AJ korespondence Centrum pro virtuální a moderní metody a formy vzdělávání na Obchodní akademii T.G. Masaryka, Kostelec nad Orlicí

Middle paragraphs The main part of your letter will concern the points that need to be made, answers you wish to give, or questions you want to ask. In the middle paragraphs, planning is most important to make sure your points are made clearly, fully, and in a logical sequence.

Final paragraph At the end of your letter you should thank your correspondent for writing. Encourage further enquiries or correspondence, mentioning that you look forward to hearing from him or her soon. Restate one or two of the most important points you made in the main part of the letter.

Examples of final paragraphs Once again thank you for writing to us. Please contact us if you would like any further information. We look forward to hearing from you soon. We are confident that you have made the right choice as this line is a leading seller. If there is any advice or further information you need, we would be happy to supply it, and look forward to hearing from you.

Style and language Commercial correspondence often suffers from old-fashioned style of English which complicates the message and gives the readers the feeling that they are reading something written in an unfamiliar language. Therefore you should write the letters simply and clearly avoiding using old-fashioned phrases.

Courtesy Your style should not be so simple that it becomes rude. Here is an example of a too short and simple letter: Dear Mr Robin I have already written to you concerning your debt of.... This should have been cleared 3 months ago. You seem unwilling to cooperate so we will sue you if you do not clear your debt within the next ten days. Yours

Courtesy To avoid writing letters this way you should use stylistic devices to make them more polite, such as: complex sentences, joined by cojunctions; the use of full rather than abbreviated forms; and the use of passive forms and indirect language that avoids sounding aggressive (e.g. … for the account to be settled rather than..... if you do not clear your debt......).

Idioms and colloquial language It is important to try to get the right tone in your letter. This means that you should aim for a neutral tone, avoiding pompous language or using language which is too informal or colloquial, e.g. Inappropriate form prefered alternative you´ve probably you are probably guessed aware prices are at rock prices are very low bottom

Clarity Your correspondent must be able to understand what you have written. Confusion is often arises through a lack of thought and care, and there are a lot of ways in which this can happen: abbreviations and idioms numbers prepositions

Abbreviations and idioms Abbreviations are quick and easy to read, but both correspondents need to know what they stand for. For example, CIF and FOB are Incoterms which mean cost, insurance and freight and free on board. Some abbreviations are known in all countries by the same set of initials, but many are not. If you are not certain that an abbreviation or set of initials will be easily recognized, it is best not to use it.

Numbers Numerical expressions can also cause confusion, e.g. decimal point in British and American usage is a full stop, but a comma is used in most continental European countries, so that a British or American person would write where a French person would write 4,255 (which to a British or American would mean four thousand two hundred and twenty five). To avoid confusion write the numbers in both figures and words.

Použité prameny Ashley, A.: Oxford handbook of commercial correspondence, Oxford 2003