Salutations

Style and punctuation of addresses

Order of inside addresses

After the name of the person and/or company receiving the letter, the order and style of addresses in the UK and in the US, is as follows:

British style	American style
1. Inside Address (company)
Messrs Black & Sons, 159 Knightsbridge, London SWL 87C   The International Trading Company 24 Churchill Avenue Maidstone, Kent ZH8 92B	International Trading Company Sabas Building 507 A. Flores Street Manila Philippines   The American Magazine 119 Sixth Avenue New York, NY 11011
2. Addressing an individual on company business
The Manager The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Main Office Kuala Lumpur Malaysia   Dear Sir, Dear Sirs,   Messrs Mahmound & Son 329 Coast Road Karachi, Pakistan	Mr. C.C. Pan Far East Jewelry Co. 68 Queen's Road East Hong Kong   Dear Sir: Gentlemen:   The Standard Oil Company Midland Building Cleveland, Ohio 44115
3. Addressing an individual on private business
T. Hardy, Esq., c/o Waltons Ltd., 230 Snow Street, Birmingham, England     Dear Tom,   Miss Claire Waterson c/o Miller & Sons Pty. Ltd. Box 309 Sydney NSW 2000 Australia	Mr. C. Manzi Credito Milano Via Cavour 86 Milan Italy   Dear Mr. Manzi,   Continental Supply Company 321 Surawongse Bangkok Thailand

Both the addresses may be 'blocked' (i.e. each line is vertically aligned with the one above) or 'indented', as below:

Bredgade 51,

DK 1269,

Copenhagen K,

DENMARK

There are no rules stating that one style or the other must be used, though blocking, at least in addresses, is more common. In any case you must be consistent, i.e. do not block the sender's address and then indent the inside address.

If punctuation is used, each line of the address is followed by a comma, except the last line. But, the majority of firms now use open punctuation, i.e. without any commas.

'For the attention of'

An alternative to including the recipient's name or position in the address is to use an 'attention of'.

e.g. For the attention of Mr. R. Singh (British English) or

Attention: Mr. E.G. Glass, Jr. (American English)

· Dear Sir opens a letter written to a man whose name you do not know.

· Dear Sirs is used to address a company. Note: in the US - Gentlemen.

· Dear Madam is used to address a woman, whether single or married, whose name you do not know.

· Dear Sir or Madam is used to address a person you know neither the name nor the sex.

· When you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, the salutation takes the form of Dear followed by the person's surname. Initials or first names are not generally used in salutations: Dear Mr. Smith, not Dear Mr. J. Smith. The comma after the salutation is optional.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27