

In all other cases, though, use both the personal title and the last name followed by a colon. If you’re familiar with the person and typically address them using their first name, it’s considered acceptable to use only their first name for the salutation. Salutationįor the salutation, use the same name you used for the inside address, including the personal title. Always left-justify the inside address, regardless of the format you’re using. Then, the inside address should begin one line below the date. If you’re writing to an international location, first type the name of the country in all caps on the last line. When writing the address, use the United States Post Office Format. Note that people typically don’t mind being addressed by a higher title than the one they actually possess. If you’re writing to someone who possibly has a title, such as Dr., use that title. If you’re not sure of her preference, stick with Ms. Always follow a woman’s preference when choosing between Miss, Ms., and Mrs. Include a personal title such as Dr., Mr., Ms., or Mrs. You can simply call the company or otherwise contact the company’s employees. But if you don’t have the person’s name, it’s wise to do some research. Best practices include writing to a specific person at the firm to which you’re writing. Inside AddressĪnother name for the inside address is the recipient’s address.

Related: Commas in Dates – Writing a Date Correctly. If you put the date in the center, include the sender’s address in the letterhead, rather than left-justifying it. Type of the month, day, and year two inches down from the top of the page.ĭepending on the format you’re using for your letter, you can either left-justify the date, or you can tab to the center point before typing the date. If you’re writing to a company within the United States, be sure to use the American date format, placing the month before the day. If the letter was completed over several days, use the date it was finished. The date line displays the date that the letter was written. All you need to include is the street address, city, and zip code. There’s no need to write the sender’s name or title along with the address since it will be included in the closing of the letter. But if you’re not using letterhead, you’ll want to include the sender’s address at the top of the letter. If you’re using letterhead, the sender’s address is usually included there. You will not need to include the sender’s address if the letter is written on letterhead. This article is organized in the correct order for writing a business letter, beginning with the sender’s address. Let’s begin with the structure of the letter. In order to properly format a business letter, we need to consider its various parts, as well as format and font.
