Format differences between British and American business English letters
Business or business English letters refer to communications used in transactions. In America, business writing is often used, including letters, telegrams, telephones, telex, reports, postcards and so on. There are some differences in letter styles between Britain and the United States, such as letterhead and address, letter format, wording and closing etiquette.
Generally speaking, English letters are conservative. Many British people like to use old-fashioned letters with formal and rigid words, while American letters are very lively, energetic and simple in format. Therefore, when we write to Britain or its old colonies, we should use standard English, that is, Queen's English; If this letter is addressed to the United States or areas within its sphere of influence, American English should be used. Of course, the English language and culture have also changed in recent years, but on the whole, the differences between them are obvious.
Business English letters are generally required to be printed neatly by typewriter or computer, and the lines on the left are vertical at the beginning, which is called vertical or square, which is commonly used in the United States. The indentation of the first word in each paragraph is called indentation or indentation. This format is very common in Britain. The vertical position and signature are in the left column. This form has been widely adopted by American companies that attach great importance to work efficiency. In a formal business English letter, the name and address of the receiving company or the full name, position and address of the recipient should be written above the address, which is called the internal address. There are also vertical and indented ways to write addresses in letters. Vertical and American lines are juxtaposed, while indentation or British style takes them back in turn.
But recently, the addresses in British business letters have not been indented in turn, as if they were the same as those in the United States. /
In addition, it is also popular in the United States to write the address of ordinary recipients, that is, in the inner address of letters, the house number and street name are omitted.
Use honorifics in English letters. The most common honorifics are Mr, Mrs and Miss (for unmarried women). English people often use esq. (short for esquire) after men's names, but in business, for more than two women, they are gradually changing into Mr. MMEs (plural form of madam). Messrs (plural form of Mr) is used for more than two people, or for companies or groups composed of more than two people. In British English letters, Mr, Mrs and Messrs do not use abbreviated periods. On the contrary, American English, which tends to be progressive and free, uses abbreviations such as Mr, Mrs and Messrs
In terms of address, there are two most common forms of address in business: gentleman (American) and dear gentlemen (British), which are equivalent to honorifics or sincerity in China. If this letter is addressed to a company and not to a specific person, it should be Gentlemen American and Dear Sirs in English. If there is only one person in the other company, you must use Sir/ Dear Sir.
Punctuation marks are generally used after salutation, with colons in Britain and semicolons in America. There are many kinds of etiquette at the end of letters, which are equivalent to honorifics, salutations and peace sentences used at the end of China's letters. The most typical American writing style is sincere and best greetings, and the typical English expressions are Yours sincerely (an acquaintance or someone who knows his name), best wishes, cordial greetings and yours faithfully (whose name is unknown). In addition, British polite expressions have special polite formats, but they are no longer used except in special circumstances.