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%d bloggers like this:Whatever you do – whether you’re a student, employed in an office job, or working as a freelancer – I can guarantee that at some point in your life, you’ll need to sit down and write a formal business letter.
It might be to a customer, to an employer with a job that you want, or to apply for university funding. Perhaps it’ll even be to a literary agent or publisher who just might take on your undiscovered novel. Of course, you’ll want the letter to be well-written – but almost as important is knowing how to format it correctly. This article is about US business letter format (for UK readers, don’t worry, I’ll be writing a follow-up one for you.)
The main formats for business letters in the US are called full block format and modified block format.
Full block format means that all the elements of the letter are left-justified so that the start of each line is at the left-hand margin. This is the more formal style, so use it if you’re unsure which to go for.
Modified block format means that some elements of the letter are shifted over to the right. Nowadays, this style is appropriate in most contexts.
Here’s a full block format letter
And a modified block format one:
Let’s break those down into the main elements, in top-to-bottom order:
Your Address
Your address, also known as the “return address”, should come first. (Note that this applies when using standard plain paper. If you have letter headed paper, you should omit this.)
123 Acacia Avenue
Your return address should be positioned:
On the left-hand side if you’re using full block format
On the right-hand side (tab across, rather than right-aligning) if you’re using modified block format
Why put your address? Even if the recipient has your details in their address book, you want it to be as hassle-free as possible for them to reply – you’re likely to receive a speedier response.
Directly beneath your address, put the date on which the letter was written:
May 15, 2008
To avoid any confusion, especially if you are writing to a business abroad, it is best to put the date in word rather than number form, and you should omit the “th”.
The date should be positioned on the left-hand side, for full block format and for modified block format
Why put the date? It’s standard practice to include the date on which the letter was written. Correspondence is often filed in date order. It makes it much easier for the recipient to send a timely reply, and easier for you to chase up an answer if necessary. Eg. “In my letter of May 15…”
Reference Line
I’ve not included this on the diagram as guidance varies on where it should be placed. You may include a reference line, starting with “Re:” This is often used when corresponding with large companies, or when applying for a job. The reference line can either appear beneath the date, OR beneath the recipient’s address.
If you use a reference line, you should usually omit the subject line (see below).
The reference line should be left-aligned for both full and modified block formats.
Why put a reference line? You should use a reference line if the recipient has requested specific information, such as a job number or invoice number, or if you’re replying to a letter. This makes it easier for the recipient to get a speedy response to you.
Recipient’s Name and Address
Beneath this, you should put the name and address of the person you’re writing to, just as it would appear on the envelope. If you’re using a window envelope, this should be aligned on the page to show through the window – but even if it won’t be visible until the letter is opened, it should still be included.
The recipient’s name and address should be positioned on the left-hand side, for both formats.
Why put their address? If you’re writing to someone in an office, it probably won’t be them who opens the post. An administrator is likely to do so – and letters may be separated from their envelopes at this stage. Particularly if there are multiple departments within one building, or if you are starting your letter “Dear Bob”, a name and address ensures your letter reaches the correct recipient.
The Greeting
After their address, you should leave a line’s space then put “Dear Mr Jones”, “Dear Bob” or “Dear Sir/Madam” as appropriate. Follow this with a colon.
The greeting, sometimes called the “salutation”, should always be left-aligned.
Why put a greeting? Business letters are a formal type of writing, and it’s considered polite to start with a greeting. Although you can get away with starting emails “Hi” or “Hello”, letters follow more conservative conventions.
The Subject
Optionally, you may wish to include a subject for your letter. This is becoming more common, perhaps as people have become used to the subject lines of emails. If you do put a subject line, it should be in uppercase, directly below the “Dear name:”
The subject (if you include one) should be left-aligned for full block format, but can be either left aligned or centred for modified block format.
Why put the subject? It’s a good idea to include a subject so that the recipient can see at a glance what the letter refers to. Try to be succinct but include as much information as possible, eg. “Funding application from Joe Bloggs, candidate 222-456”.
The Text of Your Letter
Now, finally, you can write the main body of your letter. Your text should have:
Single-spacing between lines
A blank line (NOT an indent) before each new paragraph
(And, of course, you should conform to all the usual rules of grammar, punctuation and spelling: for example, ensuring that you start each sentence with a capital letter, and finish with a full stop.)
Why leave blank lines? In the business world, it’s standard practise to put a blank line between paragraphs. This helps to break up the text on the page and make it more readable.
The Closing
After the body of text, your letter should end with an appropriate closing phrase and a comma. The safest option is “Yours faithfully” (when you don’t know the name of the person to whom you are writing, ie. when you began “Dear Sir/Madam”) or “Yours sincerely” (when you do know their name). If you are already acquainted with the recipient, it may be appropriate to use a phrase such as “Best regards”, “With warmest regards”, or “Kind regards”.
The closing should be:
Left-aligned for full block format
On the right (tab across so it matches up with your address) for modified block format
Why use these phrases? Although “Yours sincerely” and “Yours faithfully” might sound archaic, they are time-honoured ways to close a formal letter.
Your Name and Signature
Put several blank lines after the “Yours sincerely,” or “Yours faithfully,” then type your name. You can optionally put your job title and company name on the line beneath this.
Joe Bloggs
Marketing Director, BizSolutions
Your name and signature should be:
Left-aligned for full block format
On the right (tab across so it matches up with your address) for modified block format
Why leave a blank space? The blank space is so that, when you’ve printed the letter, you can sign it with your name. This is taken as proof that the letter really is from the person whose name is typed at the bottom. Sometimes, another person may sign the letter on your behalf. If this is the case, they should put the letters “p.p.” before their name, which stands for the Latin per procurationem meaning “by agency”.
Enjoy writing your letters, and use the examples above to help you with the formatting if you do get stuck.
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76 Responses to “How to Format a US Business Letter”
Many thanks for another informative post.
It’s always good to know (or be reminded of) how to format a business letter – I look forward to seeing your UK version!
Are you sure you have the closing phrases in the right order?
Or is it different in the US?
In the UK, I think it is more common to use “Yours faithfully” when one does not know the recipient’s name, and “Yours sincerely” when one does.
I am looking forward to the UK version of this subject. It was interesting to read the reasons for specific formatting items. In school we weren’t given the reasons, just the format.
Last month I need to write a letter to a VIP. It was perhaps one of the most important letters I ever wrote. Before I was finished, I had all these books on my desk:
“Standard Handbook for Secretaries”
“Etiquette” by Emily Post … the July 1944 war edition
“Protocol, The Complete Handbook of Diplomatic, Official, and Social Usage” by McCaffree, Innis, and Sand
“A Pocket Style Manual” by Diana Hacker
As you can see—I was a wreck over this letter. But I was satisfied by the time I was finished, and received an encouraging response in reply to the letter.
Michael R. Gale
I have been reading your daily writing tips for several months and I generally find them informative.
However, I must take exception to your column today regarding business letters.
Regardless of whether one uses full block or modified block, the subject matter should be left aligned after the inside address and before the salutation.
It would look like this:
Inside Address
Inside Address
Inside Address
Subject of letter
Dear Mr. Jones:
In my 30 plus years of writing and receiving formal business letters I have never seen the subject after the salutation until today.
Again, thank you for your tips.
I hope you will reconsider your position (no pun intended) on the location of the subject matter.
Best regards,
Michael R. Gale
sheilagh romero
Was there a specific word used for the “closing”?
Example: Dear Sir is the salutation, what is the “Sincerely” called or is it just “the closing”?
Hi Sheilagh,
I’ve only ever seen it called “the closing”, sometimes “the complimentary closing” … but if anyone else has seen a different name for this section, let us know!
Michael, after a couple of responses along the same lines as yours, I’ve amended the post above to include the Reference Line and explain when it might be necessary to include one. Thanks for querying this!
Ann Massina
Help, can you please advise is this (below) correct or not
Yours sincerely
TPW Consulting
Principal: <> e: <>
Contact: <> e: <>
I’m not quite sure about your use of “Per:” there. What’s it supposed to signify? If you’re signing the letter on behalf of someone, use “p.p.”
I would also put a comma after “Yours sincerely”.
The rest looks fine!
chanel denise
How to write a letter regarding the failure of NVC to recieve the previous letter forwarded to them.I was told to accomplish another documents of the same nature again.How am i to write
the letter.
Raj Senthil
After spending more than couple of hours at this website, I really feel that “I have missed it for a long time”. Wonderful effort.
wonderful site. saw it on webscape (click on line).
Would be nice if you could add like a 100 business letters for reference or to use as an example.
thank you.
I am confused as to the correct formatting of the following:
Should the Subject and Reference lines of a business letter precede the salutation?
The business I work for requires the Subject precede the saluation and many times a Reference line is included in the same letter. How should these two lines be formatted?
I don’t think this is correct, but would like to know the correct format.
Is there a sample I can refer to?
thanks so much
I would to thank for the good training but I have a lot of problem for writing all kind letter especially in my work because am the secretary.
I would appreciate if you can assist in that issue
Fabian Yoon
I have to make a
chance to sell our machines to U.S. contractors. So I write a circular mail revealing my mind to customer.
But I don’t know how to describe that into sentences
We manufacture so good machines such as concrete polishing machines,concrete grinding machines and scarifiers as well as vacuum cleaner needed for that operations.
We have made that for 12 years in domestic market and get a good reputation from customers in Korea.
Peadar Cronin
To whom it may concern:
I have one question:
when does one use right-alignment for the text of a business letter?
Or is not ever considered appropriate to use right-alignment?
Thank you for your response.
Sincerely,
Peadar Cronin
Lily you’re hopeless
Stalin.D.J
I want to more business sample letters for my business purpose so, could you please sent this forment and sample as soon as.
Thanking you.
Dudes im reporting you to the police for theft of my name!
Micheal Jackson
Please may you send some more info on Business Letter as I have to write a Business Letter to my email. Thanks
Micheal? may you send…!, a letter to your e-mail? were you not dead?
if there is attachement to the letter how do you indicate?
ahmed belal
I want know from you that the format of the official letter and internal official letter.Thanks.
I’ve just discovered I’ve been putting the date in the wrong place this whole time (that is, unless I’ve been writing to somebody in the UK, which I haven’t been).
Thanks for this handy guide.
Paul F. D’Eramo
When enclosing a resume is it appropriate to indicate at the lowest left column
I have a question actually, if someone wants to help.
I am writing a letter for my boss and he requests that there is two signature lines, one for himself and one for his boss.
How do you include 2 closing people on one letter?
When there is more than one signature, in what order do they go?
Highest ranking first?
Or lowest ranking first?
how do I format the recipient’s name when it is being sent to 2 people at the same company?
Mr. Fred Flintstone
Executive Director
Mr. Barney Rubble
Dean of Rock Affairs
DIno University
1 Lodge Ave.
Bedrock, TX 00001
I want to learn well correspondend to other in English
learnt something
What about signing for your boss as:
Sincerely,
My Boss/me
Is this still appropriate?
Where did p.p. come from and can you show it in a closing form please?
Cynthia Ashley
your article about format us business letter can help me to write a job letter, but i need more information for reference, btw your article very help me one more step ahead
thank for all i know the that i want to because of your good writing, and you give me all example of all forms of business letter pleas..? can i?
I’m writing a proposal to be submitted to a board for review on behalf of a client. What is the correct business writing etiqutte for this?
Should i address this is submitted on behalf of ‘client’?
i want a sample quotation in us format
Standard American business correspondence does not use “yours faithfully” as a c the preferred closing is “sincerely” or “sincerely yours.”
In addition, if the name of the person to whom the letter is being written is not known, do not use “Dear Sir or Madam.”
Instead, address the letter to the job title: “Dear Customer Service Manager” or “Dear Purchasing Director.”
Can I start a formal letter with “Before or “After”?
EnglishTeacher
I agree with ProfK regarding the complimentary close of a letter in the US.
We Americans never use ‘Yours faithfully’.
That is strictly British usage.
We write ‘Sincerely,’ or ‘Sincerely yours,’.
It is true that the salutation ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ is not common in the US but maybe Americans should adopt it.
I think the British term is very courteous, convenient and appropriate.
And that’s what my American colleague and I teach our students here in Germany.
i want to say that this formate for the business letter is not easy to understand please mention easy letter for business
I think ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ is more elegant (and chivalrous) than ‘Dear Sir or Madame’. Likewise the more genteel ‘Cordially’, when appropriate, to the rather insipid ‘Sincerely’.
I LOVE this website.
Will use it often.
I’m here looking for the meaning of “####, but so far have been unsuccessful.
Does anyone know what this means?
Annie J Solomon
I wanted to know if you had a sample letter or a template which assisted in how to write a professional letter. I wanted to know the exact number of spaces I should enter, and if I have to double space after each period.
I have found two types of business letter format, but i studied five types, where are remaining?
Tell me as soon as Possible.
Best regards.
In case your seeking an employment does the letter have to be addressed to the Manager or Human Resource & Administration? eg.
To: Chief Manager,
Thro: Human Resource & Administration,
P.O. Box xxx,
“Terry” and “jk” –
@Terry, if you’re seeing #### in a press release or raw news article, it indicates something called “boilerplate” language.
Boilerplate is basically that blurb at the end of a news article that describes the subject of the article in a neat little tie-together (ie: a company that issues a release to announce a new partner might end with, “Acme Supplies, LLP, is the largest distributor of widgets in the Southeast region. Mr. Partner will work in the Atlanta office.”
The idea is that if a publication has to cut the last few paragraphs from the end of the article to fit in a small space, they can run the boilerplate at the end so the article still concludes smoothly.
*Side note: This is the same reason news writing is front-loaded with important facts and ends with less important ones.
@”jk” – How would you use “Ladies and Gentlemen” when addressing a single reader (which I find is usually the case with a formal letter)?
Perhaps, “Lady and Gentleman”?
“Dear Sir or Madam” is certainly a widely accepted salutation in the U.S.
how do i need to write a letter stating that we are a software web developer looking for the services to give them and becomes a business partners.
I would like to see a sample on how to use the pp:
when signing someones name please
I am writing a letter of recommendation to a friend and colleague in education.
She is a special ed teacher and I offer a program to her kids.
I serve in ministry, and over the years own/run as many as three companies.
How do I close the letter where titles and companies go under my name?
Sincerely,
Stokes ______
Founder/President
Company A, Company B, Company C
Please Help!
Two questions:
1. Is it acceptable for busines letters to indent the addressee to align with an envelope window? It looks odd and like a mistake has been made.
2. How do you address a letter wiht multiple recipients? That is each pers not a ‘cc’ situation.
I would put each name followed by the address under the date but how do you follow Dear ??????
RAVI KUMAR VASHISHTHA
I want to write a letter as per U.K. standard,kindly help me.
How do I format my business letter if I’m emailing it, particularly the signature line, since I can’t sign it?
In high school, (in the 80’s!), we were taught that the date is always before the “Dear… ” section, and NEVER before the address:
My address (right-aligned)
Business address (left-aligned)
RE: below the “to” address (left-aligned)
DATE (right-aligned)
Dear… and so on, and so on.
The reason we were taught to exclude the date from the top is because the date is NOT part of the “header”, rather part of the content of the letter. Until recently, I’ve noticed that the date was being placed above the corresponding address but I always attributed to people not knowing better and getting used to seeing it wrong. Personally, I think it makes sense ONLY to include the date right before the “Dear….” due to it being part of the CONTENT of any letter, re-confirming the time when everything was STATED.
My two cents. (0:
Ayaka Dennis
I am so impressed with the above explanation, as it create room for better understanding of how to write a well and a wonderful written formal letter.
I was wondering can I put a phone number along with my address?
By the way thank you so much for your help.
I need the information regarding business letter to make partnership of relevant business.
Best Regards,
Are there fonts that are considered to be professional vs casual?
We don’t say “Yours faithfully” in the US. That will make it clear that you are not a local. It depends what you want to communicate, but you may want adapt for American culture. We say “Sincerely yours”
we dont say sincerly yours we say sincerly for your info
Ma. Concepcion M. Sesbreno
Thank you for your tips, I hope you will consider my request to have a sample of a different kind of business letter, that we really helps to our business reporting. I thank you for immediate action for this matter.
samueljnolewis
that was very helpfull to me because i did not know how exactly to write a letter of corespondance
Anas Thaha
Dear Sir ,
I am Anas Thaha from Saudi arabia , working in a freight forwarding company .I need to different types of emails like information , problem solving emails , instructions etc….to
customer , shipping line , broker and
local transporters . Here i request to you send some good official sense eamils
Dear Sir ,
I am Nirmal from UAE, working in a freight forwarding company .I need to different types of emails like information , problem solving emails , instructions etc….to customer , shipping line , broker and local transporters . Here i request to you send some good official sense eamils
Why do so few people understand puncuation.
After “Regards” there should be a full stop, not a comma.
Regards is a one word sentance and is a shortned version of “Thanks for reading the above.”
Putting a comma means that you are thanking (or giving regards) to yourself, as in “Thanks for reading the above, Mr Simmons.”
Irven Kuykendall(kirk-kin-doll)
I hope I can, so you’all will understand what I’m trying to do in my email writing. I would like to know the procedure to start this sentence under “email writing?”
When writing a modified block letter how far or how many inches to the right do you tab too. I have heard that you tab straight to the center and start writing, but it doesn’t seem to look right. Is tabbing further right considered business acceptable or no?
Thank you for the refresher course on Business Letter Formats. When you are finished don’t forget to use the spell check i.e. practise vs. practice, above and behind “Why leave blank lines?” {:&)
“Why do so few people understand puncuation. After “Regards” there should be a full stop, not a comma.
Regards is a one word sentance and is a shortned version of “Thanks for reading the above.” Putting a comma means that you are thanking (or giving regards) to yourself, as in “Thanks for reading the above, Mr Simmons.””
Actually, the comma IS correct.
The single word ‘Regards’ is no more a sentence in and of itself than your name.
As such, it does not need to follow proper sentence structure.
The period, or full stop, is no more necessary than ensuring that the (to use your term) ‘sentance’ [sic] has a proper subject and predicate, or that the verb, or lack thereof, matches the subject.
You are reading far too much into the ending of the letter.
The signature block was never meant to be read as if it were yet another ‘shortned’ [sic] paragraph.
Perhaps you should read up on the matter.
Thank you very very much ! This is most helpful. Finally the differences between US and UK business letters explained and clarified …
E & L Reible
As i just typed in, but lost it while i returned to the heading of this website to learn the name – which now i SEE, just above all this – forgive me, i am new to web-land…
Husband and i are trying to figure out the proper manner in which to sign our mutual banking letters, using both of our signatures and typed names.
Shall we block an area lg enough for the both of us to sign together, w/ our typed names below them, OR should we type our two names, leaving areas for each of us to sign, above our own respective names?
E & L Reible
We are trying to find direction for proper positioning of a pair of signatures, w/ their respective, typed ‘who from’ names.
Should the block area be lg enough for two, or as the case may be, more hand signatures, OR should each signature be partnered w/ its typed name?
P.S. i came back !) to see what just happened & 2) to correct my spelling.
Thank you!
Despite my apparent duplication, i have no
assurance that i will even see assistance, until next-never-day, as my Mother used to say the phrase.
This was extremely helpful. Thank you. I needed to write a letter to a judge concerning a case. I wanted it to be correct.
The only thing I might ask to be added is a list of appropriate greetings for certain officials. “Dear Mr. ” may not always be the only choice. You could add things like The Honorable, or Your Excellency… depending on what the official title of the person you are addressing. I had to look elsewhere for that. But everything else was covered here!!
Annellen Barr
Is the correct spacing between sentences within a paragraph
two or three?
I was told that 3 spaces is correct in computer typing whereas the old typewriter was 2 spaces.
Help from this astute group please.
These formats are a mix of personal and business because they are addressed to the person.
A business letter should be addressed to the company, and then to the attention of the person.
This is from my 7th grade typing class in 1962.
Apparently the article’s form of address is another one of those errors that has crept into popular use so much that it is no longer considered wrong — by those who don’t know better.
Hmmm…What comes through in the above is that when it comes to business letter formatting, either there really is no universally accepted “correct” standard (either anymore or ever), or no one is really able to say authortitavely what it is. Maybe even both, as confounded as this seems. You’d think that something as common as a business letter would be something easily standardized to a degree that no one even gave it much thought. Sort of like the format for addresses (at least in the US, don’t know about elsewhere). But then I have to explain the generic address block from the example:
123 Acacia Avenue
Huh? Is Anywhere the state? Do zip codes begin with letter prefixes? If so I think they’re classified top secret. Is this supposed to be:
123 Acacia Avenue
What kind of address is that? Not American, AFAIK. So I guess NOTHING is settled, finished, and done. I still use question marks for questions, right? ?
Kirk Carter
There is much to say in the world of writing business letters, however I try to be as personable as I can, never trying to seem too scripted, just try to get to the point as fast as I can and get on with the day…short and sweet is my motto!
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