6. Personal Business Letters

Business letters are written not only by the business employees. They are also written by others to conduct personal business.

Normally, if you know the person that you are writing to and have met him/her socially, you will want to make your letter less formal and more friendly.

Patterns

Here are some specimen of business letters:

a) Request Letters

The Brush Group Plc

Duke’s Court

Duke Street

St. James’s

LONDON S.W.I.

England

Dear Sir,

We are interested in the equipment produced by your company and advertised in the latest issue of «Industry».

Please send us your latest catalogues and price lists of this equipment. We would be much obliged if we could have them by return.

We are looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

for V/O Prommashexport

(N.Petrov)

Director

b) Information Letters (notifications, letters of advice, etc.)

Notification letter

2nd Jun, 1990

CONTRACT # 57/187

Dear Sir,

We would like to notify you that our inspector Mr Pavlov will arrive in London on 17th June this Year, Aeroflot flight # 367.

We look forward to having the results of his inspection as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,

V/O PROMMASHEXPORT

Letter of Advice = Advice Note

16th July, 1990

Dear Sir,

Your order # 1355

We are writing you to inform you that we have shipped the first grinding machine against the above Order by. Vinnitsa this morning.

Acknowledgement of receipt in good order and condition will be appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

Information Letter

13th Aug, 1990

Dear Mr Brown,

I would like to tell you that a delegation from our company of three people will arrive in London in the second half of this month.

I would be grateful if you could arrange their visit to some of your factories to see the equipment we spoke about in operation.

I thank in advance for your help and cooperation.

Your sincerely,

c) Invitation Letters

There are several ways of extending an invitation to a social gathering:

1. The formal way, by means of a written invitation in the third person, often on printed cards in whose blank spaces the name and the details of the gathering are inserted.

2. Less formal way, by an ordinary friendly letter.

3. The least formal way when an invitation is given in conversation or over the telephone.

The invitation should be sent about two or three weeks before the event.

The form of the reply is determined by the form of the invitation. RSVP (Respondez s’il vous plaît = Please send your reply) is usually written on the right-hand side. But even if it is not written, courtesy dictates that a reply should be sent.

The Invitation Card (the formal way)

The Chairman and Directors

of THE BRUSH GROUP PLC

request the pleasure of your company at a reception to be held at the Reception Hall, ……………at 7 p.m. on Friday, 24th April, 1990.

Evening Dress RSVP

to the Secretary

Acceptance of the Invitation

The answers to formal invitations are written in the third person, without the opening salutation, the complimentary closing or signature:

Mr Ivan Pavlov thanks the Chairman and Directors of the Brush Group Plc for their kind invitation to a Reception to be held at the Reception Hall, ……. at 7 p.m. on Friday, 24th April, 1990, which he has much pleasure in accepting.

Refusing the Invitation

Mr Ivan Pavlov thanks the Chairman and Directors of the Brush Group Plc for their kind invitation to a Reception to be held at the Reception Hall, ……. at 7 p.m. on Friday, 24th April, 1990, but regrets that he is unable to accept owing to a previous engagement on that evening.

An Invitation Letter (less formal)

7th Aug, 1990

Dear Mr I. Pavlov,

It would give us great pleasure if you and your wife could join us for dinner on Saturday, the 23rd August, at seven o’clock.

Yours sincerely,

Anthony Brown

Accepting the Invitation

10th Aug, 1990

Dear Mr Anthony Brown,

Thank you very much for your invitation to dinner on Saturday, the 23rd August. Both my wife and I will be delighted to come (or We are pleased to accept).

Yours sincerely,

I. Pavlov

Refusing the Invitation

10th Aug, 1990

Dear Mr Anthony Brown,

Thank you very much for your invitation to dinner on Saturday, the 23rd August, but I very much regret that we are unable to accept your invitation owing to a previous engagement.

Yours sincerely,

I. Pavlov