Order of inside addresses
UNIT 1
Structure and presentation
The letter shown on page 10 is from a private individual to a company in the UK. It shows some of the features of a simple business letter.
Sender's address
In correspondence that does not have a printed letterhead, the sender's address is written on the top right-hand side of the page.
In the UK, in contrast to the practice in some countries, it is not usual to write the sender's name before the sender's address.
Date
The date is written below the sender's address, sometimes separated from it by a space? Usually on the first or last line of the receiver’s address. In the case of correspondence with a printed letterhead, it is also usually written on the right-hand side of the page.
The month in the date should not be written in figures, as they can be confusing; for example, 11.1.08 means 11th January 2008 in the UK but 1st November 2008 in the USA. Nor should you abbreviate the month, e.g. Nov. for November, as it simply looks untidy. It takes a moment to write a date in full, but it can take a lot longer to find a misfiled letter which was put in the wrong file because the date was confusing.
Many firms leave out the abbreviation 'th' after the date, e.g. 24 October instead of 24th October. Other firms transpose the date and the month, e.g. October 24 instead of 24 October. These are matters of preference, but whichever you choose you should be consistent throughout your correspondence.
the date should be written in arable figures with no abbreviations as “16 February, 2005”. Do not add “st”, “nd”, “rd”, “th” to the date or street address. In the body of a letter you may use this endings, as “on the 14th of May”, or “on the fourteenth of May”, or “on the 14th”
Inside (or receiver's) address
This is written below the sender's address and on the opposite side of the page.
1 Surname known
If you know the surname of the person you are writing to, you write this on the first line of the address, preceded by a courtesy title and either the person's initial(s) or his/her first given name, e.g. Mr J.E. Smith or Mr John Smith, not Mr Smith.
Courtesy titles used in addresses are as follows:
Mr (with or without a full stop; pronounced /'mıste /; the unabbreviated form mister should not be used) is the usual courtesy title for a man.
Mrs (with or without a full stop; pronounced /'mısız/; no unabbreviated form) is used for a married woman.
Miss (pronounced /mıs/; not an abbreviation) is used for an unmarried woman.
Ms (with or without a full stop; pronounced /mız/ or /məz/; no unabbreviated form) is used for both married and unmarried women. Many women now prefer to be addressed by this title, and it is a useful form of address when you are not sure whether the woman you are writing to is married or not.
Messrs (with or without a full stop; pronounced /'mesəz/; abbreviation for Messieurs, which is never used) is used occasionally for two or more men (Messrs P. Jones and B.L. Parker) but more commonly forms part of the name of a firm (Messrs Collier & Clerke & Co.).
Special titles, which should be included in addresses, are many. They include academic or medical titles: Doctor (Dr.), Professor (Prof.); military titles: Captain (Capt.), Major (Maj.), Colonel (Col.), General (Gen.); aristocratic title: Sir(which means that he is a Knight; not to be confused with the salutation Dear Sir and always followed by a given name – Sir John Brown, not Sir J. Brown or Sir Brown), Dame, Lord, Baroness, etc.
Esq (with or without full stop; abbreviation for Esquire and pronounced /es'kwaiə/) is seldom used now. If used, it can only be used instead of Mr and is placed after the name.
Don't use Esq and Mrat the same time:
Bruce Hill Esq, not Mr Bruce Hill Esq.
All these courtesy titles and special titles, except Esq, are also used in salutations.
STRUCTURE OF A BUSINESS LETTER (1)
Sender's address
Date
Inside address (Receiver's address)
Attention line
Salutation
Body of the letter
Complimentary close
Signature
ёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёёё
2 Title known
If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, you may know or be able to assume his/her title or position in the company, (e.g. The Sales Manager, The Finance Director, The Reservations Manager), in which case you can use it in the address.
3 Department known
Alternatively you can address your letter to a particular department of the company (e.g. The Reservations Department, The Sales Department, The Accounts Department).
4 Only company known
Finally, if you know nothing about the company and do not want to make any assumptions about the person or department your letter should go to, you can simply address it to the company itself (e.g. Louis Cruise Liners Ltd., Messrs Collier & Clarke & Co, Ambassador Hotel, Tour Agency “Amelia”).
The names of company types are usually abbreviated, as Plc — Public Limited Company; Ltd — Private Limited Company; Inc — Corporation.
Order of inside addresses
After the name of the person and/or company receiving the letter, the order and style of addresses in the UK, USA and Russia could vary:
The sequence of writing an address in Great Britain:
| • Title and name of the addressee • Position in the company • Name of the company • Number of the building • Name of the street • Name of the city, town or locality • Postal districtabbreviation • Postal service head-office abbreviation and number • Name of the country | Ms J. Evergreen Chief Manager Hartman & Hill Plc. 451 Old Farmer Road London EC4P 4EE England |
The sequence of writing an address in the USA:
| • Title and name of the addressee • Position in the company • Name of the company • Number or name of the building • Name of the street • Name of the city, town or locality • Name of the state • Postal index • Name of the country | Ms K. Ralf Production Manager McGraw-Hill Book Inc. 1221 Richmond Avenue New York, NY 10022 USA |
The sequence of writing an address in Russia:
| • Title and name of the addressee • Position in the company • Name of the company • Number or name of the building • Name of the street • Name of the city, town or locality • Name of the region (if necessary) • Postal index • Name of the country | Mr. D, Zaitsev Sales Manager Malachite Ltd. 75 Darvin Street St.-Perersburg, 195057 Russia |
If the letter is addressed to London, the name of the city 'London' should be followed by a shortened name of the corresponding postal district: e.g. EC — East Central; NW - North West; WC — West Central etc.
If the letter is addressed to the USA, the name of a city or town should be followed by the name of the state. Postal Service Abbreviations of the American states:
| AK (Alaska) | GA (Georgia) | MD (Maryland) | NH (New Hampshire) | SC (South Carolina) |
| AI (Alabama) | HI (Hawaii) | ME (Maine) | NJ (New Jersey) | SD (South Dakota) |
| AR (Arkansas) | ID (Idaho) | Ml (Michigan) | NM (New Mexico) | TN (Tennessee) |
| AZ (Arizona) | IL (Illinois) | MN (Minnesota) | NV (Nevada) | TX (Texas) |
| CA (California) | IN (Indiana) | MO (Missouri) | NY (New York) | UT (Utah) |
| CO (Colorado) | IA (Iowa) | MS (Mississippi) | OH (Ohio) | VA (Virginia) |
| CT (Connecticut) | KS (Kansas) | MT (Montana) | OK (Oklahoma) | VT (Vermont) |
| DC (District of Columbia) | KY (Kentucky) | NB (Nebraska) | OR (Oregon) | WA (Washington) |
| DE(Delaware) | LA (Louisiana) | NC (North Carolina) | PA (Pennsylva-nia) | Wl (Wisconsin) |
| FL (Florida) | MA (Massachu-setts) | ND (North Dakota) | RI (Rhode Island) | WV (West Virginia) |
| WY (Wyoming) |
Some European addresses may place the numbers of the building after the name of the street. It is also common to substitute the name of the country with an initial before the district code number. Look at the two examples below:
Facoltà di Medicina LehrstuI für Bodenkunde