Business Letter

 

The letter above this sentence is business letter! do you know what purpose of business letter? or what kind of it? if you want to know, let's read this article and i hope you can understand how to distinguish the type of letters and make the business letter.

 

Parts of a Business Letter :

This resource is organized in the order in which you should write a business letter, starting with the sender's address if the letter is not written on letterhead.

•   Sender's Address

The sender's address usually is included in letterhead. If you are not using letterhead, include the sender's address at the top of the letter one line above the date.

Note: Do not write the sender's name or title, as it is included in the letter's closing. Include only the street address, city, and zip code.

•   Date

The date line is used to indicate the date the letter was written. However, if your letter is completed over a number of days, use the date it was finished in the date line. When writing to companies within the United States, use the American date format. (The United States-based convention for formatting a date places the month before the day. For example: June 11, 2001. ) Write out the month, day and year two inches from the top of the page. Depending which format you are using for your letter, either left justify the date or tab to the center point and type the date.

Passive Sentences

 

Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: 

 -  My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: 

  -   A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Asking about Possibilities, Expressing Curiosity, Expressing Views.

Possibility is used when we are talking about the future, we often don't really know what will happen.

Asking about Possibilities

• Would it be possible for (somebody) to . . . ?
• Do you think it's possible that . . . ?
• What possibility is there that . . . ?

COMPLAINING and GIVING INSTRUCTION

Complaining

1.   To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.

2.   To make a formal accusation or bring a

     

formal charge

•       A complaint is :

Complaints are expressions of "displeasure or annoyance" in response to an action that is seen by the speaker as unfavorable.

Example Complain expression :

•          I do wish you could….
•          Excuse me, I’m afraid…
•          I wish you wouldn’t mind…
•          Would you mind (doing)….?
•          I wonder if you could help me…..
•          I’m sorry to have to say this, but….
•          (Well,) this is the most unsatisfactory.
•          Wouldn’t it be a good idea to/ not to….
•          Excuse me, there seems to be something wrong with…

 Responding a complaint :

      Positive response to complaints:

•       Oh, I’m sorry about that.

•       I can’t tell you how sorry I am

•       I wish it never happened

•       Oh dear, I’m really sorry

•       I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize

•       I just don’t know what to say

•       I'm so sorry, but this will never occur / happen again.

•       I'm sorry, we promise never to do the same mistake again.

•       I'm really sorry; we'll do our utmost/best not to do the same mistake again.

 Negative response to complaints:

•       Sorry there is nothing we can do about it.

•       I'm afraid, there isn't much we can do about it.

•       We are sorry but the food is just alright.

Discussion Text

Discussion is a text which presents a problematic discourse. This problem will be discussed from different points of view. It presents pro and contra opinion on certain issue. The purpose of a discussion text is to present arguments and information from differing viewpoints.

Discussion texts are usually written in the present tense.

Points to check:

•     Have you been fair to both sides?
•     Have you supported your views with reasons ande vidence?
•     In your conclusion, have you given a reason for what you have decided   

Structure of a discussion are:

v     Issue : contains of statement and preview about something.

v  Arguments for/Supporting arguments : after stating the issue, it is necessary to present the argument to support that one point is agreeing.

v   Arguments against : beside the supporting argument, discussion text need the arguments which disagree to the stated issue.

v   Recommendation/conclusion : It is used to tell how to solve issue by concerning the arguements for and against. 

Language Features of Discussion Text :

•     Introducing category or generic participant
•     Relating verb/to be: is, am, are, etc
•     Using thinking verb: feel, hope, believe, etc
•     Using additive, contrastive, and causal connection: similarly, on the hand, however, etc
•     Using modalities: must, should, could, may, etc
•     Using adverbial of manner: deliberately, hopefully, etc
•     Conjunction/transition: although, even, if, etc

Example :

Hacking: Pro and Contra?

[Issue] Do you know what a hacker is? Well, a hacker is a person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems on computers and they like to stretch the capability of the systems. And you know what, the activities they do in the computers are called ‘hacking’. So, what’s the problem with ‘hacking and its hackers’? Well, the problem is whether ‘hacking and its hackers’ is legal or illegal? What I mean is that people in the world have many different views about hacking and the hackers. Some of them take sides, but many object.

[Argumens for] To get back to what I was saying previously, let us see the positive points of a hacker, shall we? Although in most places breaking into computer systems is considered illegal, I believe that hackers don’t do anything illegal because they only want to know and try the systems. I dare to say that a hacker likes finding the strengths and the weaknesses of a computer system. They feel proud if they can find the weaknesses. So I don’t really see the crimes in this case. In addition, these hackers sometimes help the police catch the ‘white collar criminals’, such as bank robbers, money launderers, credit card forgers. For example, in 2000, the U.S. hackers caught some Singaporean hackers who made ‘Virus Love’ to break up the programs of the U.S. National Security system.

[Argumens agains] Nevertheless, those who object to the good points of a hacker say that hacking is a crime. The reason is that some hackers use their brilliant skills to break into banks and other vital institutions where they can get money, destroy information, and the worst thing is they can get secret information and sell it to another country. This is a treachery.

Take for example, in 1994, The U.S. government broke a conspiracy of computer hackers out of Majorca, Spain. These hackers were responsible for accessing and eliminating 190,000 telephone credit card numbers over computer bulletin boards in America and Europe. 

[Recomendations] Seeing this fact, I don’t blame those who think negatively about hackers. To put the whole thing in a nut shell, I personally think that hackers are not bad people with their brilliant skills. However, they could be bad because of money orientation to get the wealth. That’s just the point.

The Advantage and Disadvantage of Nuclear Power

[Issue] Nuclear power is generated by using uranium which is a metal mined in various part of the world. The first large scale of nuclear power station was opened at Calder Hall in Cumbria, England in 1956.

[Arguments for] Some military ships and submarines have nuclear power plant for engine. Nuclear power produces around 11% of the world's energy needed, and produces huge amounts of energy. It cause no pollution as we would get when burning fossil fuels. The advantages of nuclear plant are as follow:

• It costs about the same coal, so it is not expansive to make.
• It does not produce smoke or carbon dioxide, so it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.
• It produces huge amounts of energy from small amount of uranium.
• It produces small amount of waste.
• It is reliable.

[Arguments against] On the other hand, nuclear power is very, very dangerous. It must be sealed up and buried for many years to allow the radioactivity to die away. Furthermore, although it is reliable, a lot of money has to be spent on safety because if it does go wrong, a nuclear accident ca be a major accident.
[Recomendations] People are increasingly concerned about this matter. In the 1990's nuclear power was the fastest growing source of power in many parts of the world. So, if use of nuclear reactors we have to think more wisely and maintain security in order to avoid catastrophic adverse human.

Making Suggestion and Requesting Something

 

 There are a number of ways used when making suggestions : 

1)          WHAT ABOUT/HOW ABOUT ... + Base form + -ING

   •       What about going to the swimming pool tomorrow?

   •       How about going to the swimming pool tomorrow?

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

            Direct Speech / Quoted Speech

Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted speech)

Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word.

For example:

She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations." Or "Today's lesson is on presentations," she said.

Indirect Speech / Reported Speech

Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word.

When reporting speech the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech, we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.

or example:

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"I'm going to the cinema", he said.	He said he was going to the cinema.

Tense change

As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right):

Direct speech		Indirect speech
Present simple  She said, "It's cold."	›	Past simple  She said it was cold.
Present continuous  She said, "I'm teaching English online."	›	Past continuous  She said she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple  She said, "I've been on the web since 1999."	›	Past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999.
Present perfect continuous  She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years."	›	Past perfect continuous  She said she had been teaching English for seven years.
Past simple  She said, "I taught online yesterday."	›	Past perfect  She said she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous  She said, "I was teaching earlier."	›	Past perfect continuous  She said she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect  She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived."	›	Past perfect  NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived.
Past perfect continuous She said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes."	›	Past perfect continuous  NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes.

Modal verb forms also sometimes change:

Direct speech		Indirect speech
will  She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow."	›	would She said she would teach English online tomorrow.
can  She said, "I can teach English online."	›	could She said she could teach English online.
must  She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online."	›	had to  She said she had to have a computer to teach English online.
shall  She said, "What shall we learn today?"	›	should She asked what we should learn today.
may  She said, "May I open a new browser?"	›	might She asked if she might open a new browser.

Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"I might go to the cinema", he said.	He said he might go to the cinema.

You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true i.e. my name has always been and will always be Lynne so:-

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"My name is Lynne", she said.	She said her name was Lynne. or She said her name is Lynne.

You can also use the present tense if you are talking about a future event.

Direct speech (exact quote)	Indirect speech (not exact)
"Next week's lesson is on reported speech ", she said.	She said next week's lesson is on reported speech.

Time change

If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time of reporting.

For example we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings at the time and place of reporting.

Today	+ 24 hours - Indirect speech
"Today's lesson is on presentations."	She said yesterday's lesson was on presentations.

Expressions of time if reported on a different day
this (evening)	›	that (evening)
today	›	yesterday ...
these (days)	›	those (days)
now	›	then
(a week) ago	›	(a week) before
last weekend	›	the weekend before last / the previous weekend
here	›	there
next (week)	›	the following (week)
tomorrow	›	the next/following day

In addition if you report something that someone said in a different place to where you heard it you must change the place (here) to the place (there).

For example:-

At work	At home
"How long have you worked here?"	She asked me how long I'd worked there.

Pronoun change

In reported speech, the pronoun often changes.

For example:

Me	You
"I teach English online."	She said she teaches English online.

Reporting Verbs

Said, told and asked are the most common verbs used in indirect speech.

We use asked to report questions:-

For example: I asked Lynne what time the lesson started.

We use told with an object.

For example: Lynne told me she felt tired.

!Note - Here me is the object.

We usually use said without an object.

For example: Lynne said she was going to teach online.

If said is used with an object we must include to ;

For example: Lynne said to me that she'd never been to China.

Note - We usually use told.

For example: Lynne told me that she'd never been to China.

There are many other verbs we can use apart from said, told and asked.

These include:-

accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologised, begged, boasted, complained, denied, explained, implied, invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested and thought.

Using them properly can make what you say much more interesting and informative.

For example:

He asked me to come to the party:-

He invited me to the party.

He begged me to come to the party.

He ordered me to come to the party.

He advised me to come to the party.

He suggested I should come to the party.

Use of 'That' in reported speech

In reported speech, the word that is often used.

For example: He told me that he lived in Greenwich.

However, that is optional.

For example: He told me he lived in Greenwich.

Note - That is never used in questions, instead we often use if.

For example: He asked me if I would come to the party.

Contrastive Conjunction

Contrastive conjunction

• Showing the difference between two things when you compare them
• A conjunction is a word that joins two or more words, phrases, or clauses.
• Contrastive conjunctions are used to emphasize the contrast between two ideas and to link two ideas    or statement that are considered to be different. 

Although ,Even Though, Tough

·    In the sentence, "although" is equivalent in meaning to "though" and "even though". However  "although" is the most formal than of these three, with "even though" and "though" being more commonly  found in the less formal writing of magazines and newspapers.

·   Use them to signal that the statement in the main clause is unexpected or surprising, or to admit a fact that should be considered less important  that stated in the main clause.

·   When placed after the main clause, (even) though limits or reduces the strength of claims stated in the main clause.

Example of Altough

v  Although there is no universal agreement within the scientific community on the impacts of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, it has been theorized that they may lead to an increase in the average temperature of the Earth"s surface.

v  There is no universal agreement among scientists and climatologists on the potential impacts of an increase in the average temperature of the Earth, although it has been hypothesized that it could lead to a variety of changes in the global climate, sea level, agricultural patterns, and ecosystem.

Example of (Even) Though

v (Even) though climate change cannot be predicted for a specific region, experience with natural climatic variability leads many scientists to believe that even relatively small changes to climate may be socially and economically significant.

v  Nia had studied hard, (Even) tough she failed the test.

v  (Even) tough he loses his job as Arts Minister, I think he"ll continue to serve in the government .

v  (Even) though I had two hours to spare for shopping, I couldn"t find the suit I wanted.

Whereas ; While

Although basically having the same meaning as "while", "whereas" is more emphatic, tends to come after the main clause, and tends to contrast opposite sides of a single quality in two similar things. Thus, "whereas" is used to contrast between extreme examples that represent almost polar opposites of each other. "While", on the other hand, only signals that two things different, and not that they are opposites.

Example of "While"

Before main clause:

-    While land temperatures are measured by the temperature of air about a metre above the earth"s surface, ocean temperatures are measured by the temperature of water. (more common)

After main clause:

-    Land temperatures are measured by the temperature of air about a metre above the earth"s surface,    while ocean temperatures are measured by the temperature of water. (less common)

Example of Whereas

-     Nuclear energy fuel uses only about 4 percent fissionable uranium, whereas a nuclear   weapon uses  100 percent fissionable uranium. Because of this difference, nuclear power  plants cannot explode.

-   The Finns had difficulty supplying their troops with ammunition, whereas the Russians had an     unlimited supply and a vastly superior system of communication.

-     Hydrogen can be used as a motor fuel, whereas neither nuclear nor solar energy can be           used directly for powering an automobile.

Nevertheless ; However

         "Nevertheless" have the same basic concessive meaning as "however“ : They all introduce a sentence that gives information which is unexpected or surprising in light of information given in a previous sentence. Unlike "however", which is based on a positive-to-negative ordering of information, "nevertheless" require an opposite ordering of information, negative-to-positive.

  

Negative ( - )  to Positive ( + )

-   Nuclear fission produces highly toxic radioactive wastes. Nevertheless, it produces no greenhouse gases.

Positive ( + ) to Negative ( - )

-    Nuclear fission produces no greenhouse gases. However, it does produce highly toxic radioactive wastes.

-     Nuclear wastes can have half-lives of more than 1000 years  and thus present a clear danger to future generations. Nevertheless, Finland has  decided to build yet another nuclear power plant.

Example of However

Positive ( + ) to Negative ( - ) :

All major studies of the greenhouse effect have concluded that sea level and precipitation will change significantly. However, most engineers and planners implicitly assume that these changes will not occur.

Situation ( + ) to Problem ( - ) :

Sampling techniques developed for attribute inspection have traditionally been designed on the basis of perfect human inspection. However, studies in human factors have shown that human inspection is not error free.

Earlier research ( + ) to Criticism ( - ) :

The prototype training program proved to be successful in improving inspection accuracy. However, it did not show significant improvements in inspection speed.

Despite/in spite of

‘Despite’ and ‘in spite of’ are always followed by a noun, pronoun or -ing  verb form.

"Despite" and "in spite of" express the same meaning.

"Despite" is more formal than "in spite of" and thus more likely to be used in academic writing.

Use these two prepositions to introduce a fact which makes the other part of the sentence seem surprising.

Example Despite/in spite of :

-          The old farmer works hard in his field in spite of fierce sun

-                   Diana is still doing her homework despite being very tired

-          Despite lower carbon dioxide emissions, diesel cars may promote more global warming than gasoline cars.

-         In spite of the cooling tend that has been observed for Antarctica as a whole, one region of the continent has actually  contradicted the mean trend and warmed over the same time  period: the Bellingshausen Sea region.

But ; yet ; still

“but” and “yet” show a contrast between two (or more) ideas but it tells the reader nothing about which of the two clauses is more important, the first or the second

Still emphasise that something is surprising, considering what has already been said. “Still” have the same meaning as “Nevertheless “ but more informal (usually in magazine).

Example But ,yet ,still

•        Ram likes tea, but Anthony likes coffee.

•        These schemes provide a solution, but they are not easy. (with comma)

•        These schemes provide a solution but are not easy. (no comma)

•        Mr. David is rich, but he is unhappy

•        She can play the piano very well, yet she can"t read any music at all.

•      The sun was shining and there was no wind, but it was unusually cold. I thought they would still be alive

•        We still don"t know whether there are survivors from the plane crash

•        I still haven"t spoken to the manager, so don"t know what  my future will be.

  

Modal Perfect

Modal perfect is usually used to express events in the past. Modal perfect used in different conditions according to the forms of modal initially did use modal : Can/could (ability), may/might (possibility) , etc.

The following are some modal perfect including their meanings and examples

Modal Perfect	Meaning	Example
Could have	We had the ability to do something in the past, but we didn’t do it.	The report is considered nonfactual. Renny could have interviewed some people before writing it.
Would have	We wanted to do something, but we didn’t do it in the end.	I would have finished is last nigh. Now I am still doing my work.
Might have	It is possible that something happened in the past, but we aren’t sure.	We did not see Andra at the meeting. He might have forgotten it.
Should have	It was the right thing to do, but we didn’t do it.	Alex had negative thoughts about you. You should have him the truth.
	We expected something to happen, but it didn’t.	Lina is disappoited. Her father should have bought her a bicycle.
Must have	We are almost sure something happened in the past.	My younger sister is verry happy. She must have got the doll she longed for some time.

(Modal Perfect)

(Should + have + past participle) :

When the action did not happen and someone is sorry (regrets) that the action did not happen.

•   I failed the test.  I should have studied last night.
•   My stomach hurts! I shouldn"t have eaten those four pies .

(Must + have + past participle) :

When you are almost certain that the action happened. Based on facts or current situation, you conclude that the action happened.

•  Joe looks really tired today.  He must have gone to bed late last night.

                                                                               

(Could + have +  past participle) :

When the speaker had the opportunity to do something, but you are not sure he did it.  You can also use it when the action was possible  but you are not sure if it really happened.

•  I could have gone to Oxford University but I preferred Harvard University.

(Might + have + past participle) :

When the action was possible, but you are not sure it happened- the same meaning as may have, could have + past participle

• We did not see Andra at the meeting. He might have forgotten it.

(Would + have + past participle) :

When the action did not happen (conditional) :

• The young couple would have purchased the house if it had had two bathrooms
• The negative form would not have + past participle is used when the action actually happened, but it would not have happened if something else occurred first 
• The pie would not have tasted so sweet if I  had added the correct amount of sugar