For Betty and all: Write a professional business letter

Dear Mary and PanPanPan,Thanks a lot for your efforts for this good forum! I like it very much!I have graduated for one year.I work in a electical company,.A few days ago I was aranged to the department of Foreign Trade. So the first thing I must do is inproving my English, including listening, saying, reading and writing. I will write more here to get your guidance, welcome to give more suggestions!

Best regards,Betty

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October 15, 2004

The Blank Trucking CompanyForeign Trade Department64 - 16th E. RoadBlank CityP. R. China920014

Attention: Ms. Betty BlankRe: How to write a professional looking business letter

Dear Ms. Blank,

Thank you for your pleasant letter. Congratulations on your transfer. I expect you will find it more interesting than your previous department, particularly since you have been motivated now to continue your Englishstudies. These are sure to add much of interest to many parts of your life that are still unforeseeable.

I would like to make a few suggestions to allow you to immediately be able to turn out professional looking business letters.

You did well with your capital letters and punctuation, except that there weretoo many exclamation marks. Always pay close attention to these three things.If you do so, and you use the form of letter prescribed here, your work willappear professional even if your English isn't always strictly accurate yet.

Leave one line between the salutation and the body of the post. Leave a line again at the end of the post between the body of the post and the complimentary ending. Put a full typewritten signature four spaces below the complimentary ending in a business letter so there is room to personally sign your name in ink above it. Do this, even if you know the other person well enough to sign only your first name. You may put it beside the complimentary ending in a personal letter or forum post.

Below your typewritten signature, your position in the company or department should be shown as I did in this letter to you.

These changes will immediately give you professional appearing letters.

The salutation in this case was, "Dear Mary and PanPanPan", and the complimentary ending was "Best regards". The entire message between them is called "the body of the letter." The signature here is "Betty". In a business letter usually the signature will be both first and last names.

Use exclamation marks sparingly. One is about enough in a forum post, if you don't want to appear breathless and over-excited. Almost never, is correct in a business letter. What you do in your private correspondence is up to you. :-)

You don't need to indent paragraphs if you leave a space between them. To do so you strike the space bar twice. I have assumed that this letter is written on your company's letterhead which provides its name and address. This unindented letter form is called a block letter. It is modern, and fast, too.

Yours truly,

Mary BlankHongen Forum English helper

********* Dear Mary and PanPanPan,

Thanks a lot for your efforts for this good forum. I like it very much!I graduated one year ago. I work in a electical company. A few days ago I was transferred to the department of Foreign Trade. I believe that the first thing I must do is to inprove my English, including listening, speaking, reading and writing.

I will write more here, and hope for your guidance. You are welcome to give me suggestions.

Best regards, Betty