How to write a business letter in English? Affectionate and polite forms of address in English

Everyone knows that the “knowledge of foreign languages” column is in the resume of any serious company. And if you write “free possession” in such a column, then the chances of getting a tidbit increase many times over. And the phrase "business English" will have an almost magical effect.

As a rule, business English involves written communication. And this is good. Firstly, there is always the opportunity to think and get into the dictionary. Secondly, there are so many standard expressions that it is practically not difficult for a person who speaks English from the Pre-Intermediate level and above to write a decent letter and send it to business partners.

The main thing in writing a letter is its framing. That is the beginning and the end. As they say, people are greeted by clothes, and the last words are remembered best of all (thanks to Stirlitz). Accordingly, if you start your appeal correctly and end it just as correctly, then the very essence of the letter will be perceived better, and the overall impression of your speech in general can play a decisive role.

By adhering to certain writing rules, you will definitely achieve success. Let's start writing a business letter in English!

Greetings

As befits all polite people: any communication begins with a greeting. And in the same not tricky way, the structure of a business letter also begins with a greeting.

Dear Sir or Madame- an appeal to a person if you do not know either the name, or the title, or even whether it is a man or a woman. Important: after this greeting, no exclamation point is put! And even no punctuation mark is put at all, just the next sentence comes from a new line. You can put a comma if you really want to.

Dear Mr White(Ms White / Mrs White / Miss Catcher) - addressing the addressee by last name (after Mr, Ms, etc., the name is not put!) I hope everyone remembers that Mr is an appeal to a man, Miss - to an unmarried woman, Mrs - to a married woman, Ms - to a woman who does not want to emphasize her marital status.

Important: never write with the full word Mister, Mistress - only in abbreviation (Mr, Mrs)!

Dear Mr John- addressing the addressee by name (with a closer business acquaintance)

Dear Nick- addressing the addressee by name with a very old, almost friendly business acquaintance

It is important to focus on appeals to a woman. Now the universal appeal Ms (this is both married and unmarried) is very common. Therefore, in business letters they often write exactly this way so as not to offend :) If you know for sure that the addressee is a married woman, you can safely indicate Mrs. But if you know that you are definitely not married, it’s better not to take risks with Miss. Because some of it, oddly enough, offends.

After the greeting, you can remind yourself. More precisely, about the last communication: by e-mail, by phone, in person, etc. Even if the memory of the addressee is not girlish and he addressed you 5 minutes ago.

Thank you for your message.- Thank you for your message.

Thank you for your e-mail of… Thank you for your email dated (date)…

With reference to your phone call/ letter of (date)/ advertisement in “NW Magazine”…- in relation to your phone call / letter (on such and such date) / ad in NW Magazine ...

In reply (in answer/ in response) to your request… In response to your request...

In accordance (in conformity) with your request …- As per your request...

In compliance with your request…- As requested by you...

Further to our conversation/telephone talk…- In continuation of our conversation / telephone conversation, etc.

We are writing in response to your publication in… We are writing in response to your posting in...

We were pleased to receive your inquiry… We were pleased to receive your request...

Reasons for contacting

After the greeting and reminders, there should be a phrase that will bring the addressee up to date and explain why you are actually sending him this letter.

We are writing to inquire about…- We write to inquire about...

We apologize for… We apologize for...

We confirm that…- We confirm that...

We would like to clarify… We would like to clarify...

We kindly ask you to… We kindly ask you...

I am writing to enquire about/ to apologize for/ in connection with/ get more details about/ explain…- I am writing to you to inquire about / to apologize for / in connection with / to find out details about / to explain ...

This is to confirm … To confirm…

We hereby inform you … We hereby inform you…

Letter Completion

This is your catchphrase.

As always, if you have any questions, please send them directly to me. - As always, if you have any questions, please contact me directly.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me. /Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly- If you have any questions, feel free to contact me / directly to me, please.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. - If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact (literal translation).

Thank you and I am looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks in advance.- Thank you in advance.

Please contact us again if we can help in any way.- Please contact us again if we can help you in any way.

Signature, or formula of politeness

The last touch remains. In Russian official letters, everything ends in a standard way: "With respect, ...". In English, it is customary to say "sincerely yours." But in accordance with etiquette, it will have to be translated into Russian anyway as "with respect."

yours faithfully,
Sincerely, ... (if the name of the person is unknown, i.e. the letter began with Dear Sir or Madam)

yours sincerely,
Sincerely, ... (if you know the name, i.e. the letter began with Dear Mr / Miss / Ms / Mrs)

If you have been communicating with a person for a long time and address him in a letter by name, then it is appropriate to use any of the following options (you can translate as “best wishes”):

best wishes
kind regards,
Warmest regards.

For sim - I'm sorry.

kind regards,
iLoveEnglish.

We hope that this sample business letter in English will help you find a new job or create business contacts in the near future.

Girls are different ... And appeals to them too. Let's look at the peculiarities of the English appeal to women of different social status, because the rules of good manners oblige us to know this.

In Western culture, when introducing a woman (in oral and written speech), it is customary to indicate not only her first and last name, but also her “status”. This status is usually denoted by a special word, which often acts as an appeal. There are no analogues of such treatment in Russian culture. Appeal to a woman with the designation of her status was typical for holders of a noble title. In general, this division of statuses is not typical for Russian culture, so the English “Miss” and “Mrs.” cannot be unambiguously compared with similar appeals to women in Russian culture.

The Miz[UK spelling], Ms. [ˈmɪz], , [ˈməz], [ˈməs]) - "Madam ...". This treatment is neutral in English-speaking countries. Ms is placed before the surname of both a married and unmarried woman, if her marital status is unknown or the woman deliberately emphasizes her equality with a man. This appeal appeared in the 1950s and came into use since the 1970s at the initiative of representatives of the feminist movement.

As The American Heritage Book of English Usage states, “Ms. eliminates the need to guess is the addressee Mrs. or Miss: using Ms., it is impossible to make a mistake. Whether the female addressee is married or not, whether she has changed her last name or not, the use of Ms. always correct." In its style guide, The Times states: “Today, Ms is completely acceptable if a woman wants to be called that, or if it is not known exactly, Mrs. she or Miss. The Guardian, which uses "women's titles" exclusively in editorials, advises in its style guide to "use Ms for women...unless they have expressed a desire to use Miss or Mrs."

Appeal Ms. is the standard term for a woman, unless another preferred term is given to her. For the standard use of Ms. etiquette authors also perform, including Judith Martin (also known as "Miss Manners").

Appeal to an unmarried girl

Miss (Miss)- an English-language address to an unmarried woman. Is an abbreviation for mistress(an obsolete form of addressing a woman). It can be used before a surname or as a direct address. An analogue in Russian can be the word "girl" or the pre-revolutionary "lady" or "mademoiselle".

The address "miss" is also used in relation to the teacher, regardless of her marital status. This rule is associated with a period when only unmarried women could engage in teaching activities.

Appeal to a married woman

Mrs (Mrs)- Appeal to a married woman. Addressing a woman using her husband's name is rare nowadays, although it is possible to address a couple jointly, such as Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. It is generally considered polite to address women as Miss (Ms.) rather than Mrs., especially if the woman's preference for addressing her is not known, especially when communicating in writing.

Punctuation after abbreviation

A period is put on the letter after the abbreviations:

• Dear Miss Jones! Dear Miss Jones!
• Dear Mrs. Wilson! Dear Mrs Wilson!
• Dear Ms. Smith! Dear Miss Smith!

If the appeal is written in full, then the point is not put:

• Miss Dana Simms - Miss Dana Simms.

Let's summarize:

• Ms- a polite form of addressing a woman in letters without a direct indication of marital status.
• Miss- Appeal to an unmarried woman.
• Mrs- Appeal to a married woman.

Adapted texts in English
Rhyming words in English
English female names

A person studying a foreign language should be aware that the beauty of a language lies in its diversity. Of course, this is primarily a tool that allows us to convey our thoughts to the listener or reader, but the form is no less important than the content. Moreover, native speakers, listening to your speech, will truly appreciate your rich vocabulary. And this, you see, is a significant reason to be proud of the results of your labors. This requirement applies not only to advanced English lovers, but also to those who are just taking up English for beginners and with mute horror for the first time open a dictionary or grammar of the English language. Useful words and their synonyms should be sought out, written down, memorized and used in speech whenever possible. In this, I hope the LINGVISTOV team will provide you with all possible assistance.

I don’t know about you, but I often get bored with hackneyed “dear”, “baby”, “bro” and other platitudes. In conversational English addresses, too, there is where to expand in terms of vocabulary, which can be replenished with slang expressions heard in films in English or read in books and magazines.

But first, let's take a look at the courtesy. The most common forms are Mr.(Mister) Mrs.(Missis) and Ms.(Miss - for a young girl or unmarried woman), to which the surname of this person is added. For example, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to DIE!" If you don't know the last name of the person you're addressing, use Sir, madam or miss; however, the latter can cause trouble if the girl is still married (tested the hard way). Very controversial is the use of Ma'am, an abbreviation for Madam:

In the UK, it is almost never used and is considered an obsolete form.

In the US, the use of "madam" is limited to very formal occasions, while "ma'am" is common in everyday speech to an adult woman who you think may already have a family and children, especially if she is older. you. In the South and Southwest of the United States, "ma'am" is an address to any woman or girl.

There are many friendly addresses, as well as affectionate ones, in the English language. Addresses to friends vary depending on which version of English you prefer, however, they are not limited to them.

british english:

chap: "Dear old chap, I've missed you!" (Old man, I missed you!)

mate(also Australia, New Zealand): “Hey, mate, you want to hit the pub?” (Man, let's go to the pub?)

pal(also popular in the US): “My most useful acting tip came from my pal John Wayne. Talk low, talk slow, and don't say too much.” - Michael Caine (The most helpful acting advice I got from my friend John Wayne. Speak in a low voice, speak slowly and speak little. - Michael Caine)

crony: “I"m going to the pub with me cronies” (I went to the pub with my buddies.)

mucker(Ireland): “What about ye, mucker? Are you in or out?” (So ​​buddy? Are you in?)

american english:

homie: "Time to go, homie." (It's time to leave, buddy.)

home slice: “You’re coming with us tonight, home slice? “Sure.”

amigo: "Hey, amigo, long time no see." (Hey amigo, how many years, how many winters!)

buddy: “I'm going to have some beers with my buddy tonight.” (Today my friend and I will have a couple of drinks.)

bestie: "You and I are besties for life!" (You and I are best friends for life!)

dawg: “Waddup, dawg? “Nothing, jus’ chillin.”

fella: “Good to see you fella.” Most often used in the meaning of “guy, person (male)”: “Who are these fellas?” (Who are these people?)

dude: "Dude, where's my car?" (classic)

Affectionate appeals to close people are also very diverse. Here are some of them, in most cases used regardless of gender:

Honey (hon for short)

Sugar (also sugarplum, sugar pie, sugar cake, etc.)

And finally, a few affectionate addresses, divided by gender:

It is important to avoid excessive familiarity here, because, as one of my good friends says: "I "m not your honey, darling, sweetheart, dear, ducky, or any other diminutive creature."

It would seem that what is so difficult about greetings and addresses in English? Even those who have never studied English know the words "hello", "goodbye", "Mister" and "Missis". The simplest topic, right?

It is not that simple. In Russian, you can say hello and address a person in many different ways, depending on your and the interlocutor, gender, social status, subordination relationship, and so on.

It is not so easy to explain to a foreigner the difference between hello, hello, hello, and why hello! is a greeting, but “well, hello!” - an expression of surprise.

It is not so easy to explain when you can say Elena Sergeevna, when Lena, and when Lenka, why Vladimir Igorevich is an official address, and Igorich is a friendly one. Moreover, “Igorich” is appropriate to call a man of about fifty, and if you turn to a young guy like that, it will be something like a sarcastic appeal.

In general, everything is easier with addresses in English, you can get by with the knowledge of the words Sir, Mister, Miss, Madam, but still it’s better to know some subtleties!

Mister and Missis: Formaladdresses in English

Let's start with formal appeals. In business communication, it is best to contact Sir or Madam, unless the interlocutor asked (permitted) to address differently:

– Excuse me Sir. (Sorry sir)

– Please, call me William. (Please call me William)

• Sir is an adult male.
• Madam, or Ma'am for short, is an adult woman.
• Mister + surname - a man. Don't forget, "mister" can be said only with a surname, addressing just the word "Mr" sounds unpleasant ("Hey, mister!").
• Missis + surname - a married woman.
• Miss + surname - a young girl, an unmarried woman. Also in business speech, "Miss" refers to unmarried and married women. If you remember, Tony Stark (Iron Man) in an official setting called his assistant Miss Potts.
• Professor + surname - an address to a teacher (at a college or university).
• Officer + surname (or simply "officer") - address to the policeman, regardless of rank.

(Friends, I usually supply the column posts with sets of electronic cards, but since today we are not talking about words, but rather about the nuances of ethics, the cat cried expressions here, and I did not make cards).

Contacts in business correspondence

In business correspondence, the following addresses were accepted:

• Dear Sir / Madam - to a stranger. For example, you send a resume to the personnel department and do not know exactly who will read your letter.
• Dear + name is a formal address to a person whose name you know (“Dear Allen”). Approximately corresponds to the Russian “Dear + name and patronymic”.
• By name - recently it is considered normal to address by name in business correspondence. If you have already communicated with this person, if he addresses you by name, signs his letter only with his name, then you can simply call him by his first name (without Mister or Dear).

Informal appeals

Everything is simple here: friends, good acquaintances, relatives, work colleagues are called simply by their first name. In Russian, you can call by name in very different ways: Anna, Anya, Anka, Anka, Anyutka, Annushka, Anechka - there is a considerable difference between these forms. I can call the seller in the store Anna after reading the name on the badge, Anya - my friend, colleague, Anya - the same acquaintance, but in a more playful tone (I won’t call the seller that anymore), Anyutka - a girlfriend, Annushka - many associate with oil, tram and Bulgakov, Anka - with a machine gun (may the Annas who read this post forgive me), and Anechka is a diminutive address.

English also has diminutive forms of the name, but there is not such a strong stylistic difference between them. For example, when I worked in the US, I had a boss named Robert. Absolutely everyone called him Bobby - and that was normal, since there is not such a big difference between Robert, Bob and Bobby, as in Russian between Nikolai and Kolyasik or Valentina and Valka.

When in doubt, you can always ask: “What should I call you?”

What should I call you? What should I call you?

If you are in doubt how to address the interlocutor, just ask him about it, here are the standard phrases for this:

• What should I call you? - What should I call you?
• What should I call your mum / the teacher / the manager? - How should I call your mom / teacher / boss?
• Can I call you Dan? Can I call you Dan?
• Is it okay if I call you Tye? “Is it okay if I call you Tai?” (You know that the interlocutor's name is Tyler, but his friends call him Ty).
• Call me Tye - Call me Tye.
• You can call me Tye - You can call me Tye.

Addressing “you” and “you” in English

I'm sure you know that in English there is no appeal to "you" and "you", there is only one appeal - you. Moreover, this does not mean that in English they always turn to “you”. On the contrary, you is “you”, many years ago there was an appeal to “you” thou, but then it gradually went out of use, because the appeal to “you” (you) was much more common. It is a well-known joke that an Englishman speaks “you” even with his dog. Now thou is an archaism, it is found only in church speech - when referring to God (English with God on “you”).

In English, there are many variants of polite forms of addressing a person.
Towards man the forms Mr., Sir, Esq. are used. , and in relation to a woman - Mrs., Ms., Miss, Madam.

Now let's look at each of them separately.
The form Mr. can be used when referring to a man, regardless of his age and marital status. The only restriction is the fact that it must be followed by the last name of the person being addressed:
Dear Mr. Ivanov, Dear Mr. Ivanov!

When addressing multiple people, use Messrs, and to the surnames themselves, the ending is plural. -s is not added and no dot is placed after the politeness form:
Messrs Thomas and Smith

If the addressee's last name is unknown, use Sir(Sirs when addressing multiple people):
Dear Sirs, Dear Sirs!

As a synonym for Mr. in England they sometimes use the form Esq. However, it is not placed before the name, but after it, and, naturally, in this case the form Mr. missing:
Michael S. Johnson, Esq.

For reference: This form goes back to the word esquire. In medieval England, an esquire was a knight's squire, and later this word came to mean one of the lowest noble titles. For some time this form was used in letters, but now it is becoming less and less common.

The form Mrs. (Mmes when referring to several women) is placed before (1) the family name or (2) before the name and surname of a married woman or (3) before the name and surname of her husband:
Mrs. Brown - Mrs. Brown
Mrs. Laura Brown - Mrs. Laura Brown
Mrs. Peter Brown - Mrs. Peter Brown

For reference:
Form is an abbreviation for mistress, which reads like . It is incorrect to assume that this is an abbreviation for missus / missis (although the readings of Mrs. and missus / missis are the same).
Why is it so?
The fact is that abbreviated forms of polite address are formed by adding the first and last letters:
Mr. = MisteR
Dr. = DoctorR
Mrs. can't be short for missus/missis because missus/missis doesn't have an r consonant, so it makes sense that
Mrs. = MistResS

At the same time, missus / missis are used in the meaning of "wife, mistress". They do not have abbreviations, since this is not a form of address that is placed before the surname. These words are typical for informal speech, for example, in a husband's speech about his wife:
I promised the missus I "d be home by eleven - I promised my wife to be home by eleven.

The form Miss used in relation to an unmarried woman and should be followed by a surname:
Dear Miss Willis, Dear Miss Willis!

The form Ms.(read or) is the language equivalent of the Mr. form, since it is used in relation to a woman, regardless of the fact of her marital status. This form was recommended by the UN in 1974 as a result of campaigns by various organizations for the equality of women. It should be noted, however, that in everyday life this form is not used as often as in official correspondence, because most women prefer to use the form Mrs. (married) or Miss (unmarried). However, modern formal and even semi-formal correspondence has a strong tendency to use the form Ms. This form must also be followed by the last name:
Ms. S. Smith

madam(Mesdames when referring to several women) is the most formal address to a woman. This form can be called the language equivalent of Sir, since it is also used when the addressee's last name is unknown:
Dear Madam, Dear Madam!
Dear Mesdames

In addition, this form is used in written speech in relation to a high-ranking woman, married or unmarried, to the queen (queen), princess (princess), countess (countess), duke's daughter, maid of honor (maid of honor), as well as to a woman, holding an official position; with job title Madam Chairman, Madam Chairman!)