Transcript ENGLISH for Commercial Correspondence

ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
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Like all LSPs,
English for
commercial
correspondence
has the following
characteristics
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a social and/or
professional setting
a specific lexis
a specific grammar
specific information
structuring and other
communicative
strategies
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
GOOD
CORRESPONDENCE
=
GOOD
COMMUNICATION
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
Phatic contact
Message transmission
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
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Specific lexical choices in commercial
correspondence are particularly evident in
the phatic function:
“Dear Sir or Madam”, “Esq.”, “yours truly” , “yours
faithfully”, “Messrs”, “To whom it may concern” etc.
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
Specific Commercial Correspondence Lexis
can also be observed with an informative
function as in “I beg to acknowledge
receipt of your letter”
 Here it goes without saying that the register
is highly formal, as often haapens
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ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
Remember, it is very important to be aware
of register differences in commercial
correspondence
 So, always try to avoid extremes. Avoid
pompous language like “we wish to convey
our most profuse apologies” or “the letter
mentioned heretofore”. “We apologize” or
“the above letter” is quite sufficient.
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ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
Don’t use language that is too colloquial
like “don’t worry you’ll get your money
back”. “Your loan will be repaid” is much
better.
 Don’t ever use slang. You simply cannot
write anything like “a couple of hundred
quid” or “bucks”, or “I have to scrounge off
you” instead of “I need a loan”.
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ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
Avoid using idioms or figures of speech.
 Prices simply “go up” or “increase”, rather
than “rocket” or “go through the roof”.Or
they simply “go down” or “drop”, rather
than “plummet”, “crash” or “go through the
floor”.
 Don’t invent abbreviations and acronyms,
only use common, standard ones.
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ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
REMEMBER, ALWAYS AIM FOR
 Correctness, both grammatical and stylistic
 Concision, without omitting essentials
 Clarity, without being simplistic
AND ALWAYS RESPECT
 Register
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
GRAMMAR
In the process of going from the informal to the
formal, certain syntactic changes often take place:
VERBAL style tends to become NOMINAL
e.g. “I received” - “I acknowledge receipt”
PRESENT TENSE CHANGE
e.g. “I’m referring” - “I refer”
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
GRAMMAR
PERSONAL becomes IMPERSONAL
e.g. “I am reluctant to resort to such measures”
“We are reluctant to resort to such measures”
ACTIVE to PASSIVE voice transformation
e.g. “you haven’t settled your bill yet”
“payment of your bill is still outstanding”
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
GRAMMAR
CONTRACTIONS are replaced by FULL FORMS
e.g. “I’ll have to” - “I shall have to”
SHORT/SIMPLE sentences become LONG/COMPLEX
e.g. “I refer to your letter of 10th October. In it we
asked you to clear the balance of £519.35. This amount
has been outstanding since last July.”
“With reference to your letter of 10th October, we would
like to remind you again to clear the balance of
£519.35, which has been outstanding since last July.”
ENGLISH for
Commercial Correspondence
STRUCTURING AND ORGANISATION
Points to remember:
layout and presentation of your letter are important
signals that you transmit, laying the basis for the first
impressions that people have of you.
two paragraph styles exist, the traditional indented form
or the blocked layout. The latter is becoming
increasingly common and saves a bit of time.
write both addresses in full, don’t omit or abbreviate
them to save time. Always give as much detail as
possible.
always use addressee’s full and correct titles
11 Thornton Hill,
Exeter, Devon,
EX4 4NM
6th May 2001
Mr Frank Jones
Sales Department,
Topsham Toys,
44-48 Plymouth Road,
Exeter, Devon,
EX4 2P
PRIVATE LETTER HEADING
The Private Letter Format is usually as follows:
Sender’s Address
Receiver’s
Date
Style
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Punctuation
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top right
top left, below sender’s
top right, below sender’s
blocked or indented
(caps for city code, city
or country)
with or without
TITLES
NORMAL PEOPLE:
Mr. (man) Mrs. (married woman)
Miss.(unmarried woman) Ms. (woman)
Messrs. (plural of Mr., usually for
professional partnerships)
Esq. (man, following his name)
NB.
Mrs or Miss may offend, use Ms.
Esq. is becoming rare and isn’t used
if Mr. is.
TITLES
Captain
Colonel
Major
General
The Reverend
Professor
The Honourable
The Right Honourable
Capt.
Col.
Maj.
Gen.
Rev.
Prof.
Hon.
Rt. Hon.
TITLES
On the envelope, put any degrees, medals,
honorary titles & professional associations,
but only if you are absolutely sure of them.
For example, BA(hons), MSc, PhD, MBE,
OBE, FRA, FBMA (hon).
Professional titles, like Sales Manager, Vice
President, Director of Marketing,, Managing
Director, Chairman, may be replaced by
Sales Department, Marketing, President’s
Office etc., if the actual title is not known.
SALUTATIONS
Dear Sir
=
male addressee
Dear Sirs
=
company or
unknown gender
Dear Sir or Madam =
unknown gender
Dear Mr, Mrs, Miss,
Ms, Dr., Prof., etc. =
known addressee
TOPIC & REFERENCES
The subject of the letter may be summarized
after the abbreviation “re.” (with reference to),
placed either just before the salutation or just
after. The topic is often underlined and may
also be marked here “Private andConfidential”.
References refer to a number or code given to
the letter and marked “our ref:”, whereas the
number or code referred to in correspondence
received is marked “your ref:”. If there is no
number, then the reference is simply the date
11 Thornton Hill,
Exeter, Devon,
EX4 4NM
Your ref: 6th May 2000
Our ref: DSY/M5/NV00
25 November 2000
Mr. Frank Jones,
Sales Department,
Topsham Toys,
44-48 Plymouth Road,
Exeter, Devon, EX4 2PT
re. your 2001 catalogue
Dear Mr. Jones,
CLOSES
yours faithfully = someone you do not know
after a Dear Sir, Madam.
yours sincerely = someone you know or
know of, after Dear
Mr, Mrs etc.
yours truly
= to a friend or (US) to either
of the above
best regards,
wishes etc
= to a friend or acquaintance
SIGNING OFF
Always sign your name after the salutation in
the centre of the page, after which you always
print or type your name and position together
with any titles you may wish correspondents
to use when writing to you. NB. Two common
abbreviations are used when signing off to
give certain information:
pp. =
(per pro) i.e. you are writing on
behalf of someon else
cc. =
(carbon copy) i.e. you are also
sending a copy of the letter to
someone else
A TYPI CAL CLOSE
_______________________________________
____________. I also wish to thank you for your
cooperation in this matter and look forward to
hearing from you at your earliest convenience (as
soon as possible, by return of post).
Yours faithfully,
signature
John M. Dodds, British Hon. Consul
pp & cc Mr. Charles de Chassiron
British Consul General
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
Opening

sets the tone

expresses thanks for any previous
correspondence or contact

introduces writer and his or her
organisation

states purpose of letter
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
Corpus
 always plan your sequence
 make your points as clearly as possible
 ask any questions or make any enquiry
you feel necessary for the communication
to continue to succeed
 always answer any question or query
posed in previous correspondence
 you should be exhaustive without being
long-winded
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
Ending
 thank the person for writing (especially if
you haven’t already done so)
 thank the person for (presumed) help and
cooperation if you are asking for something

encourage further correspondence or
other form of contact (usually with
expressions like “look forward to”, “if you
need further information, don’t hesitate to” )
 recap the main points briefly if the letter is
complex, using expressions like “to go over
the main points briefly”, “to sum up” etc.
LETTER TYPOLOGY
Enquiries
• requesting information, catalogues, prices,
estimates, dates, details, samples; suggesting if
something is possible, methods of payment, asking
for discounts, delivery times etc.
Replies & Quotes
• confirming help, selling products, referring to
someone, suggesting demonstrations,contacting
local representatives; quotations, price lists,
discounts, alternatives to something, explaining
payment, delivery times, product training
programmes, fixed and negotiable terms, estimates
LETTER TYPOLOGY
Orders
• placing orders, letters of acceptance, confirming
conditions and terms, delivery times, packing,
shipping, accepting or rejecting changes, delivery
delays, refusing a delivery, etc.
Payment
• invoices, pro-forms, statements of account, methods
of payment (home and abroad), advice of payment,
of non-payment, asking to defer payment, switching
to installments, first and second requests for
payment, further reminders and final demands.
LETTER TYPOLOGY
Complaints
• writing complaints, explaining problems, suggesting
acceptable solutions, replies to complaints,
justifiable and unjustifiable complaints, explaining
company’s situation,adjusting accounting errors
Credit & Banks
• forms of credit, credit requirements, asking for
credit, accepting/refusing credit, taking up
references, guarantors, credit rating, bank facilities,
opening/closing accounts, negotiating interest on
deposit accounts, requesting cheque books, credit
cards, overdrafts, standing orders, loans,
mortgages.