 'the' is added to the day.

 

3. Reference

It is generally to provide two lines to indicate references in the letterhead, especially for a reply letter.

AMBIKA OIL MILLS

Sastha College Road

Cherpulassery - 983748

Your Reference:

Our Reference:

Some firms prefer to indicate the reference number of the correspondent in the body of letters as follows.

Thank you for your letter No. KP/41/R. 114 of June  5,  2006

4. Inside Address

The inside address, that is, the address of the person to whom we are writing is usually placed two spaces below the date and two spaces above the attention line. If there is no attention line, the inside address is placed two spaces above the salutation in the left margin. Special care should be taken to spell the addressee's   name correctly.

The word ' Messrs' should be used in the case of personal names for firms other than limited companies and the name itself does not include a courtesy title or the word 'The'.

In the case of a company it is usual to write to the concerned officer of the company. If the writer do not know which officer should be addressed, then it is addressed to the secretary of the company.

The Human Resource Manager

Instrumentation  Limited

Palakkade- 670320

The General Manager

Lukkadawala  Limited

Nemmara - 620086.

The Secretary

Kumban  Beverages

Chittor - 848548.

The Senior Accounts Officer

Maiyil Village  ·

Muthalamata - 398483.

If the letter is addressed to an officer, write 'Sri' (short form of Sriman) before his name. If such an officer is an unmarried woman write Kum (short form of Kumari). For married woman 'Snit' (short form of Sreemati) is used.

Sri.K. Hareeshan Kum . Sasikala Smt. Molikkutty

If the addressee has a special title. such title may be placed first and then Sri, Kum, or Smt. may be placed appropriately within the bracket.

Fg:

Dr. R.K. Aravindakshan

Dr. (Kum) Meena Nair

Dr. (Smt) Priya Das Professor G.K. Menon

In practice, the conventional British practice is followed before the name as under.         ·

An officer - Mr

Married Woman - Mrs

Unmarried woman - Miss

Now-a·-days the latest practice is to write 'Ms' before a woman's name, irrespective of her marital status.

 

5 Attention line       

An attention line is provided two spaces below the inside address and two spaces above the salutation. This is for making prompt attention. It is usual to underline this line.

Sample.

Attention :The Purchase Manager

6.Salutation

In a letter, the salutation is placed on the left hand mar­ gin two spaces below the attention line. If there is no such line it is placed below the address.

When  the letter is addressed to a single person the proper form of salutation is

Dear Sir, or Sir,

A firm consisting of two or more names are addressed Dear Sirs

A lady is addressed

Madam               

The Plural is

Mesdames

It is to be noted that the salutation is governed by the relationship existing between those who are corresponding. The following are the usual type of salutations.

Dear Sir

Dear Madam,

General business correspondence

	Sir Madam Gentlemen	Formal letters.

Dear Sri Jijo

Sri Midhun

Correspondents  are known to each other.

My dear Satheesh  Dear Ramesh

Correspondents are well known   to each other

In sales and circular letters a different usage is followed as under

Dear  Customer Dear Reader

 

7 Subject

In between the salutation and opening paragraph of the body of the letter the subject matter has to be written in short in the following way.

Subject: Supply of Window Frames.

Subject: Payment of Bill No. K/ 384 of 15 January 2009

8 Body

It is through the body of the letter that the message is communicated to the reader. Hence utmost care has to be taken for structuring the body. The first part or opening of the letter should draw the attention -of the reader. The second part or middle of the letter should contain the main idea of subject. The third or the closing part of the letter should aim at bringing round the main points of the letter, express the action desired and end with a courteous expression for a favorable action.

9.   Complimentary Close

The complimentary close is a polite way of ending a letter. It is placed two spaces below the last line of the body of the letter. Its form varies according to the nature of opening salutations.

Opening Salutation	Complimentary Close
Sir,	Yours  faithfully, Yours  obediently, Yours  respectfully,
Dear Sirs, Dear Sir, Dear Madam,	Yours faithfully,
Dear Sri Nair, Dear Smt. Sasikala, My dear Smt. Das, My dear Kum. Lalu, My dear Sr.Soly	Yours  sincerely,
Dear Customer Dear Reader Dear Subscriber	Yours truly, Yours  sincerely,

The complimentary close 'obediently' is used when, for example, a student writes to his teacher. Respectfully is used by an individual to a high dignitary, but it is not in practice   in business letters.

 

10 Signature

The Signature comes below the complimentary close. It is the signed name of the writer. Usually the name is typed below the signature. If a person signs on behalf of a firm,

the name of the firm will come first and the   signature will follow immediately below.

Sometimes persons in position of responsibility (e.g; manager or secretary) are entrusted with legal authority to write; and sign on his own responsibility . The authorised persons are then said to sign 'per pro' which stands for the

Latin term 'Per procurationem'  which means as agent for.

It should be noted that there is a good deal of differ ence between 'per pro' and 'for' 'Per pro' means special authorisation by power of attorney. 'For' does not convey any authorisation at all.

Yours  faithfully, M.P. Hajee Proprietor	Per pro. Usman Sait & Co. K.K. Moidu
Yours faithfully, C.B.N Kurup Managing Director	Yours faithfully, Per pro GOPURAM INDIA LIMITED James Managing Director.

11 Post Script

The term 'post script' is derived from the Latin word 'postscriptum' meaning written afterwards, This is an addition to the contents of a later conveying an after thought. It is written at the bottom of the letter and is preceded by the abbreviation P.S.A post script is written below the signature under the title 'Ps' near the left hand margin. The postscript should be signed or at least initialed by the writer. The signature is necessary to indicate that the post script is written by the writer himself, and not by anyone else.

However, it is advisable to avoid postscript as far as

 

possible since it gives an impression of neglect or lack of mind.

 

12 ldentification Marks

Identification marks are put in the left margin to identify the typist of the letter, one or two spaces below the signature. Usually the initials of the officer who dictated the let ter are put first. For example,   if the letter is dictated by

K.P.R Mani and typed by Kum. Rosna Beegum, the marks KPRM/RB will appear.

 

13 Enclosure

Sometimes it becomes necessary to attach some other document such as cheque, bill, etc.. to the main letter. This is known as enclosure. It must be indicated against the enclosure line which is typed two spaces below the identi fication marks. Generally the abbreviated form Encl. is typed against which the number of enclosures is indicated. If, however, the document attached are important they are specified.

Ends:   1. Cheque No. T 8631 of 7 January, 2006

2.  An order form