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Quelques règles de correspondance commerciale anglaise
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Business communications are becoming increasingly informal
as electronic media and the Internet permeate every level
of business contacts. It is no longer unusual to receive
a business message from someone you have never met addressing
you by your first name. Nonetheless, first contacts in
the business world are still usually by letter, which
is a far more formal medium. It is therefore useful to
know the basic rules for business letter writing.
The tone of the letter depends
on how you address your correspondent.
While it is better to err on the side
of formality if you have never had any dealings with the
person in question, French speakers should be careful
to avoid starting a letter with simply Sir or Madam unless they wish to be extremely
cold or to formulate a complaint of some kind. The usual
form of address is either Dear
Sir, Dear
Mr Smith or Dear Jim – never:
Dear Mr Jim Smith.
Unlike in French, the addressee's job
title is not mentioned in either the opening of the letter
or its closing remarks. Although you can address the Chairman
of a company as Dear Chairman, no other job title can
be used in this way. It is therefore important to include
the addressee's job title under his/her name in the company's
address.
Starting the letter:
Dear Sirs,
|
If you are addressing the
company rather than a person within the
company,
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Dear Sir or Madam,
|
If you do not know the name
of the person who will receive the letter.
|
Dear Sir, Dear Madam,
|
If you know the name of
the person but wish to remain extremely
formal
|
Dear Mr, Mrs, Ms, or Miss
Smith
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If
you know the name of the person or have
a formal relationship with him/her. Use
Ms if you are writing to a woman and do
not know her marital status. Although Ms is used increasingly when writing to
a woman whether or not you know her marital
status, not all women like to be addressed
as Ms. |
Dear Jim,
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If the person is a close
business contact, with whom you are already
on first name terms, or friend.
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Sir, Madam,
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Used only for legal communications,
formal complaints, letters to the editor,
to express anger, etc.
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Reference:
With reference to
|
your advertisement,
your letter of 20th June,
your phone call,
your enquiry,
etc.
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Thank you for your
|
letter of 5th May,
enquiry,
proposal,
etc.
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Reason for writing:
I am writing to
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enquire about,
confirm,
apologise for,
etc.
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Making a request:
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I would be grateful if you
could......
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Giving bad news, formulating
a refusal:
|
Unfortunately,
I'm afraid that,
I regret
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Enclosing documents:
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I enclose ...,
Please find enclosed
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Closing remarks:
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Thanking you in advance,
Thank you for your help,
Please contact us again
if - we can help in any way,
- you have any questions,
- you require additional
information,
- etc.
|
Reference to future contacts:
I look forward to
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hearing from you soon,
meeting you next Tuesday,
etc.
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Ending the letter:
For letters beginning Dear
Sir, Dear Sir or Madam
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Yours faithfully,
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For letters beginning Dear
Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms.
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Your sincerely,
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For letters beginning Dear
Jim,
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Best wishes,
Kind regards,
Warmest regards
|
If the letter is written on headed
notepaper, the lay out should be as given in the example
below:
Date
Our ref: sb/132/SD
Your ref: js/vo
Mr. Jim Smith,
Managing Director,
Smith & Sons,
12 Temple Lane,
London WC5 4SN.
Dear Mr Smith,
Text
Yours sincerely,
Sam Jones
Sales Director
In the case of a personal business letter, the sender's
address should figure above the date.
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