Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig

mountain freezer co nashua n h gentlemen Address an envelope for each of the above, using the following as a model. +------------------------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | Barrett, Brown & Co., | | 55 Water Street, | | Decorah, Iowa. | | | +------------------------------------------+ =Exercise 218--Cautions= _The Heading_ Always date your letters. Give your full address, even if you are certain that the one to whom you are writing knows it. _The Introduction_ The person addressed must always be given a title. If you address one man, use _Mr._; if a firm, use _Messrs._; if a woman, _Miss_ or _Mrs._ If a man has a title like _Professor_ or _Doctor_, it should be used, and _Mr._, of course, omitted. _Hon._ (Honorable) is used for a person who holds, or who has held, a public office. It is a very formal title. _Esq._(Esquire) is a legal form used by some correspondents in addressing any man. It is an English usage. It always follows the name, and, if it is used, _Mr._ is omitted. In this country _Mr._ is preferable. In writing to a man in his official capacity, the following form is correct when there is no street number or when the title is short. Notice that _Mr._ is omitted. G. N. Fratt, Cashier, First National Bank, Racine, Wis. The following is correct when the title is long: Mr. John Frederick Pierce, Ass't. Engineer of Bridges and Buildings, 607 White Building, Seattle, Wash. Notice that in the last example, the city and the state are put on the same line as the street in order to make the three lines of about the same length. Four lines might have been used. _The Salutation_ If you address one man, the salutation is _Dear Sir_; as, Mr. John Pierce, Seattle, Wash. Dear Sir: If you address a firm, the salutation is _Gentlemen_; as, Messrs. Brownleigh & King, Portland, Oregon. Gentlemen: If you address a woman, married or single, the salutation in business letters is _Dear Madam_; as, 1. Mrs. John Pierce, Seattle, Wash. Dear Madam: 2. Miss Florence Pierce, Seattle, Wash. Dear Madam: A more familiar form of salutation is either of the following: 1 Miss Florence Pierce, Seattle, Wash. My dear Miss Pierce: 2 Miss Florence Pierce, Seattle, Wash. Dear Miss Pierce: In using _Hon._, the salutation is usually _Sir_. _The Courteous Close_ The courteous close corresponds in tone to the salutation. If the salutation is _Dear Sir_, _Gentlemen_, or _Dear Madam_, the courteous close should be one of the following: Yours truly, Yours very truly, Very truly yours, Respectfully yours, Yours respectfully, Sincerely yours, Very sincerely yours, If the salutation is _Sir_, the courteous close should be _Respectfully yours_ or _Yours respectfully_. If the body of the letter and the courteous close do not agree in tone, the effect is often ridiculous. Suppose, for instance, that the courteous close of (2) under Exercise 220 were _Yours respectfully_. What would be the effect? _The Signature_ If an unmarried woman is signing a business letter, she should avoid confusion by prefixing (Miss) to her name. A married woman should sign her own name, as, _Alice Pierce_; she should indicate her title, as _Mrs. John F. Pierce_, either below the other or at one side. No other title should be prefixed to a signature. If a letter is signed by the name of a firm, the signature of the one who dictated the letter is usually added; as, Yours very truly, Smith Lumber Co. by ---- This sort of signature gives a letter the "personal touch." Explain. Folding a Letter Business letter paper is about eight by ten inches. In folding a letter sheet, (1) turn the lower edge up to about one-eighth of an inch from the top; press the fold firmly, keeping the edges even; (2) turn the paper so that the folded edge is at your _left_ hand; (3) fold _from_ you a little less than one-third the width of the sheet; (4) fold the upper edge _down_ toward you so that it projects a trifle beyond the folded edge. Without turning it over, pick it up and insert it in the envelope, putting in _first_ the edge that was folded last. Write the address and the salutation for: