BUSINESS  VOCABULARY  for learners  

If writing a business letter takes you much longer than in your own language, here are a few guidelines that you may find helpful.

• Plan before you write.
  • Look up words you need before you start.
  • Note the points you want to make, and order them into logical paragraphs.

• Tone
  • Write as you would speak in a business conversation.
    The tone should be friendly and polite.
    
    
• Names
  • Make sure you check the gender of the addressee (the recipient), as well as the correct spelling of the person's name and title.
  • Use Ms. for women and Mr. for men.
    You can use Mrs. for a woman if you are 100% sure that she is married.
    

• Dates
  • To avoid any confusion, write the month instead of using numbers
    (e.g. January 15th, 2012  or 15 January 2012).
    

• Be concise and clear. The easier it is to read a letter the better.
  • Keep sentences and paragraphs short and simple.
  • Use straightforward vocabulary to avoid any misunderstanding.
  • Ask direct questions.
  • Rewrite any sentence that does not seem perfectly clear.
  • If the recipient is not a native English-speaker, it is preferable to avoid
    words or expressions that are too technical or complicated.

• Remember this word order principle

  Subject	Verb	Object	Manner	Place	Time
  Who	Does	What	How	Where	When

  Example :
  Mr. Brown will travel by plane to London on Monday, June 5th.
  A technician will install the equipment in your office on Tuesday.
  

• Avoid old-fashioned words
  
  Although they are used in legal documents and contracts, words like 'herewith', 'herein', 'aforementioned', etc. are rarely used in letters.
  
  The following style of sentence is preferable :
  "You will find more information on our products in the enclosed brochure."