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(to) stop by
- (to) go somewhere and stay for a short while
unique
- one of a kind
(a) series
(singular non-count noun)
(to) look forward to - (to) be eager about a future event
(the) near future - soon
(to) study abroad - (to) study in a foreign country
politely (adverb)
- in a manner that shows consideration for others
appropriate/appropriately (adjective/adverb) - suitable to the occasion or situation
(a) formal letter - a letter written in a formal style, that is, with conventional language, sentence structure and
punctuation. A business letter and letter of application are all examples of "formal letters".
snail mail - mail that is written on a piece of paper, inserted into an envelope, and
mailed via conventional means.
It is referred to as "snail mail" since it takes longer for the recipient
to receive than email does.
complimentary
- (remark or act) expressive of praise and admiration
appropriate
- fitting for an occasion
going up the ladder - increasing in importance
progressively ( )
- a little more ( ) each time
authority figure
- a person who is in a position of power and authority.
(to) exemplify
deference
- respect for a person of authority and position
Dear Help Desk: How to End a Business Letter
Dear Listeners,
The ESL Help Desk
is glad that you have stopped by! The ESL Help Desk is a
unique podcast for learners of English because all of our
examples and activities are based on authentic language, either written or
spoken by others learners of English.
Our Library contains audio stories, grammar and communication lessons. If you
are taking an English as a Second Language class or are learning English on
your own, the ESL Help Desk has something for you!
Today's podcast, "How to End a Business Letter ". is second in a two-part series that was
initiated on request from a listener. You may want to access Part One, "
How to Begin a Business Letter
" in order to receive the complete
series.I hope you enjoy today's podcast and the complete series.
Yours truly,
Jane
The ESL Help Desk
Dear Help Desk,
I have been enjoying your podcasts and look forward to each one. In your podcasts you have invited us to share our
questions with you, and I would like to take advantage of your offer, if you don't mind.
I have written a letter in English only once or twice, but in the near future I want to send emails to foreign
universities. I want to study abroad after graduation. So I'd like to know how
to write English letters politely. I'm particularly interested in
how to begin and end the letter.
Sometimes I send emails in English, and
I usually end the email with "Bye".
I know that "Sincerely", "Love" and "Yours"
are used to end letters but I don't know how to use these appropriately.
Bye.
Dear Daisuke,
Thank you for sharing your question with the Help Desk. Yours is an
important question and I am sure that many others are wondering the same
thing: How to appropriately begin and end a formal letter. I hope my
answer will help you as well as others with a similar need.
In your email to me you indicated that your emails are
going to be "formal".
Are you interested in writing email letters or "snail
mail" letters? Each one has its own culture.
Best,
Jane
The ESL Help Desk
Dear Jane,
Thank you for adopting my question on your podcast! It will be a
wonderful help for me and surely for many other learners of English.
To answer your question,
I'd like to know how to write postal letters in English. Do you have any rules for how to begin and end formal letters?
If letters sent by email should be addressed and signed differently, I'd like to know that as well. Respectfully,
Daisuke
Dear Daisuke,
I shall try my best to answer your question, which concerns what we call
the "Complimentary Closing" of a letter.
There are many ways of ending letters. Endings such
as "Bye" are not used in writing, in general; they are appropriate to
verbal communication, and are more informal.
As far as letter writing is concerned, words such as "Love" are saved for
special and close relationships. You would not want to use
this closing in any type of formal application.
This brings me to make the point that the formalities used in British
English are slightly different from those used in American English.
So let's start with American English, since that is what I use and that is
what I'm much more familiar with.
Going up the ladder of formality, we use closings such as "Yours",
"Yours truly", and "Very truly yours", with each one being progressively
more formal and deferential; and "Sincerely" and "Sincerely Yours"
similarly appropriate
and commonly used. "Kind regards" is now also on the list of
acceptable endings for a business letter. The closing "Respectfully" is also on the list of
acceptable ways to end formal business letters; in a letter in which
the person to whom you are writing is more of an authority figure, this
would definitely be the way to conclude your letter because it
exemplifies the greatest amount of deference.
There are endings that are acceptable in British English and used
in the United Kingdom but that are not used in American English and in the
United States. Some of those endings and variations on endings that
are recommended are "Faithfully yours", “Very sincerely” “Very
sincerely yours” “Yours always sincerely” and “Always sincerely yours”.
In addition, our closings are unisex; that is, the ending doesn't change depending on the gender of the
person to whom you are writing.
Be careful to not use common endings for email in
formal postal letters. Email has its own culture. One common
ending for emails in which the writer gives advice, as is the case with
this very ESL Help Desk post, is "HTH", which stands for "(I) hope that helps". Many
people will end an informal email with "All the best"; others
shorten that to "Best". A more formal email ending
commonly used is "Regards" which can be shortened to, in a much more
casual context, "Rgds".
And one important thing: In a separate paragraph before
your complimentary closing, particularly where you are making a request,
always thank the person to whom you are writing with the simple words,
"Thank you."
HTH,
Jane
ESL Help Desk
We'd now like to thank you for listening in to this week's
ESL Help Desk podcast! Stay tuned as we continue with great podcasts
for learners of English. All the best!
Music Copyright, permission of Luca De Bernardi
Photo of Headphones Copyright Karl-Erik Bennion
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