CDI 5- Technical Writing 1
MODULE 16: Civilian Letters (Part 1) Page 1 of 4
LESSON PROPER
Civilian Letter
The police, up to now, still subscribe to some military conventional
communication, such as radiographic message. memorandum or indorsement. Police
uses a purely civilian letter when communicating outside the PNP organization such as
the President of the Philippines, Department Secretaries, Provincial Governors, City or
Municipal Mayors, owners and/or manager of private companies, and heads or chiefs of
other government agencies.
Civilian letter, unlike the radiographic message. memorandum, and
indorsement, has a different form. because the former is particular on symmetry or a
well-balanced appearance. Also, a civilian letter has different phraseology and its
paragraphing is not numbered, unless in tabulation.
PARTS OF A CIVILIAN LETTER
1. Heading - A typed or a printed letterhead may be used. It includes the writer's office
and office address. Abbreviations shall not be made for the city, municipality and
province. Usually used in correspondence addressed outside of the police
organization, the printed or typed letterhead includes these pieces of information, i.e.
name of the police unit or office, its address, telephone number and Zone International
Postal (ZIP] Code, if any. Sometimes the unit or office slogan and seal is written.
2. File Reference - The use of identifying file reference is optional depending upon the
instructions issued by the chief or head of office. If ever used, it is placed at the left
margin two spaces below the letterhead, and on line with and/or below the current
date.
3. Dateline – Month, day and year in that order is the dateline. In civilian letter, the month
is never abbreviated. It is spelled out. Also, st as in 1 st, nd as in 2nd, rd as in 3rd or th
as 4th is not used after the day, so with ’03 as in 2003 in writing the year.
4. Inside Address - The addressee’s name should be written fully. It should always be
preceded by courtesy title, except in cases of M.D., Ph.D., and a few others. The first
line shows the addressee's name and designation, if any; the second line, the name
of the agency or company where the addressee belongs; the third line, the address of
the agency or company. If not belonging to the any agency or company, the
addressee's local address will do.
5. Attention Line - To Speed up the handling of the letter, the attention line is used when
the letter is addressed to a company or to a particular department of a company or to
an individual aside from the addressee.
6. Salutation - The salutation greets the reader and the greeting may be formal or
informal. cordial or personal.
7. Subject Line -The subject line is the gist of the message. It helps a very busy person
find out in split seconds what the letter is all about. As it is a part of the message, this
line appears logical above it, and below the salutation.
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MODULE 16: Civilian Letters (Part 1) Page 2 of 4
8. Body - The body is the message itself, in it, one of the problems that may confront a
correspondent is paragraphing. This, however, does not pertain to the appearance of
the message; but rather, to is contents. A correspondent focuses on how to end and
how to begin another paragraph. The general rule for paragraphing is to have each
separate idea r subject occupy a separate paragraph.
9. Complimentary Close - A Complimentary close is usually followed by a comma and
comes immediately after the last line of the message. The first word starts with a
capital letter.
10. Company Signature - In civilian letter, a company signature may be shown
immediately above the writer’s signature, based on the theory that the company, not
the writer is the legal entity. In other words, the company assumes a greater
responsibility than the individual does; otherwise, the company signature is omitted,
especially if including it is not a standard policy of the firm.
It is important to note that "Mr." should never be placed before the writer's signature-
printed or signed named. The female correspondent may or may not enclose in
parenthesis her "Miss" or "Mrs." identity. It is also advantageous to print the writer's
name before he signs, immediately above it. In a pen-writer letter, a second
signature is enclosed in parentheses.
11. Reference Initials - Initials of the writer and his/her typist or secretary appear at the
left of the stationery.
about two spaces below the writer's identification. These initials are aligned with the
left margin of the letter.
12. Postscript (P.S.) If a writer has forgotten something in the message, he adds a P.S.
It is intentional to attract attention. The postscript may be flushed with the letter
margins or may be indented from both margins five spaces.
13. Copy Furnished - When one or two copies are furnished, a carbon copy (cc) notation
is indicated on the original and all copies of the letter.
This notation can substitute the traditional "COPY FURNISHED"
notation
A blind carbon copy (bcc) notation does not appear on the original because the
writer does not want the addressee to know that a certain copy is furnished to
another. This notation just appears on carbon copies.
Forms of Civilian Letters
1. Full-Block Style
` Ful-block format is considered the most formal among the three styles. In block style,
every line is justified to the left margin. The dateline is placed two Six-line spaces below
the last line of the heading or letterhead. The inside address placement varies
depending upon the length of the letter. A common spacing is four-line space below the
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MODULE 16: Civilian Letters (Part 1) Page 3 of 4
dateline. The salutation is placed two lines below the attention line (it the attention line is
provided). The first line of the body is placed two lines below an attention line or two to
four lines below the inside address line. When using full-block, paragraphs are single
spaced, with a double space between paragraphs.
Figure 1— Full - Block Style Wisemen’s
Books Trading, Inc.
2. Semi-Block Style
Semi-Biock Style is frequently caled modified sem-block because it is a slightly less
formal modification of full-block format. This letter style places the dateline in alignment
with or slightly to the right of dead center. Another option of placing the dateline in semi-
block is flush right. Similar to full block, Semi-block places the inside address, sailutation
and any end notations flush with the left margin. The complimentary close and signature
are aligned under the date.
3. Indented Style
` If you are using the indented form, place your address and the date on the top right
and side of the page. Skip four lines and type the inside address. Skip two line and type
the salutation flush left. Skip two lines and indent the first line of each paragraph one-
half inch. Skip lines between paragraphs. Instead of placing the closing signature lines
flush left, type them at the right, even with the address and date above. Skip four lines
between the closing line and your name allowing room for your written signature.
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MODULE 16: Civilian Letters (Part 1) Page 4 of 4
Figure 2— Semi-Block Style Figure 3—Indented Style
Wisemen’s Books Trading, Inc. Wisemen’s Books Trading, Inc.