Business letter composed of different parts such as heading, inside address, salutation, body, complimentary close, signature, and reference initial.
Heading
The heading contains the writer’s address and the date of the letter. On the printed letterhead only the date appears. With plain letter, the writer’s complete mailing address and the date appear.
Inside Address
The inside address includes the name, and title of addressee, company name, street address, the city and country
Example:
Dr. Jose Paguio
President, Bataan Manufacturing Company
125 Rizal St.
Pilar, Bataan
Salutation
The salutation directly addresses the recipient of the letter and the colon follows.
Example:
Address – Mr Ogie Diaz
Salutation – Dear Mr. Diaz:
Address – M.E. Enterprise
Salutation – Ladies and Gentlemen:
Body
The body, which contains the letter’s message, starts with a double space below the greeting, single-space with double spacing between paragraphs.
Complimentary Close
Most business letters use one of three key words in the complimentary close – sincerely, cordially, or truly. Only the first letter in the first word of the complimentary close is capitalized.
Example:
Sincerely
Sincerely yours
Very truly yours
Cordially yours
Signature
The signature area may include three or four kinds of identification – the writer’s signature, his typewritten name, his business title and the name of the company. The writer places the typewritten name four lines after the complimentary close and places the handwritten signature in between,
Reference Initials
The writer places his initials all in capital letters as the left margin and the initials of the typist after the colon.
Optional Parts of the Letter
When appropriate, any of these optional parts may be included: 1) attention line 2) subject line 3) enclosure 4) copy notation 5) post script
