Comparison of American and British Letter
Compare British and American business letters | American Style | British Style | Heading | According to the format but usually aligned to the left | The heading is usually placed in the top right corner of the letter
(sometimes centred) | Date | October 19, 2005 (month-day-year)
According to the format but usually aligned to the left two lines below the heading) | 19 October 2005 (day-month-year)
Usually placed directly (or 1 blank line) below the heading. | Salutation | Dear Mr./Ms. Smith:
Dear Sir or Madam:
Gentlemen:
After the salutation there is a colon (:) | Dear Mr./Ms. Smith,
Dear Sir or Madam,
Dear Sirs,
After the salutation there is a comma (,) | Complimentary close | Sincerely,
Sincerely yours,
Yours truly, | Sincerely,
Yours sincerely,
Yours faithfully, |
The format (layout) is the visual organisation of a business letter. You can follow many different formats when you create business letters. Be aware that there are often differences depending upon location. The main business letter formats are:
* Full-Block Style - All the elements are aligned to the left margin and there are no indented lines. This is a standard block-style format that is accepted by most businesses. * Modified Block Style - The return address, date, closing and signature start just to the right of the center of the page or may be flush with the right margin. All body paragraphs begin at the left margin. * Indented or Semi-Block Style - Similar to the modified block business letter style except that the first line of each paragraph is indented.
Letterhead
Company Name (and logo)
Address
Phone/Fax number
E-mail (optional) |
(2 blank lines after letterhead)
Current date ---> The date may be written as month-day-year (US style) or day-month-year (UK style).
(4 blank lines)
Mr./Ms. Name of person you are writing,
(sometimes centred) | Date | October 19, 2005 (month-day-year)
According to the format but usually aligned to the left two lines below the heading) | 19 October 2005 (day-month-year)
Usually placed directly (or 1 blank line) below the heading. | Salutation | Dear Mr./Ms. Smith:
Dear Sir or Madam:
Gentlemen:
After the salutation there is a colon (:) | Dear Mr./Ms. Smith,
Dear Sir or Madam,
Dear Sirs,
After the salutation there is a comma (,) | Complimentary close | Sincerely,
Sincerely yours,
Yours truly, | Sincerely,
Yours sincerely,
Yours faithfully, |
The format (layout) is the visual organisation of a business letter. You can follow many different formats when you create business letters. Be aware that there are often differences depending upon location. The main business letter formats are:
* Full-Block Style - All the elements are aligned to the left margin and there are no indented lines. This is a standard block-style format that is accepted by most businesses. * Modified Block Style - The return address, date, closing and signature start just to the right of the center of the page or may be flush with the right margin. All body paragraphs begin at the left margin. * Indented or Semi-Block Style - Similar to the modified block business letter style except that the first line of each paragraph is indented.
Letterhead
Company Name (and logo)
Address
Phone/Fax number
E-mail (optional) |
(2 blank lines after letterhead)
Current date ---> The date may be written as month-day-year (US style) or day-month-year (UK style).
(4 blank lines)
Mr./Ms. Name of person you are writing,