Business Letter Basics

The Start 

• Dear Senior Director, 
• Dear Sir or Madam,   

 (use if you don't know who you are writing to) 

• Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: 

(use if you know the person and have a formal relationship with - IMPORTANT use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or Miss)

•  Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contact or friend) 

The Reference 

• With reference to your advertisement in the Times, your letter of 3rd March
• Regarding your phone call today, 
• Thank you for your mail of March 5th. 

The Reason for Writing 

• I am writing to inquire about... 
• I am writing apologize for... 
• I am writing to confirm... 

  

Requests

• Could you possibly.....? 
• I would be grateful if you could.....
• Would it be possible to ......?

Agreeing to Requests 

•  I would be delighted to... 
• It would be my pleasure to... 

Giving Bad News 

• Unfortunately.... 
• I am afraid that... 

Enclosing/attaching Documents 

•  I am enclosing... 
• Please find enclosed... 
• Enclosed you will find... 

Closing Remarks 

• Thank you for your help. 
• Please contact us(me) again.... 
• If we(I) can help in any way. ....If/should there are any problems. ....
• If/should you have any questions, 

Reference to Future Contact 

• I look forward to ... 

         ...hearing from you soon. 

        ...meeting you next Tuesday. 

        ...seeing you next Thursday. 

The Finish 

• Yours faithfully, (If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to) 
• Yours sincerely, (If you know the name of the person you're writing to) 
• Best wishes, 
• Kind regards, (If the person is a close business contact or friend)

Sample Letter

March 16, 2022

From:

Tom's Beer Box 

Calanda 34

7000 Chur Switzerland 

Tel:+41 81 445 5671 

Email: tom@box.com 

 

To:

James Dudeness 

Sales Manager 

Beer Specialists Inc. 

210 Swanson Road 

Oldsville, Florida 67850

Dear Mr Dudeness,

With reference to our telephone conversation today, I am writing to confirm your order for 1200 cartons Churbock Beer in 10 pack cans (item no. 7644). 

The order will be shipped within three days via DHL and should arrive at your store in approximately 10 days. 

In attachment please find the confirmation, reference number and tracking code, 

Please contact us again if we can help in any way. It is a pleasure to do business with your company.

Sincerely, 

Thomas Guzzman 

Director of Tom's Beer Box, Inc.

Reasons for writing an email

  

Present Continuous

The present continuous has two uses.

Subject + be + Verb+ing


It is used for talking about (i) 'now' or (ii) the future when we know what the future will be.


(i) I'm studying at the moment. Please go away.

(ii) I'm working tomorrow so I can't go shopping with you.
(I know I am working tomorrow - I know what the future will be).

Here is some practice. Click

English business letter

Writing a form letter in English can become easy if you have a model template. A letter generator is a nice tool.

 

Click here to View

Departments and jobs in a company

Toda'y tip: Here is some vocabulary.   Take out your translator and learn a few new words.

 

Departments of a Company

• accounting department / accounts department
• EDP team (EDP = electronic data processing)
• purchasing department
• export department / export team / export sales department
• administrative accounting
• research and development team
• management
• import department / import team
• IT department (IT = information technology)
• customer service / service team
• warehousing department
• logistics
• marketing
• materials administration
• personnel department / staff department / human resources
• engineering department
• public relations team / public relations department
• manufacturing department / production department
• secretary's office
• technical support team
• sales department
• shipping department / dispatch department

Jobs and functions

• analyst
• director of boards
• CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
• buyer
• purchasing manager
• treasurer, CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
• director general
• managing director
• codirector
• commercial agent
• assistant (e.g. purchasing assistant)
• service engineer
• warehouse manager
• warehouse worker
• senior executive
• treasurer, CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
• CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
• assistent
• purchasing assistent
• service engineer
• sales representative
• sales manager
• export sales manager
• wholesale distributing manager
• Secretary
• economist
• management board

BEC sample papers

Here are Business English Preliminary sample Cambridge exams to be found.

Click here to begin

About BEC Preliminary

BEC Preliminary is the 'Business English Certificate' at the B-1 level, the first level Cambridge business English exam.

What is the BEC Preliminary test like? The test has five sections:

1. Reading & Writing- 90 minutes, 45 reading questions, 2 writing questions
   1. part 1 - 5 short texts each followed by a multiple-choice question
   2. part 2 - match questions to parts of a text
   3. part 3 - match questions to parts of a graphic
   4. part 4 - text and questions: Right/Wrong/Doesn’t say.
   5. part 5 - text and multiple choice questions
   6. part 6 - text with multiple choice gaps
   7. part 7 - note completion
   8. writing part 1: internal communciation such as email or memo
   9. writing part 2: business correspondence
2. Listening - 40 minutes, 30 questions
   1. part 1 - multiple choice
   1. part 2 - note completion, numbers and letters
   2. part 3 - note completion
   3. part 4 - multiple choice
3. Speaking - interview, normally with another candidate, 12 minutes

Much and Many - jedes Mal richtig!

When to use much and when to use many can be confusing.
Some help for German speaking learners.

Begin here


Special thanks to business English trainer

You want to learn this, don't you?

Tag question time:


This is fun, isn't it?

You are good at this, aren't you?

Everyone should do this, shouldn't they?

Go for it here

Matching Words

Have fun and improve your English by playing these matching games online.

Choose any of the games below and try to find the matching pairs. 'Game 1' is the easiest and 'Game 10' is the most difficult.


Begin here

Becoming a Flexible Reader

To become a flexible reader, you need to know how to select and use a reading style that is consistent with your purpose for reading. There are three important reading styles you should learn to use. Each has its own purpose. Knowing when and how to use these three reading styles will make you a flexible reader. Read to learn about the three reading styles used by flexible readers.

Study Reading is the reading style used by flexible readers when their purpose is to read difficult material at a high level of comprehension. When using the Study Reading style, you should read at a rate that is slower than your normal reading rate. Further, as you read you must challenge yourself to understand the material. Study Reading will often require you to read material more than once to achieve a high level of comprehension. Sometimes, reading the material aloud will also help you improve your comprehension.

Skimming is the reading style used by flexible readers when their purpose is to quickly obtain a general idea about the reading material. The Skimming style is most useful when you have to read a large amount of material in a short amount of time. When using the Skimming style, you should identify the main ideas in each paragraph and ignore the details in supportive sentences. Because you are looking only for the main idea in each paragraph you read, a lower level of comprehension is to be expected than when using the Study Reading style.


Scanning is the reading style used by flexible readers when their purpose is to quickly locate a specific piece of information within reading material. The piece of information to be located may be contained in a list of names, words, numbers, short statements, and sometimes even in a paragraph. Since you know exactly what you are looking for, move your eyes quickly over the reading material until you locate the specific piece of information you need to find.

Before you begin your next reading assignment, identify your purpose for reading. Decide if you are reading for a high level of comprehension, trying to get a general idea about what you are reading, or looking for specific information. Then use the reading style that is appropriate for your reading purpose.

Berghaus

This is an interesting video about the famous company. I loved the way they explained the English for Berghaus!


Begin here

Good Listening in Class

It is important for you to be a good listener in class. Much of what you will have to learn will be presented verbally by your teachers. Just hearing what your teachers say is not the same as listening to what they say. Listening is a cognitive act that requires you to pay attention and think about and mentally process what you hear.

Here are some things you should do to be a good listener in class.


•Be Ready to Listen When You Come to Class. Make sure you complete all assigned work and readings. Review your notes from previous class sessions. Think about what you know about the topic that will be covered in class that day.

•Be Emotionally Ready to Listen When You Come to Class. Your attitude is important. Make a conscious choice to find the topic useful and interesting. Be committed to learning all that you can.

•Listen with a Purpose. Identify what you expect and hope to learn from the class session. Listen for these things as your teacher talks.

•Listen with an Open Mind. Be receptive to what your teacher says. It is good to question what is said as long as you remain open to points of view other than your own.

•Be Attentive. Focus on what your teacher is saying. Try not to daydream and let your mind wander to other things. It helps to sit in the front and center of the class and to maintain eye contact with your teacher.

•Be an Active Listener. You can think faster than your teacher can speak. Use this to your advantage by evaluating what is being said and trying to anticipate what will be said next. Take good written notes about what your teacher says. While you can think faster than your teacher can speak, you cannot write faster than your teacher can speak. Taking notes requires you to make decisions about what to write, and you have to be an active listener to do this.

•Meet the Challenge. Don't give up and stop listening when you find the information being presented difficult to understand. Listen even more carefully at these times and work hard to understand what is being said. Don't be reluctant to ask questions.

•Triumph Over the Environment. The classroom may be too noisy, too hot, too cold, too bright, or too dark. Don't give in to these inconveniences.


Stay focused on the big picture - LEARNING.

Venice

Watch this about Venice, Italy. Some of the facts you probably already know, but it is fun to listen and watch it in English. I love this city and hope the ideas in this film will save it from "drowning".

Begin here

Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Madam/Sir?

That is the question!
It is actually a bit of a controversy.
After some in depth research I shall in the future recommend:
Dear Sir or Madam
....being the American I am.


Read this conversation/argument string:

Business English Terminology

-for German Speakers

Click Here for exercises

CORE VOCABULARY

as agreed - wie vereinbart

as far as I'm concerned - was mich betrifft

as far as the payment is concerned - soweit es die Bezahlung betrifft

as listed below - wie unten aufgelistet

as per agreement - vertragsgemäß

as per your offer - wie in Ihrem Angebot

as requested - wunschgemäß

as soon as possible - so bald wie möglich

at your earliest convenience - umgehend, sobald es Ihnen möglich ist

at your expense - zu Ihren Kosten

awaiting your reply - in der Erwartung Ihrer Antwort

circular letter - Rundschreiben, Serienbrief

must correspond to the sample - muss dem Muster entsprechen

covering letter - das Begleitschreiben, das Anschreiben

enclosure / attachment - die Beilage

following your instructions - Ihren Anweisungen folgend

half-price - halber Preis

is still open - ist noch offen

letter of complaint - der Beschwerdebrief

on arrival of the goods - bei Ankunft der Ware

on condition that - unter der Bedingung, dass

on request - auf Anfrage

on short notice - kurzfristig

payable in advance - im Voraus bezahlbar, im Voraus zahlbar

please send us - bitte senden Sie uns

please let us have your shipping instructions - bitten um Versandanweisung

provided that - vorausgesetzt, dass; unter der Bedingung, dass

sender address - Anschrift des Absenders

short-term - kurzzeitig, kurzfristig

the following items - folgende Ware

to act on behalf of another person - in fremdem Namen handeln

to agree with - der gleichen Ansicht sein wie

to be confident of - zuversichtlich sein

to be in financial difficulty - finanziell in Schwierigkeiten sein

to be interested in - sich interessieren

to be late - sich verspäten

to be prepared to do sth. - zu etw. bereit sein

to come to a decision - eine Entscheidung treffen

to come to an agreement - sich einigen

to correspond with something - mit etw. übereinstimmen

to fix an appointment - einen Termin vereinbaren

to reach an agreement - eine Vereinbarung treffen

under separate cover - mit getrennter Post

Sentence Patterns

Parts of speech are put together to create sentence patterns in English. All of my elementary students know what I mean with a label S V O by now - subject verb object.

Basically, the eight parts of speech are as follows:

Noun (subject or object)
Pronoun (subject or object)
Adjective
Verb
Adverb
Conjunction
Preposition
Interjection


Six Sentence Patterns

Sentence Patterns #1 - Noun / Verb

The most basic sentence pattern is a noun followed by a verb. It's important to remember that only verbs that do not require objects are used in this sentence pattern.

Examples:

People work.
Frank eats.

This basic sentence pattern can be modified by adding a noun phrase, possessive adjective, as well as other elements. This is true for all the sentence patterns that follow.

Examples:

People work. -> Our employees work.
Frank eats. -> My dog Frank eats.

Sentence Patterns #2 - Noun / Verb / Noun

The next sentence pattern builds on the first pattern and is used with nouns that can take objects.

Examples:

John plays softball.
The boys are watching TV.

Sentence Patterns #3 - Noun / Verb / Adverb

The next sentence pattern builds on the first pattern by using an adverb to describe how an action is done.

Examples:

Thomas drives quickly.
Anna doesn't sleep deeply.

Sentence Patterns #4 - Noun / Linking Verb / Noun

This sentence pattern uses linking verbs to link one noun to another. Linking verbs are also known as equating verbs - verbs which equate one thing with another such as 'be', 'become', 'seem', etc.

Examples:

Jack is a student.
This seed will become an apple.

Sentence Patterns #5 - Noun / Linking Verb / Adjective

This sentence pattern is similar to sentence pattern #4, but uses linking verbs to link one noun to its description using an adjective.

Examples:

My computer is slow!
Her parents seem unhappy.

Sentence Patterns #6 - Noun / Verb / Noun / Noun

Sentence pattern #6 is used with verbs that take both direct and indirect objects.

Examples:

I bought Katherine a gift.
Jennifer showed Peter her car.

How do others see you?

Try this questionaire.

Exam Practice On-Line

This is an invaluable website for each exam taker, from KET, PET, FCE, CAE, CPE, BEC, IELTS, TOEIC, TOEFL, and everything in between. Thank you Exam English! Go here for intensive practice !