Written Fluency -- Autumn semester 2004
Handout 1 -- Tuesday, 12 October 2004
Correspondence. Private/informal // business/formal letters.

Task 1:
Match the following typical parts of a business letter with the
corresponding parts of the (incomplete) example below. More
labels can sometimes refer to the same part of the letter.
salutation           receiver´s address   references
complimentary        sender´s address     re-line
clause               date                 heading
receiver´s name and  body of letter       letterhead
title                enclosures           signature
sender´s name and
title


                    Troy International Ltd.
 (Head Office), 17 River Road, M. Owen Industrial Park, Newton
                    Abbot DE7 S8A, England
         Telephone: 01289 270813   Fax: +44 1289270805

BA Trading s.r.o.                          Your ref:
Šumavská 31                               Our ref:
60200  Brno
Czech Republic                            Date:  8
October 2004


Attn. Mrs Stodolova

Dear Mrs Stodolova,

Your order No. P-4218

I ___________________ that our last shipment according to your
order P-4218 has caused you difficulties and I should like
_________________ how sorry I _________________. You may be
assured that your complaint _________________ full attention.

As I am keen _____________________ preventive measures for the
future,
 I ___________________ your cooperation in ascertaining some of
the circumstances, particularly whether
    -  the details given in the transport document were in
accordance with our invoice and the actual delivery,
    -  the seal of the truck was intact,
    -  the packages _____________________,
    -  survey report was drawn up with the carrier´s
statement.

As soon as we ___________________ your detailed description and
specification of damage we shall proceed further with the
settlement.

Please be sure that we are taking measures ___________________
similar occurrences in future.

Yours sincerely,



Liam Wintersgill
Sales Manager
Task 2:
Read the following letter and fill in the blanks with the
correct forms of verbs from the list in the box below. Add
auxiliary and modal verbs, particles and prepositions where
necessary. Each verb can only be used once. There are more
verbs in the box than gaps in the letter (i.e. some verbs will
not be used).
take         follow       give    appreciate    express
feeldispatch
prevent  inform       repair       receive  damage   make
require

Task 3:
Write down some expressions typical of the style of business
letters. List also some characteristic grammatical features of
formal style which can be found here. Try to provide their
informal equivalents, if possible.
Formal letters                 Informal letters
                               









Task 4:
Imagine that Mrs Stodolová and Mr Wintersgill have been co-
operating for many years and they are close friends. Rewrite
the letter in 3-4 sentences as an informal e-mail. Use
expressions and structures from the right column of the above
box.











Task 5:
Draft a formal reply to Mr Wintersgill and include the
following notes:
-  poděkujte za rychlost a ochotu věc řešit;
-  odpovězte na otázky: v dodávce chybělo 20 ks oproti
dopravnímu dokladu, plomba byla rozlomená, 1 bedna (15 ks)
chybí zcela a druhou zloději otevřeli;
-  zeptejte se, zda o náhradu od pojišťovny máte žádat vy,
anebo dodavatel;
- požádejte o doposlání chybějících kusů v další zásilce do
konce měsíce;
- vyjádřete naději, že takové potíže se nebudou opakovat.