BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE
Chapter 2: Basic Parts of Business Letter
Objectives:
1. Describe the various parts of a business letter
2. Identify punctuation style used in a business letter
3. Familiarize with the basic parts of business letter
A complete and effective business letter contains all the following parts essential parts: heading,
inside address, salutation, body, complimentary closing and signature. All these parts follow their
respective positions in the letter with respect to other parts.
Margin and Spacing
The left margin is 1.5 inches while the right margin is 1 inch. This is to give space for the
fastener or the binding on the left side. The top margin is pegged at 1 inch; however, it can be
adjusted to achieve balance. The bottom margin is 1 inch.
Double spacing is observed between parts of the letter. If the body of the letter is short, it can
be doubled-spaced, too.
Main Parts of a Business Letter
__________________
Heading __________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________ Inside Address
__________________
_____________: Salutation
______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________________.
Body
_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
____________________________________.
Complimentary Closing _____________________
_____________________
1 Signature _____________________
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE
Heading –tells the source of the letter and the date it was written. It also furnishes the addressee of
the contact information of the letter-sender especially if the letter merits a response
Two Kinds of Heading
1. Coventional Heading –used when the letter sender is not connected with any agency or their
letters have a nothing to do with their agency. This heading contains the residential address of
the writer. Usually three lines located at the right side of the paper.
2. Modern Heading-composed of letterhead and the dateline and is used when the letters have
bearing with agencies concerned, usually contains the name and postal address of the business,
E-mail address, Web-site address, Telephone number, Fax number, Trade Mark or logo of the
business.
Dateline – normally written on the right hand side corner after the heading as the day, month, and
years.
Two ways written American style June 8, 2020
British style 08 June 2020
Inside address – contains the name and full address of the person or the firm to whom the letter is to
be sent. This is written on left hand side of the sheet of the paper. Letter should be addressed to the
responsible head e.g. , the Secretary, the Principal, the Chairman, the Manager etc. Example:
Dr. Stephen F. Caldez - Title and Name
Dean, School of Criminilogy - Position
College of Arts and Sciences
Tuguegarao Colleges Foundation - Agency
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan - Address of the Agency
Ms. Margareth Edwards The Manager
Bernalli Ltd. Purchase and Sales Dept.
48 Stanwood Road Feather Mills
London SE27 1HF Mumbai - 400011
Traditional Courtesy Titles
Mr. – used to refer to either married, widower or unmarried man with no other titles such as Dr.
or Professor.
Mr. Resty Lagajet Mr. Eduardo Balubal
Mrs. – used to refer to widows and married ladies.
Mrs. Rose Sacayanan Mrs. Chona P. Agustin
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BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE
Miss – used to designate unmarried ladies and popular personalities
Miss Eden Corsino Miss Sharon Cuneta
Ms. – used when the sender does not know or is not sure of the marital status as well as the
professional status of the female addressee.
Ms. Irish Bangayan Ms. Lilibeth Salvador
Professor – used to refer to instructors who have already reached the rank of professor.
Prof. Estanislao T. Caldez Professor Caldez
Honorable – used to refer to politicians who hold or who held key positions in the government.
Hon. Randy Ting The Honorable Randy Ting
Dr. – used to refer to persons who finished doctorate degrees in any branch of studies.
Dr. Benedicta H. Cumagun Mrs. Benedicta H. Cumagun, Ph.D.
Reverend – used to refer to a minister, a priest or rector.
Rev. Diosdado Talamayan The Reverend Diosdado Talamayan
Addressing Married Couples
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Gamos
Mr. Jaime and Mrs. Haidee Centeno
Dr. and Mrs. Joel Egipto
Dr. Benedicta and Mr. Bernardino Cunagun
Drs. Benedicta and Bernardino Cumagun
Other Points to Remember
When attention line is used, the inside address bears no specific name of person
Southern College
Iligan City
Attn.: Mr. Adarito Corsino
College Registrar
If the addressee holds concurrent positions in an organizations, the title of higher nature should
be taken. For instance, Dr. Liduvina C. Reyes is the Vice President of Academic Affairs and at
the same time Dean of the Graduate School of the same college, the inside address should be:
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BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE
Dr. Liduvina C. Reyes, CESO III
Vice President for Academic Affairs
College of the East
Bulanao, Tabuk
If there are more than one addressee, the names are written in alphabetical order, according to
position or rank, or according to seniority. Following the first one, it is similar to:
Mrs. Chona Agustin
Miss Grace Ayonayon
Mr. Estanislao T. Caldez
Instructors
College of Liberal Arts and
Public Administration
Cyril Colleges of the North
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
In cases when the address of the addressee is unknown and the writer wishes to request a third
party to receive the letter, then the abbreviations of “care of” (c/o) can be used on the second
line. This is appropriate for outside address only.
Mrs. Haidee P. Centeno
c/o Miss Grace Ayonayon
116 Rizal Street
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
Salutation – this is placed below the inside address. Usually followed by a comma for personal
business letter and or colon for formal business letter. Example :
Sir/Madam: For official and formal correspondence
Dear Sir/Madam: For addressing an individual
Dear Sirs/Dear Madam: For addressing a firm or company
Dear Ms. Margareth Edwards, For addressing an individual of a personal relations
Body of the letter – this comes after the salutation. The main part of the letter and contains the actual
message of the sender. It is divided into three parts.
(a.) Opening part-it is the introductory part of the letter. In this part attention of the reader should
be drawn to previous correspondence, if any.
For example – with reference to your letter no. 326 dated 12th March 2003, I would like to draw
your attention to the new brand of television.
(b.) Main part – this part usually contains the subject matter of the letter. It should be precise and
written in clear words.
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BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE
(c.) Concluding part – it contains the sender’s intentions, hopes, or expectation concerning the next
step to be taken. Further, the sender should always look forward to getting a positive response. At
the end terms like Thanking you, With regards, With war regards may be used.
Complimentary close – it is merely a polite way of ending a letter. It must be in accordance with the
salutation. For example:
Sir Yours truly
My dear Sir
Gentlemen
Madam
My dear Madam
Ladies
Dear sir Yours very truly
Dear Mr. Anghad Very truly yours
My dear Mr. Balubal
Gentlemen
Dear Madam
Dear Mr. Abbang
My dear Mrs. Ceneteno
Ladies
Dear Mr. Orel Sincerely yours
Dear Mark Yours sincerely
Dear Ms. Ayonayon Very sincerely yours
Cordially yours
Faithfully yours
Respectfully yours and Yours respectfully are used only to address politicians occupying key
positions in the government and when letters are highly formal.
Signature – it is written in ink immediately below the complimentary close. As far as possible, the
signature should be legible. The name of the writer should be typed immediately below the signature.
The designation is given below the typed name. Example:
Yours faithfully Yours sincerely
(Signature) (signature)
SUNIL KUMAR Ms. Magie D. Ladimo
Partner Faculty
Punctuation style used in Business Letter
• Open punctuation style – has no punctuation after salutation or complimentary closing, no
commas in addressee’s address, and no periods after abbreviations
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BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE
The President of the United States
Washington DC
Dear Mr Bush
Sincerely yours
• Closed punctuation style – has punctuation after the salutation and closing, in the address and
abbreviations
The President of the United States,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Bush:
Sincerely yours,
• Mixed or standard punctuation style – consists a colon after the salutation and comma after
complimentary close
Dear Mr. Bush:
Sincerely yours,
For further readings please refer to the following links: Basic Parts / punctuation styles of
Business Letter
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References:
Egipto, Joel Joseph L., Ph.D. 2011. Writing Business Letters. Manila :Rex Book
store
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