Business Correspondence I

SALUTATIONS

SURNAME KNOWN

If you know the name of the person you are writing to, write it as the first line of the address. Include either the person's initials or his or her first given name, e.g.Mr. J.E. Smith or Mr John Smith, not Mr Smith.

CouRte sy title s used in addresses are as follows:

—Mr (pronounced /'miste/) is the usual courtesy title for a man. The unabbreviated form Mister should not be used.

—Mrs (pronounced /'misiz/, no unabbreviated form) is used for a married woman.

—Miss (pronounced /' mis/, not an abbreviation) is used for an unmarried woman.

—Ms (pronounced /miz/ or /mas/, no unabbreviated form) is used for both married and unmarried women. It is advisable to use this form of address when you are unsure whether the woman you are writing to is married or not, or do not know which title she prefers.

—Messrs (pronounced /'mesez/, abbreviation for French 'Messieurs', which is never used) is used occasionally for two or more men, e.g. Messrs P. Jones and B.L. Parker, but more commonly forms part of the name of a company, e.g.Messrs Collier, Clark & Co. It is rather old-fashioned.

Other courtesy titles include academic or medical titles, e.g. Doctor (Dr), Professor (Prof.); military titles, e.g. Captain (Capt), Major (Maj.), Colonel (Col), General (Gen.); and aristocratic titles, e.g. Sir, Dame, Lord, Lady. Sir means that the addressee is a knight, and is always followed by a first name, e.g. Sir John Brown, never Sir J Brown or Sir Brown. It should not be confused with the salutation Dear Sir.

COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE

If the letter begins Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, or Dear Sir or Madam, the COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE should be Yours faithfully.

If the letter begins with a personal name, e.g. Dear Mr James, Dear Mrs Robinson, or Dear Ms Jasmin, it should be Yours sincerely.

A letter to someone you know well may close with the more informal Best wishes. Note that Americans tend to close even formal letters with Yours truly or Truly yours, which is unusual in the UK in commercial correspondence.

Avoid closing with old-fashioned phrases, e.g. We remain yours faithfully, Respectfully yours.

A comma after the complimentary close is optional, i.e. Yours faithfully or Yours faithfully.

The complimentary close is usually placed on the left, aligned under the rest of the letter.

TITLE	STATUS	COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE
Mr	married or umarried male	Yours sincerely
Mrs	married female	Yours sincerely
Miss	unmarried female	Yours sincerely
Ms	married or unmarried female	Yours sincerely
Sir	male -name not known	Yours faithfully
Madam	female -name not known	Yours faithfully
Sir/Madam	when unsure whether you are addressing male or female	Yours faithfully
medical/academic/military e.g. Dr/Professor/General	these titles do not change whether addressing a male or female	Yours sincerely

Source: 'Commercial Correspondence' A. Ashley

List of common abbreviations used in business correspondence. Download

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