Writing An Effective Business Letter

E-mail may be the quick and convenient way to relay daily business messages, but the printed business letter is still the preferred way to convey important information. A carefully crafted letter can be a powerful communication tool. To make sure you are writing the most professional and effective letter possible, use the business letter format and template below and follow these basic business letter-writing.

Use a standard business letter format and template

The most widely used format for business letters is "block style," where the text of the entire letter is justified left. The text is single spaced, except for double spaces between paragraphs. 

This business letter format illustrates the specific parts of a business letter:

Business Letter Template Fields: Sender's Address: It is a good idea to include sender's email and url, if available. Don't include this information if it's already incorporated into the letterhead design. This will allow customers to find your small business more quickly. Date: Use month, day, year format, e.g., March 3, 2012 or 3 March 2012 Inside Address: Use full name. Mr./Ms. is optional Salutation: Be sure to use a colon at the end of the name, not a comma as in personal letters Body Text: State why you are writing. Establish any connection/mutual relationship up front. Outline the solution, providing proof in the way of examples and expert opinions. Group related information into paragraphs Closing "Call to Action": State what the reader needs to do and what you will do to follow up Signature Block: Sign your letter in blue or black ink

Use a professional tone.

Save casual, chatty language for email - your printed business letter should be friendly but more professional. As Scott Ober suggests in his book Contemporary Business Communication, "The business writer should strive for an overall tone that is confident, courteous, and sincere; that uses emphasis and subordination appropriately; that contains nondiscriminatory language; that stresses the "you" attitude; and that is written at an appropriate level of difficulty." That said, be sure to sound like yourself - you don't want your letter to read as if a machine wrote it.

Write clearly.

State your point early in your letter. To avoid any miscommunication, use straightforward, concise language. Skip the industry jargon and instead choose lively, active words to hold your reader's attention.

Be persuasive.

Establish a positive relationship with your reader right away. If you have a connection to the reader - you've met before or have a mutual colleague, for example - mention it in your introductory paragraph. Whether you think your reader will agree with the point of your letter or not, it is important to find common ground and build your case from there.

Understand your reader well enough to anticipate how he or she will react when reading your letter. Address his or her needs or wishes, or a specific problem, and then outline your solution. Provide proof in the way of examples and/or expert opinions to back up your point. Make sure to maintain a friendly tone.

Conclude your letter with a "call to action." State clearly what your reader needs to do or believe to achieve the desired solution and then state what you, the writer, intend to do next to follow up.

Proofread your letter!

All your careful crafting and printing can't cover up spelling or punctuation errors, which leave a lasting negative impression.

Now that you've learned the secrets of writing an effective business letter, you're ready to start composing. Good luck!

The Business Letter (sites)

http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/format.pdf

http://esl.about.com/cs/onthejobenglish/a/a_basbletter.htm

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Business-Letter

sentences

Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand. 

This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples.  The purpose of these examples is to help students to identify sentence basics .   After that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentences varieties.

SIMPLE SENTENCE

A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in green.  

A. Some students like to study in the mornings. B. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon. C. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.

The three examples above are all simple sentences.  Note that sentence B contains a compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb.  Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a compound subjects or verbs. 

COMPOUND SENTENCE

A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red. 

A.  I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.  B.  Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.  C.  Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.

The above three sentences are compound sentences.  Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it.  Note how the conscious use of coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses.  Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators.  In sentence B, which action occurred first?  Obviously, "Alejandro played football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping.  In sentence C, "Maria went shopping" first.  In sentence C, "Alejandro played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping."  How can the use of other coordinators change the relationship between the two clauses?  What implications would the use of "yet" or "but" have on the meaning of the sentence?

COMPLEX SENTENCE

A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.

A. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page.  B. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. C. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow. D. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria went to the movies. E. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.

When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences A and D, a comma is required at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence with subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong.

Note that sentences D and E are the same except sentence D begins with the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause which contains no comma.  The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there.  In sentence E, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence. 

COMPLEX SENTENCES / ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an independent clause and a dependent clause.  The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined. 

A. The woman who called my mom sells cosmetics. B. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf. C. The house which Abraham  Lincoln was born in is still standing. D. The town where I grew up is in the United States.

Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences containing adjective clauses are complex.

CONCLUSION

Are sure you now know the differences between simple, compound, and complex sentences?  Click QUICK QUIZ to find out.  This quiz is just six sentences.  The key is to look for the subjects and verbs first.

Another quiz, this one about Helen Keller contains ten sentences.

These quiz sentences based on the short story, The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing.
Quick Quiz:  Shadrach

After each quiz, click GRADE QUIZ to see your score immediately. 

Remember that with the skill to write good simple, compound, and complex sentences, you will have the flexibility to (1) convey your ideas precisely and (2) entertain with sentence variety at the same time!  Good luck with these exercises!

chapters 7-17

Quiz based on chapters 7- 17

1.       Why did Queen caution Japheth about the amount of water he should pull from the well? Ans: There was a drought

2.      Japheth  boasted about his knowledge about which letter? Ans: The Queen’s letter

3.      How many companies did Deacon Bogle raise? Ans: Four companies

4.      How many men were in each of Bogle’s company ? Ans: 50 men

5.      How did Charlie Murray escape from the gaol? Ans: Moses Bogle and company grabbed when the constables were taking him out of the lock up for remand.

6.      Name five places Bogle’s army of men came from. Ans: Mount Lebanus, Bath, Coley, Barracks, Somerset, Serge Islands, Coward’s Ridge and Monklands.

7.      Why was a troop of militia called out to form a line infront of the court house?

Ans: A large crowd had gathered along with Bogle’s army.

8.      Outline the conversation between Bogle and the Lieutenant. Ans: Pg 50- 52

9.      Who read the Riot Act? Ans: Custos von Ketelhodt

10.  Where did Japheth and Grandpa hide when the riot started? Ans: In the nearby Anglican Church.

11.   Outline the experience in the church hall. Ans: chapter 13- 14

12.  What was Amelia’s reaction to the uprising in Morant Bay?

13.  Describe the secret meeting between Grandpa Joe and Paul Bogle. Ans: Chapter 17

preparation for test

Explain : This asks the student to say why something happens. They have to use reference from the novella to substantiate the points made.

Outline: This asks students to list the details of something.

Describe: This asks students to tell how something looks, smells, give a pictorial view for the reader.

Discuss: This asks students to show both sides of a situation, the positive and the negative. After which, students should come to a conclusion, as to which side they agree with. 

Sample questions

1.      Outline three events that led up to the uprising in Morant Bay.

2.      Describe the scene at the Morant Bay court house on October 11, 1865.

3.      Describe the gathering in Stony Gut on the evening of October 10, 1865.

4.      Discuss Paul Bogle’s strategy in dealing with the injustices of the people of St.Thomas.

5.      Explain how the Murray’s family was affected by the Morant Bay Rebellion.