How to write appeals in business letters. How to start a business letter
Comrade or master? How to apply?
What forms of appeal exist?
Word Dear is used as a neutral form of politeness, usually in combination with the name and patronymic of the addressee, as well as with the words "master" (plus the surname of the addressee), "comrade" (plus the surname of the addressee), "colleague" (plus the surname of the addressee). It is used with names by position, rank, social status.
When addressing the addressee, it is necessary to take into account his field of activity and official position. People's deputies, honored workers of science and culture, high-ranking officials are addressed with the words "deeply respected" and "highly respected". In other cases - "respected":
Dear Nikolai Evgenievich!
Dear Ivan Petrovich!
Dear Mr. Ivanov!
In business correspondence, it is customary to address the addressee by name and patronymic.
When accessing a bulk destination:
Dear Sirs! Lord!
Dear Colleagues! (to people of the same profession)
Dear Veterans!
According to the Civil Procedure Code Russian Federation(Article 158 part 2), the participants in the trial address the judges with the words Dear Court!, and they give their testimony and explanations standing. Deviations from this rule may be allowed with the permission of the chairman.
The army has an official appeal comrade.
Both an exclamation point and a comma are possible when referring, but uniformity is recommended. If there is a comma, the text of the letter starts with a lowercase letter. If there is an exclamation point, we write the first sentence with a capital.
"Gentlemen!" or "Ladies and gentlemen!" - what is the best way to address men and women?
When addressing men and women at the same time, "Ladies and gentlemen!" is often said. This is an unsuccessful tracing paper from the English language (Ladies and Gentlemen). Russian word gentlemen correlates equally with singular forms mister And mistress, and "lady" is included in the number of "masters".
Do I need to call the interlocutor by name and patronymic?
It is customary to address Russians and in the Russian-speaking environment and call them by their first and patronymic names; addressing only by their first name is considered insufficiently polite. Right Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, but not Vladimir Putin. When addressing a foreigner (or being in a foreign-language cultural environment), it is not necessary to name a patronymic.
How was it customary to address the interlocutor?
Noble etiquette. Appeals in the nobility had to strictly correspond to the rank, rank and origin of the person addressed. These appeals were strictly correlated with the "Table of Ranks" (it was in effect almost unchanged until 1917). To titled persons ( Grand Duke, prince, count, duke, baron) were treated according to the title: Your Highness, Your Excellency, Your Grace.
military etiquette. The system of appeals corresponded to the system of military ranks. Full generals are supposed to say Your Excellency, lieutenant generals and major generals - Your Excellency. Officers, ensigns and candidates for a class position call the chiefs and seniors of the headquarters and chief officers by rank, adding the word master, for example, Mr. Captain, Mr. Colonel, other lower ranks title the staff officers and captains - Your Highness, the rest of the chief officers - Your nobility (having a count or princely title - Your Excellency).
Departmental Etiquette used largely the same system of addresses as the military.
Title forms in Tsarist Russia
When referring to persons who had certain ranks of the "Table of Ranks", persons equal in rank or inferior were required to use the following titles (depending on the class):
"YOUR HIGHNESS" - to persons in the ranks of the 1st and 2nd classes;
"YOUR EXCELLENCY" - to persons in the ranks of the 3rd and 4th classes;
"YOUR HIGHLIGHT" - to persons in the ranks of the 5th class;
"YOUR HIGHLIGHTS" - to persons in the ranks of 6-8 classes;
"YOUR BLESSING" - to persons in the ranks of 9-14 classes.
In addition, in Russia there were titles used when referring to members of the Imperial House of the Romanovs and persons of noble origin:
"YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY" - to the emperor, empress and dowager empress;
"YOUR IMPERIAL HIGHNESS" - to the Grand Dukes (children and grandchildren of the emperor, and in 1797-1886, and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of the emperor);
"YOUR HIGHNESS" - to the princes of imperial blood;
"YOUR HIGHNESS" - to the younger children of the emperor's great-grandchildren and their male descendants, as well as to the most serene princes by grant;
"YOUR LORD" - to princes, counts, dukes and barons;
"YOUR BLESS" - to all the other nobles.
When addressing clerics in Russia, the following titles were used:
"YOUR HIGH PRIESTNESS" - to metropolitans and archbishops;
"YOUR HIGHNESS" - to the bishops;
"YOUR HIGH REPODITY" - to archimandrites and abbots of monasteries, archpriests and priests;
"YOUR REVEREND" - to the protodeacons and deacons.
Who was called "the sovereign"?
Word sovereign in Russia in the old days they used it indifferently, instead of a gentleman, a gentleman, a landowner, a nobleman. In the 19th century, the Most Gracious Sovereign addressed the tsar, the Most Gracious Sovereign addressed the great princes, and the Gracious Sovereign (when referring to the highest), my Gracious Sovereign (to an equal), my Sovereign (to the lowest) addressed to all private individuals. The words sudar (also with an emphasis on the second syllable), sudarik (friendly) were used mainly in oral speech.
And who and when was called "comrade"?
Appeal comrade used in Soviet society. The word comrade with a surname before the revolution indicated membership in a revolutionary political party including communists.
D. S. Likhachev in the book “Notes and Observations. From notebooks different years” wrote about modern ways of addressing:
This is what historians do not write about and what at one time made a very big impression: this is the “atmosphere of appeals” to each other.
1. When in 1918 everywhere they began to talk to each other instead of sir, madam(on South - madam) comrade, it gave the following impression:
A. Amikoshonstvo. A person who is talking to a stranger comrade, seemed to be stuffing himself into friends, into drinking companions. Often answered: Goose pig is not a friend! And it was not class, but came, as it were, from a sense of self-preservation. Professor speaking to students comrades, seemed to be seeking popularity and even a careerist, for the rector of the university was elected by students.<...>Therefore, serious scientists (Zhirmunsky even defiantly) continued to turn to students Colleagues(Zhirmunsky did not pronounce well l).
B. What was striking in this appeal was that women and men did not differ. Women were also treated comrade(now this is not the case, and all women have become girls, or rather, they are left without a way of addressing).
2. Gradually, by the end of the 20s, to the circulation comrade we got used to it, and it even became pleasant - all people were, if not comrades in the true sense of the word, then at least equals. With a word comrade one could address both the schoolboy and the old woman. But Stalin's purges began<...>, and one week, I don’t remember what year, the inhabitants suddenly began to notice that the policemen, conductors, postal employees stopped saying the word comrade and began to apply citizen And citizen. And these words bore the imprint of alienation, extreme formality (now this has disappeared and even the word citizen). And this appeal, essentially new (although it rarely happened before, when they got angry at each other or detained a violator of the law), began to fill the streets, official life, created an atmosphere. Every person turned out to be suspicious, under suspicion; the threat of a possible arrest loomed over everyone; in the words "citizen" and "citizen" one imagined a prison.
The order to stop using the word comrade was apparently secret, but everyone immediately felt it.
(On the language of oral and written, old and new. 1989)
Business communication cannot be imagined without correspondence, as a personal meeting to resolve issues of cooperation is not always possible. Business correspondence helps to solve most of the pressing problems in short time, but non-compliance with the rules of etiquette or an illogical construction of a letter can harm partnerships or alienate a potential customer. As in official negotiations, there are certain rules here: the format of the letter and the style of communication.
General rules for conducting business correspondence
1. Before writing a letter, decide on its characteristics:
type of letter (covering, guarantee, order, reminder, notice, etc.; presentation letter or suggesting a response);
the degree of accessibility for the addressee (whether you can state all the necessary points in one letter or you need a second, clarifying one);
urgency of delivery (if the letter is urgent, it is better to send it by registered mail or by e-mail).
2. Design a letter according to existing templates, based on its type, and also rely on GOST R 6.30-2003. “Unified Documentation Systems. Unified system of organizational and administrative documentation. Documentation requirements.
3. Any business letter has the following general structure:
- name of the sending organization;
- date of writing;
- recipient's address, indication of a specific correspondent;
- opening address;
- an indication of the subject and purpose of the letter;
- main text;
- conclusion (politeness formula);
- sender's signature;
- an indication of the application and distribution of copies (if any).
4. When preparing a business letter, use the text editor Microsoft Word:
use the Times New Roman typeface, size 12-14 p., line spacing - 1-2 p.;
put down the page numbers of the letter at the bottom on the right side;
when printing text on A4 forms, use 1.5–2 line spacing, A5 format and less - one line spacing. Requisites are always typed through one line spacing.
5. If you are acting on behalf of an organization and intend to send a letter in hard copy, be sure to use letterhead, as its presence will be the hallmark of your company. Treat the design of the official form with special care, this skill should be mandatory for any office employee.
6. For international correspondence, the letter must be written in the language of the addressee or in English(as the most common in business dealings).
7. Keep a proper, businesslike tone. Start your letter with an appeal, which, depending on the degree of your closeness with the correspondent, can begin both with the words “Dear + F.I.O.”, and “Dear + F.I.O.”. Remember, the words in the appeal or in the indication of the addressee should in no case be abbreviated (for example, “respected” as “respected” or “head of department” as “head of department”) - these are the rules of business etiquette. Always end your letter with thanks for your cooperation. The signature should be preceded by the phrase "Respectfully, ..." or "Sincerely, ...". Referring to "you" in official correspondence is unacceptable, even if you maintain friendly relations with the correspondent.
8. Carefully select vocabulary, avoid inaccuracies and ambiguous phrases, excessive use of professionalism. The letter must be understandable.
9. Divide the content of the letter into semantic paragraphs so that it is not cumbersome and difficult for the addressee to understand. Follow the rule: the first and last paragraphs should contain no more than four printed lines, and the rest no more than eight.
10. Respond to business emails according to accepted etiquette: to a written request - within 10 days after receipt; to letters sent by fax or e-mail - within 48 hours, excluding weekends.
Intraorganizational business correspondence
Business correspondence between employees of the company is more simplified in comparison with correspondence sent to a third party.
- be concise;
- be of a business nature;
- the date must be indicated in the letter;
- at the end of the letter there is a courtesy formula and a signature.
An example of intra-organizational business correspondence can be a letter of congratulations on behalf of a leader or team addressed to a hero of the day or an employee who has received a promotion.
When discussing projects in writing, only some of the mandatory elements of a business letter are usually used - an indication of the subject, an appeal, summary essence of the matter and the courtesy formula with a printed signature.
Remember that the form of the letter and the required template must be chosen based on the level of business correspondence and the type of information that you want to provide to the addressee.
How rarely do we write letters, even e-mails. Basically, this opportunity is remembered only when needed or when sending advertising messages. However, the letter of appeal tool is still one of the most effective ways interactions of people with each other. It is very important to pay attention to the style of the letter, the appeal to the addressee and the general direction of the text, especially in business letters. So what is the right way to address the recipient in a letter?
Mr or Mrs. This appeal, which was extremely relevant in the messages of previous years and remained official in Russia until 1917, is used in some cases to this day. The use is possible in addressing business partners, politicians, businessmen, high-ranking officials. Currently, this word has a certain social connotation and a certain connotation. It will be completely inappropriate when writing to socially unprotected groups: “gentlemen pensioners”, “gentlemen refugees”, etc.An example of a letter using "Lord" can be downloaded from us:.
A sample letter with such an appeal can be downloaded from us:.
If you do not know the name of the addressee, you can, in the end, just say hello or wish good time of the day and state the essence of the written message. It is important to consider and observe etiquette and pay attention to other components of a business letter.
Often, starting a letter with the appeal “Dear ...”, I recall how one of the high leaders, when preparing letters to the president, chairman of the government or president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, demanded the appeal “Dear ...”. For some reason, this requirement caused us a lot of jokes. They remembered the "distracted man" from Basseinaya Street Samuil Marshak and his famous appeal “Dear respected carriage! Carriage respected deeply respected! They were caustically interested in how deeply the comrade is respected.
And in vain they giggled, by the way. Appeals starting with the words "deeply respected" and "highly respected" are used when officially addressing especially important persons and officials in a high position. So it is customary to address not only the first persons of the state, members of the government and parliament, but also famous scientists and public figures. Turning in a letter to a venerable academician simply “respected”, you can inadvertently offend the addressee.
It is not every day that we write to the president or members of the government, but letters with some kind of complaint or request to high authorities sometimes have to be written. I don’t know how deeply you respect your mayor or governor, but if you have to write him a letter with any request, I sincerely advise you to use the title “deeply respected”. The word means "highly respected" ( Dictionary Ozhegov) or “worthy of deep respect” (Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Efremova). I think any representative of the authorities will read such an appeal with pleasure. Just one word at the beginning of a letter, but sometimes it can tip the scales in your favor. As the saying goes, "an affectionate calf sucks two queens."
Recently, on one of the forums, I ran into the question of what punctuation mark to put after an appeal at the beginning of a letter: an exclamation point or a comma. Out of habit, I put an exclamation mark - that's how I was taught, but I also met with the requirement of some bosses to put a comma after the treatment. Apparently those people who often correspond on English language, automatically transfer many rules of English grammar to correspondence in Russian. Sometimes business literature is also misleading, which provides examples of this kind of treatment:
Dear Sirs,
We have carefully considered your letter, in which ....
(DearSirs! Business correspondence in English. -M. Publishing Association "Culture", 1993. - 328 p.)
How is it right?
Reference service of the Russian language on the portal Gramota.ru allows both options. At the same time, attention is drawn to the fact that after the exclamation mark there follows a sentence with capital letter, and after the comma - with lowercase.
The appeal in a Russian business letter, as a rule, is located in the center and is separated from the main text by one space. The first sentence of the letter begins with a paragraph. Well, how do you start writing a sentence with a lowercase letter after a space, and even from a paragraph? But in a personal letter, the text often begins to be written on the same line as the appeal. In this case, after the appeal, you can put a comma, and continue writing the text of the letter with a lowercase letter.
Why is there an exclamation mark anyway? Here are some answers:
“The exclamation mark (!) is a punctuation mark that is placed at the end of a sentence to express amazement, appeal, strong feeling, excitement, and the like.”
“The names of most punctuation marks in the Russian language are originally Russian, and the term punctuation marks itself goes back to the verb punctuation - “stop”, “stop in motion”. If a writer puts an exclamation point at the end of a sentence, he shows how much he cares about the content of his own statement.
To the question of collegiate secretary Efim Fomich Perekladin, the hero of Chekhov's story "Exclamation mark ( Christmas story)”, “when an exclamation point is put in the papers”, his wife Marfusha, who often boasted that “it was not for nothing that she studied at the boarding school for seven years” and knows all the grammar by heart, confidently answered: “This sign is put on appeals, exclamations and expressions delight, indignation, joy, anger and other feelings.
My answer is that by putting an exclamation mark after the address, we seek to attract the attention of the addressee and encourage him not only to read the letter, but to fulfill our request, to “get through”, and sometimes even “shout out”. Dear Ivan Ivanovich!
And what is between the word "respected" and the exclamation point? In business correspondence in Russian, it is customary to address the addressee by name and patronymic. In extreme cases, you can contact by last name: "Dear Mr. Petrov!". In my opinion, addressing by surname is more appropriate in a letter of claim than in a letter of request. By name and patronymic, acquaintances usually turn to us, such an appeal causes the location of the addressee, it is more difficult for acquaintances to refuse.
When addressing several addressees at once, they currently use the appeal “Dear Sirs!”, And when addressing memos within the same organization, it is appropriate to use the appeal “Dear colleagues!”
Diplomatic correspondence has its own rules. There it is customary to address by title: “Dear Mr. Ambassador!”, “Dear Mr. Minister”, or “Your Excellency!”. But this is a separate issue.
