Anda di halaman 1dari 17

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

Chapter

Introduction

to

business

communication

Objectives:

o To familiarize the students with the structure of a communication act; o To explain the structure and main parts of a formal letter; o To familiarize the students with the specifics of these parts.

1.1 General remarks


We live in a century of speed and communication and sometimes the speed at which we communicate deeply affects our business and/or our personal lives as well. One could not emphasise enough the importance of a fast communication; however, one should also not neglect the quality of the communication. Whether we communicate verbally or in written form, we should constantly take into account the specific rules characterizing that particular form of communication that we resort to. E-mails, faxes, memos, leaflets, brochures, catalogues, business letters of all kinds and telephone conversations are all ways of sending a certain message. Consequently, they share a number of general rules and display a particular set of characteristics that should be taken into consideration by the sender of that message. Irrespective of the chosen means, the process of communication presupposes several basic elements without which the mere concept of communication could not exist: the emitter (sender), the message, the channel (medium), the code and the receiver (addressee). These elements establish certain relationships among them and the easiest manner of analysing these relationships is to draw a simplified model of the communication act in the shape of a diagram. Code

Emitter

Message

Receiver

Medium Figure 1
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

The emitter sends a message to the receiver via a medium using a certain code of signs. The medium could be the air (in the case of a face to face conversation), the paper (in the case of a written message), electric impulses (in the case of a phone conversation), the virtual support provided by the Internet (in the case of an e-mail message), etc. The nature of the medium is closely related to the nature of the code employed by the sender; one could say that they are interdependent to a certain extent. If we take for instance the smoke that Native Americans used to resort to in order to communicate with other members of the tribe or another tribe altogether, the only medium which would allow communication is the air. The same principle holds valid in the case of those African and South American tribes that used to communicate or still do by means of drums. Two of the most frequent misunderstandings that occur inasmuch as the concept of communication is concerned are the following: (i) communication is characteristic to humans only and (ii) communication is necessarily oral and linguistic. There is nothing further from the truth. In reality, communication takes place among animals and even plants as well. The range of codes is far larger than that of media, spanning from pheromones, colours and textures to sounds, movements and, in the case of humans, articulated language. According to the various natures of media, codes and participants communication as a process could be classified into several large categories as follows: (i) human non-human (ii) verbal non-verbal (iii) linguistic non-linguistic (iv) visual non-visual (v) audio non-audio Simple or complex, linguistic or not, the code needs to be shared both by the emitter and the receiver. Otherwise, the message cannot be decoded and, consequently, it cannot be understood. Fundamentally speaking, communication is a matter of turn taking, a dialogue during which the participants become in turn emitters and receivers using the common set of signs to encode and decode the messages that travel between them. The principle valid for communication in general holds true for business communication in particular also. A communication situation in a business environment still requires the presence of at least two participants, a message, a medium and the use of a common code. Since the main purpose of this course is to outline the major principles that constitute the foundation of written business communication, the medium under scrutiny will be paper (be it real or virtual in the case of electronic correspondence) and the code will be the complex linguistic set of signs that we call articulated language. People have communicated in written form for millennia so the written correspondence has an impressive tradition. As a result of this, written correspondence (private or official) has developed a unifying set of rules governing the manner in which a letter should
6
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

be organised. Multiple criteria are taken into consideration when writing a letter, especially in the case of formal letters where a simple mistake may sometimes have unsuspected outcomes. In spite of their diversity, all types of business letters share a similar organization and display a number of compulsory elements, some specific to business correspondence, others to letters in general.

1.2 Main parts of a business letter


(i) the blocked style and (ii) the indented style.

The international business correspondence makes use of two general styles of organizing the text of a letter, two layouts:

The former is favoured by the American companies while the latter is specific to the European business environment. Mention should be made that under the significant influence of the American companies and due to the leading role played by the USA economy, there is a strong tendency to replace the indented style with the blocked style. On the other hand, companies enjoy a certain degree of freedom in choosing the style of their layout; thus, two more varieties of layout appeared as a result of the combination of the classical two: the semi-blocked style and the modified blocked style. In the case of these two derived varieties, some parts of the letters are aligned according to the blocked style rules while others obey the rules specific to the indented style. Whether a company uses one layout or another is a matter of internal policy but once we choose to use a particular layout, it is advisable to continue using it throughout the correspondence because switching from one style to another might denote inconsistency and/or lack of professionalism. 1.2.1 The blocked style In this style (see Fig. 2) the text of the letter is aligned in the same manner in which a text written on computer would be if we selected the justify alignment from the tool bar. The main parts of the letter are numbered from 1 to 7 and they are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Senders address (or letterhead as in Fig. 3) Receivers address Date line Salutation line The body of the letter Closing lines Signature

Some of these elements are given different names in other books treating the topic of business correspondence. Thus, the receivers address may become the inside address; the letterhead may be called letter-heading or simply heading; the paragraphs making up the body of the letter could be classified according to the purpose they serve in the economy of the letter; the closing lines are also known as the complementary close. Moreover, some other parts could be inserted if the case be; thus, a letter may further contain:
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)

attention line, subject title, reference line or enclosures. All these elements (both the compulsory and the additional ones) are present in the letter irrespective of the type of the letter or its layout. Each of these components of the letter will be discussed in the following section of this chapter.

1_________ __________ __________ 2_________ __________ __________ 3_________

4________

5________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _____________________ 6___________________ ________________ ____________

7__________ ___________ _____

Figure 2 1.2.2 The indented style As far as this style is concerned (see Fig. 3), the salutation line, the closing lines and the first line of each paragraph are 4-5 spaces indented in contrast with the blocked style where all lines are aligned to the left. As the figure shows, the inside address could be replaced by a letterhead which takes the upper central position on the page. The custom is that those letters written on behalf of an individual should use senders address and those letters sent by companies should use a letterhead.
8
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

1___________________________ _________________ _________________

2_________ __________ __________ 4________

3_________

5_________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ _________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________ 6___________________ _______________ ____________

7__________ ___________ _____

Figure 3. 12.3 Senders address The senders address takes top right-hand position on the page; in other words, it is the highest element on the page. This form of identification is used when writing a letter for personal reasons (e.g. letter of application, letter of complaint, etc.). It is customary that the name of the person signing the letter should no be mentioned in the address itself but at the end of the letter (or within the introductory paragraph if necessary). Therefore, the senders address will contain information about the street, number, city, postal code and country of the sender. Here follow an example in blocked and in indented style: 44 Arrow Street Knigburg, WH5 SWEEDEN 44 Arrow Street Knigburg, WH5 SWEEDEN

Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

The letterhead plays for a company the same twofold role that a business card plays for a person, i.e. it both provides key information and sends a certain message about that person. Besides vital information about the company such as name, address, phone and fax numbers, e-mail, web page and sometimes the name of top managers, the letterhead has a supplementary function; by its layout, colours and symbols it should send a message to the potential partners regarding the professionalism, credibility and/or tradition of that company.
INTERNATIONAL TRADING GROUP

Bridge House, 22 Lake Street, Wilford MO3, UK Telephone (043) 678 942 Fax (043) 678 943 e-mail inttradgr@yahoo.com

Figure 4 1.2.4 Date As one can see from Fig. 2 and 3, the date line is placed one line below the senders address aligned to the right side of the page. Special attention should be paid to the manner in which the date is written. The European system places the day before the month while the US system is to mention the month first followed by the day. Thus, ambiguity may occur if we do not know what system has been used. For instance a date as the one in Fig. 5 could be read in two different ways according to the system you adopt: 10.8.2004 could mean: The European system the 10th of August, 2004 Figure 5 In order to avoid such an ambiguity one should not write the month using figures but its full name. The abbreviation of the name of the month is also unadvisable because it makes the letter look untidy, as if written in a hurry. The importance of writing the date in a clear manner is worth underlining since misplacing a letter on account of a confusing date might lead to serious consequences. Once we have written the month in full name, it does not matter anymore whether we place the day before or after the month: e.g. August 10, 2004 = 10 August, 2004 October 8, 2004 = 8 October, 2004 It is possible to write the figures with or without the ordinal suffixes (as in the examples above) but it is not advisable to alternate letters in which you use these suffixes with letters in which you do not because inconsistency of style might denote lack of professionalism. Sometimes, the place is mentioned along with
10
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

The US system the 8th of October, 2004

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

the date. In this case, the name of the city/town is placed before the date itself: Rome, 7th December, 2003. 1.2.5 Receivers address As far as the style of the receivers address is concerned, there are several aspects to be taken into consideration. This address is written below the senders address/the letterhead and on the left side of the page (see. Fig. 1 and 2). The amount of information provided by the receivers address is organized according to a series of rules. Thus, if you are writing to a person whose name you know, this will be written first, preceded by an appropriate courtesy title: Mr. Mrs. Miss for a man (married or not); for a married woman; for an unmarried woman;

Ms. for a woman whose marital status you do not know (it may be used for both married and unmarried women); Messrs. - for two or more men These are not the only courtesy titles that may be used in the receivers address. There are also some special titles related to nobility, profession, military rank or seniority, such as: Esq. - placed after the name and used for a man in UK holding a nobility title (when using this title do not use Mr also): e.g. Stephen Plott, Esq. not Mr. Stephen Plott, Esq. Sir - for a man who is a Knight (different from Sir used in the salutation line); His/Her Excellency for a person holding a high position in government or diplomacy such as minister, ambassador or governor; His/Her Highness for a king/queen or a member of the royal family; Doctor/Dr. Professor/Prof. General/Gen. Judge Junior/Jr. for a man and placed after the name Bros. - short for brothers and placed after the names. In the USA you may also mention the function/position of the person you are writing to after the name of the person separated by a comma: e.g. Ms. Paula Winston, Human Resources Manager Mr. James Ratley, Marketing Director Dr. Jennifer Drake, Head of Surgery Department
11

Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

Maj. Robert Ground, Chief of Staff Inasmuch as the UK business correspondence is concerned, the function/position is placed before the name in which case the use of courtesy titles such as Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. is no longer necessary: e.g. but Head of Surgery Department Dr. Jennifer Drake Chief of Staff Maj. Robert Ground. When you do not know the name of the person you are writing to but you know or can assume his/her position in the company, you may use it in the address. Do not forget to use the definite article The before you mention the position: e.g. The Human Resources Director The Chief Assistant The Marketing Director Human Resources Manager Paula Winston Marketing Director James Ratley

If you use an attention line (which is regularly placed two lines below the receivers address), then you may mention this position there too (make sure that you underline the entire attention line): e.g. For the attention of the Personnel Manager Attention: The Personnel Manager Attention the Personnel Manager

You may also address your letter to a department or an entire company in case you know nothing or cannot assume anything about the person(s) running that particular department or company: e.g. The The The The Production Department Client Service Department Chang Appliances, Ltd. International Trading Group

If the mane of the company does not have a definite article in front position, you may use it directly or you may precede it by Messrs.: e.g. Continental Distribution, Ltd. Messrs. Continental Distribution, Ltd. Speed & Toys Co. Messrs. Speed & Toys Co.

Besides the name of the receiver, the address should also contain information about the exact location of the company as well as the postcode of the area. The order in which these elements should be introduced is the following: Name of house or building Number of building and name of street Name of town/city and postcode (for US: state also)
12
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

Name of country There are some European countries (Romania among others) which place the number of the street after its name and it should not be considered a mistake. However, for the sake of uniformity it is advisable to follow the order given above. When addressing the letter to an American receiver, it is customary to mention the name of the state after the name of the city/town as there may be more than one city/town with the same name situated in different states (see appendix for a full list of USA states and their abbreviations): e.g. Washington, D.C. vs. Washington, Pa. Although strict, addresses, in general, and the receivers address, in particular, may suffer certain variations in terms of order and punctuation. Consequently, the postcode may be written on a separate line, the name of the country may be written in capital letters or reduced to its initial only, the name of the city/town can be also written in capital letters and the punctuation may be open (i.e. without any commas). Moreover, the address could be blocked or indented according to the general layout of letter. Check the next page to see how these elements combine in a list of several samples of receivers address; notice the various degrees of information contained in each example and how they may differ from one another without being necessarily wrong. 1. Ms. Paula Winston, Human Resources Manager, 44 Victory Street, Charlston CT5 3DG, United Kingdom 2. Mr. James Ratley Marketing Director Mondovision Ltd. 23-25 Luther Road Sandville, Ind., 5RT N2 USA 3. Head of Surgery Department Dr. Jennifer Drake, St. Helens Memorial, 110 Gospel Avenue, Lowshire, LS 320, UNITED KINGDOM 4. The Chief Assistant Speed & Toys Co. 15 Bridge Street Midtown MT4 JN SCOTLAND 5. The Client Service Department Entertainment Ltd. 29 Riverbank Road Castleburg CB6 IL2, GB Attention: Head of the Client Service Department

Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

13

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

6. Messrs. Continental Distribution, Ltd. 1-3 West Avenue Washington, Pa., WH4 33J USA For the attention of the Marketing Director 1.2.6 Salutation line This element is placed three lines below the receivers address or the attention line. There are not many salutation formulas but you should be very careful when using them in order to avoid awkward misunderstandings. When choosing one formula or another, you should ask ourselves three questions: (i) Do I know the surname(s) of the person(s) I am writing to? (ii) Do I know the gender of the person(s) I am writing to? (iii) How many persons am I writing to? Based on the answers to these questions you may choose the most appropriate salutation formula. Thus, if you know the surname and gender of the addressee, you may use one of the following salutations: Dear Mr. + Surname, for a man; Dear Mrs. + Surname, for a married woman; Dear Miss + Surname, - for a single woman;

Dear Ms + Surname, for a woman you do not know whether she is married or not. If you do not know the name of the addressee but you know the gender, you may use one of the following salutation formulas: Dear Sir, - for a man; Dear Madam, - for a woman, whether married or not. If you do not know the names of the addressees but you know their gender, you may use these formulas: Dear Sirs, - for two or more men (US, Gentlemen:); Dear Madams, - for two or more women, whether married or not. Another possible situation is that when you do not know either the name, or the gender of the addressee. In this case, you may use this salutation formula: Dear Sir or Madame, (Dear Sir/Madam,). There are several other situations in which you may use some other formulas, such as: Dear President Smith, - for a man/woman whose first name you do not know; Dear Mr. Chief of Staff, - for a man whose name you do not know.
14
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

Dear all, - when you write to a group of people (subordinates or equals at most) with whom you have a rather long business relationship. Irrespective of the salutation formula you use, it should always be followed by a comma. However, in the USA, when addressing a company or a group of men, the letter usually opens with Gentlemen followed by a colon (see the previous page). 1.2.7 The body of the letter As the name of this element suggests, this is the essence of the letter, the message of the letter lies here. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the way this section of the letter is organized. As a rule, the body of the letter has a threefold structure as follows: 1. a introductory paragraph in which the subject of the paper is usually stated; 2. the message of the letter (it may consist of more than one paragraph); here is the place where the sender states the purpose of the letter in well balanced and organized sentences (preferably not too long); 3. a concluding paragraph in which the sender draws a conclusion based on the facts presented in the previous section (the nature and shape of this conclusion vary according to the letter type). Any business letter (no matter how long or short) presents this tripartite structure; there should be left at least 1 line space between paragraphs, especially in the case of the blocked style. The only aspects that vary are closely interrelated and they are the length and the volume of information. Both the length and the amount of information depend on the type of the letter; to put it in other words, the tone, the style and the degree of details that the letter should provide depend heavily on the purpose of the letter. These aspects will be discussed in the following chapter dedicated to style. 1.2.8 Closing line Also known as the complimentary close, it is usually placed 2 or 3 lines below the body of the letter towards the middle of the page (in the case of the indented style) or aligned to the left (in the case of the blocked one). The choice of the complementary close is closely related to the salutation formula that was used at the beginning of the letter. Thus, Salutation line Dear Sir, / Dear Sirs, Dear Madam, Madam, / Dear Sir or Closing line/Signature Yours faithfully, OR Faithfully yours,
15

Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

Dear Mr. Robin, Dear Mrs. Plott, / Dear Ms. Smith, The American correspondence Figure 6.

Yours sincerely, OR Sincerely yours, Yours truly, OR Truly yours,

It is worth mentioning that the rules of combination are not as rigid as they seem, on the one hand, and that some specialists suggest other combinatory rules, on the other. As a result, you may use: Yours faithfully, OR Faithfully yours, when writing to a company, an institution, a firm, etc.; Yours sincerely, OR Sincerely yours, when writing to a known person; The complimentary close is most often than not preceded by a few other standard formulas, such as: We are looking forward to hearing from you. I am looking forward to meeting you. which are placed 1 or 2 lines below the last paragraph and aligned as the rest of the letter (i.e. to the left if the letter is written in blocked style or 2-3 spaces indented from the left margin if the letter is written in indented style). 1.2.9 Signature The signature does not depend on the closing line in terms of style. Whether you use Sincerely yours or Yours faithfully, the letter must be signed anyway. This element of the letter is structured on two levels: (i) immediately below the complimentary close you sign in handwriting and (ii) below the signature you must type your name and position (if any). The use of courtesy titles is desirable though not compulsory (it might clarify the gender of the person signing in case the sender may not otherwise assume it). e.g. Yours sincerely, K. Browning Mr. K. Browning Chief Accountant Truly yours, L. Thomson Ms. L. Thomson Sales Manager

Very frequently, the letter is signed not by the person whose name is mentioned under the signature, but by some other person, most often that not by the assistant or secretary of that person. In cases like this, the term per pro (or its abbreviation p.p.) should be placed before the name of the person on whose behalf you are signing the letter. e.g. Sincerely yours, (Ms.) Jennifer Morris p.p. Mrs. Judith Richards
16
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

Personnel Manager In the example above, the official sender of the letter is Mrs. Judith Richards, The Personnel Manager of the company, but the letter is signed on her behalf by Ms. Jennifer Morris, most probably her assistant or secretary. Some letters use per pro instead of the abbreviation p.p.; this is itself an abbreviation of the Latin expression per procurationem meaning on behalf of.

1.3 Additional elements/parts of a business letter


As we have already mentioned, a business letter may contain besides the compulsory elements we discussed a number of additional elements (see p. 6). Even if not compulsory, these elements might often prove extremely useful and, as a result, certain companies use them on regular basis. Thus, the attention line may sometimes appear on the envelope also along with the other elements that constitute the addresses of the sender and of the receiver. When the receivers address is unknown to the sender, the latter might address the letter to a person/company who/which is in the position to deliver the letter to its proper addressee. Under these circumstances, the address of the person/company that acts as the middleman between the sender and the final receiver should be preceded by the abbreviation c/o, meaning care of. Compare the following samples of envelopes which exemplify the last two situations above mentioned.
INTERNATIONAL TRADING GROUP Bridge House 22 Lake Street Wilford MO3, UK stamp

Attention: The Production Manager

SPEED & TOYS Co. 15 Bridge Street Midtown MT4 JN SCOTLAND

INTERNATIONAL TRADING GROUP Bridge House 22 Lake Street Wilford MO3, UK

stamp Mr. Jim McLuren c/o SPEED & TOYS Co. 7 Freedom Road Midtown MT4 JN SCOTLAND

Figure 7. As far as the second example is concerned, the presence of the attention line on the envelope is no longer necessary; nevertheless, it will be mentioned in the letter.
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

17

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

The subject line is also useful since it allows the reader to identify at once what the letter is about. On the other hand, when dealing with a rich correspondence on various subjects and spanning over a long period of time (which eventually means tens of letters), the subject line might help in organizing the letters according to their subject. The immediate effect of this procedure is a better management of time and effort. The third additional element of a business letter that we mentioned in the list on page 6 was the reference line. The importance of this element is closely related to the previously analysed element, i.e. the subject line. References are given in order to indicate what the letter refers to, on the one hand, and the correspondence to refer to when replying, on the other. This procedure proves valuable, as in the case of using a subject line, when there is an intense correspondence between two companies and the volume of letters becomes considerable. If the filling system of all these letters is not efficient, i.e. clear and precise, information might be lost or misinterpreted. There are two general manners of writing the reference line: (i) in figures: 25 / 4 where 25 refers to the number of the letter and 4 to the number of the department or (ii) in letters: JM / JR where JR stands for Judith Richards and JM for her assistant. Sometimes, you might encounter a combination of letters and figures on the reference line, such as 12 Oct. 2003 / JM where the first part points to the date of the letter referred to and the initials stand for the person signing it. The reference line has two components: (i) Our Ref. (or OR) meaning Our Reference and (ii) Your Ref. (or YR) meaning Your Reference. The last additional element to discuss is the Enclosures. This is used when the sender attaches certain documents to the letter proper. These may be price lists, catalogues, CVs, diplomas, invoices (in original or copies), etc. The necessity of mentioning the enclosing of such extra documents lies in the fact that in the case of a voluminous correspondence, there is always the possibility of misplacing some documents on their way to the addressee. Thus, if this happens, the person reading the letter sees the term Encl. mentioned at the bottom of the letter (followed by the list of documents accompanying the letter) and realizes the loss of those documents. As a result, the documents may be searched for and eventually recovered.

1. Which of the following series contains all the compulsory elements of a basic communication act? a. message, code, receiver, medium, receptor; b. code, message, medium, sender, support; c. sender, message, code, medium, receiver; d. sender, meaning, code, medium, receiver;
18
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

1.5 Self-evaluation test

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

e. sender, message, decode, medium, receiver. 2. Which of the following statements are false [F]? a. The code used in a communication act does not have to be shared by both participants. [ ] b. The nature of the medium is closely related to the nature of the code employed by the sender [ ] c. Water is the only medium which would allow communication in the case of Native Americans who used smoke to send their messages. [ ] d. Communication is characteristic to humans only. [ ] e. Communication is necessarily oral and linguistic. [ ] f. The message can be decoded and understood even if the code is not shared by the participants in the communication act. [ ] g. Fundamentally speaking, communication is a dialogue during which the participants become in turn emitters and receivers. [ ] h. A communication situation requires the presence of at least two participants, a message, a medium and the use of a common code. [ ] i. Articulated language is a complex linguistic set of signs. [ ] j. All types of business letters share a similar organization and display a number of compulsory elements, some specific to business correspondence, others to letters in general. [ ] 3. Which of the following series contains all the main parts of a business letter? a. senders address, receivers address, salutation line, the body of the letter, closing lines, signature; b. senders address, receivers address, date line, salutation line, the body of the letter, closing lines, signature; c. receivers address, date line, salutation line, the body of the letter, closing lines, signature; d. senders address, receivers address, date line, the body of the letter, closing lines, signature; e. senders address, receivers address, date line, salvation line, the body of the letter, closing lines, signature. 4. Match the elements on the left with their equivalents on the right. receivers address letterhead closing lines close inside address letter-heading 5. Which of the following parts of a letter are additional and not compulsory? a. enclosures; b. date line;
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

complementary

19

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

c. subject line; d. signature; e. salutation line. 6. Which of the following additional parts of a letter should be underlined? a. enclosures; b. reference line; c. subject line; d. attention line. 7. Which of the following layouts resembles the justify alignment of a Word document? a. indented; b. blocked. 8. The blocked style is favoured by the American companies. a. true; b. false. 9. The indented style is specific to the European business environment. a. false; b. true. 10. The senders address takes top right-hand position on the page. a. true; b. false. 11. The name of the person signing the letter should be mentioned in the address itself and not at the end of the letter. a. false; b. true. 12. Which of the following dates are ambiguous and should be written in a different manner? a. 10.06.1998; b. 08.15.2002; c. 05.11.2005; d. 22.04.2009. 13. Writing the month in its full name is advisable because: a. it is more elegant; b. it avoids ambiguity; c. the Americans decided so; d. numbers do not look nice. 14. Which of the following courtesy titles is not given the right explanation? a. Mr. for a man (married or not); b. Miss for an unmarried woman; c. Ms. for a woman whose husband is dead; d. Mrs. for a married woman; e. Messrs.- for two or more men. 15. The mention Encl. at the bottom of the last page of the letter means: a. the signer of the letter belongs to an enclave; b. the letter is accompanied by one or more documents;
20
Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

Chapter 1 Introduction to business communication

c. the letter encloses a serried of other previous letters;

Partner to Partner. Business correspondence for Public administration

21

Anda mungkin juga menyukai