Correspondence

Each culture has its own way of organizing a letter and arranging it on a page. English speaking people generally observe the following rules:

Letters
Our own address
The name and address of the person you are writing for Addressing the people, The date

The body of your letter

Endings Signature Full typewritten name

Letters (a)
Addresses generally follow the rule of smallest first: House number, then street, then town. Post code and telephone number/ fax number/ email address come last. Dont put your name with the address.

Letters (b)
Put the date directly under the address. A common way to write the date is to put the number of the day, followed by the month and year (e.g. 17 May 2005) There are some differences between British and American customs.

Letters (c)
Begin the letter (Dear X) on the left. Common ways of addressing people are: by first name (informal): Dear Penny by title and surname (more formal): Dear Ms. Hopkins Dear Sir(s), Dear Sir or madam, Dear Madam (especially to somebody whose name is not known) Some people like to use the first name and surname (dear Penny Hopkins) when writing to stranger or people that they do not know well. Do not use a title Mr. together with the first name (NOT Dear Mr. James Carter)

Letters (d)

In informal letters, afterthoughts that are added after the signature are usually introduced by P S (Latin post scriptum = written afterwards)

Envelopes
Put the first name before the surname. People usually write a title (Mr., Mrs., etc) before the name. You can write one or more initials (Mrs. A E Brokers)

The name The address of the person you are writing for