BLOCK 3. SIMPLE COMMERCIAL LETTERS-3

LEAD-IN

¨ What are the most serious mistakes in business letters?

¨ How often are abbreviations used? What kinds of abbreviations are widely spread?

¨ When should we avoid abbreviations?

¨ Read the following text and comment on usage of numbers in letters.

ЯСНОСТЬ И ЧЕТКОСТЬ при написании письма создаст хорошее впечатление у вашего корреспондента и поможет избежать неприятных ошибок и недоразумений.

Часто источником недоразумений могут стать СОКРАЩЕНИЯ. Вы можете употреблять в своих письмах только общепринятые сокращения. Если есть сомнение в том, что адресат правильно расшифрует ваши аббревиатуры, то их лучше не использовать.

ЦИФРЫ тоже могут вызвать проблемы. Во-первых, следует постоянно помнить, что в культурах различных стран существует своя собственная, часто уникальная цифровая система, а также системы мер и весов. Неплохо, если вы заранее ознакомитесь со спецификой страны, с компаниями которой вы имеете дело. Но, в любом случае, чтобы не допустить оплошность, напишите цифру прописью в скобках, а меры и веса проверьте по справочникам. Это поможет избежать иногда дорогостоящих ошибок.

Не забудьте, что вы не в праве делать грамматические, орфографические и пунктуационные ошибки, если хотите произвести благоприятное впечатление на вашего корреспондента и показать, что в вашей компании работают профессионалы.

FOCUS 1

LETTER 1

December 8, 20...

Smith & Co., Ltd.

27 Porter Street

Hull

HU1 2RG

Great Britain

Dear Ms Smile

Thank you for your letter of December 3, 20… asking for information on one of your potential clients.

This firm has been one of our regular customers for the three years past, placing orders with us every six months. Payment has always been made on the due date and all transactions have been satisfactory.

Besides we attach a number of references proving a sound financial status of the company in question. We were supplied with this valuable information by our business partners and a bank. We hope all these data will prove useful to you.

Yours sincerely

Edward Green

Financial Controller

Encl.

LETTER 2

New York, NY, Nov 4, 20...

James Roberts & Co Ltd

14 Prince Road

Wolverhampton WV1 1HQ

Gentlemen:

We recently had the pleasure of filling your order for our new devices.

Since you have, no doubt, installed them by this time, I am writing to make sure that you are entirely satisfied with their operation. We believe that the material furnished should provide excellent isolation for your equipment. However, if you have experienced difficulty, please write to us giving all the particulars. We are anxious to make every installation a successful one.

I will greatly appreciate a letter from you stating how this installation is operating, and if we can be of further assistance on other technology problems, please, do not hesitate to contact us.

Very truly yours,

Donald Brown

Vice President

LETTER 3

November 12, 20...

Stone & Goldie Ltd

21 Bridge Street

Manchester M14 4P6

Dear Sirs

Shoes New Style Models

We have received your letter dated November 9 reminding us of our promise to send you all the particulars, catalogues, specifications of our products.

The delay in sending the papers to you was entirely due to pressure of work in our printing works. Some publications were out of print and we have to wait.

As soon as we get a new impression of our catalogue we will send you the whole set without delay.

Now we are sending you samples of our products under separate cover. If you get interested in our new models we could discuss our further contacts in person.

Faithfully yours

J.Casey

LETTER 4

London, March 30, 20...

Hall & Goodie Ltd

26 Porter Street

Hull

Great Britain

Dear Sirs

We confirm our yesterday’s telephone conversation during which your technical director Mr Smirnov reminded us of our promise to send you detailed data covering our new fixtures mounted on the drilling machines you are interested in.

We are sorry that the information was so delayed that you have been caused trouble. Please, accept our apologies.

We are sending our specifications, drawings and documentation under separate cover. Besides we enclose herewith a report of our experts who note sound quality and high efficiency of the new units.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Faithfully yours

J.Andrew

Encl.

____________________________

drilling machine - сверлильный станок

LETTER 5

Glasgow, July 11, 20...

Mr Smith

Messrs AJ Smith Ltd

21/24 Stanford Street

London, SE1 2BZ

Dear Mr Smith

Order Confirmation of 1st July

We have received your letter dated July 7, 20… and carefully studied all the calculations enclosed.

We have compared our estimates and working characteristics of the engines with those stated in your order confirmation of July 1, 20… . We have to draw your attention to the mistake we noticed in the confirmation. The capacity was indicated as 1300 kW instead of 13,000 kW as stated in your specification. Please, confirm the capacity by return mail.

Sincerely yours

D.Adams

LETTER 6

London, July 18, 200...

Mr Adams

Adams & Adams Ltd

45 Cherry Street

Glasgow

Great Britain

Dear Mr Adams

Order Confirmation of July 1

Thank you for your letter of July 11 informing us that a mistake might have occurred in our order confirmation. We have thoroughly checked the file and found that through a typing error the figure was indicated incorrectly. Please, accept our apologies. We confirm hereby that the capacity of the engine is 13,000 kW.

Besides, we enclose herewith a revised copy of the document in question. If we could be of any further assistance to you and your associates, do not hesitate to contact us. Please, acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely

AJ Smith

Encl.