1. Letters of Enquiry
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XXVII LO im T. Czackiego w Warszawie / Marcin Stanowski / www.moodle.waw.pl 1

2. Business Letter Writing: Enquiries
Characteristics:
• to ask for more information concerning
a product, post, place of study, or service
• often in response to an advertisement
• pretty simple ones (one single question)
vs. rather complex ones
XXVII LO im T. Czackiego w Warszawie / Marcin Stanowski / www.moodle.waw.pl 2

3. The content
Depends on 3 main issues:
how well you know the person you are
writing to
based in your country or abroad
type of goods/ services enquired
XXVII LO im T. Czackiego w Warszawie / Marcin Stanowski / www.moodle.waw.pl 3

4. Enquiry - opening
Opening:
1) What sort of organization/ person you are
e.g. Our company is a subsidiary of Universal
Business Machines and we specialize in …
2) Giving Reference – How did you hear about the
company/ institution?
e.g. You were recommended to us …
We were given your name by …
We were advised by … that …
XXVII LO im T. Czackiego w Warszawie / Marcin Stanowski / www.moodle.waw.pl 4

5. Enquiry – body - asking for sth.
1) Catalogues
2) Price lists
3) Details
- be as specific as possible and state exactly
what you want
- replying to an advertisement – quote the
reference (journal and its date,
reference number in a catalogue)
XXVII LO im T. Czackiego w Warszawie / Marcin Stanowski / www.moodle.waw.pl 5

6. Enquiry – body - asking for sth.
4)Samples, patterns, demonstrations
(to see the kind of material before placing an order; to
arrange a visit in a showroom)
5)Suggesting terms of trade, terms and methods of
payment, discounts …
Suggest it but be ready to get a counter-offer and to
negotiate.
6)Goods on approval, sale or return
To see how a line will sell before placing a fixed order.
7) Estimate (quotation), tender
Etc., etc.
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7. Enquiry - closing
- Polite, rather formal!
- You may indicate further business …
- Assure of your interest in the matter.
XXVII LO im T. Czackiego w Warszawie / Marcin Stanowski / www.moodle.waw.pl 7

8. Letter of Enquiry - layout
Of course, there are many formats of writing. The one
below is, I suppose, the most frequent.
1. Return address of the letter writer.
1600 Main Street
Springfield, Kansas 12345
2. The date of the letter.
This is usually typed in one of two ways:
(Begin with day, no comma) 15 January 2008
or
(Begin with month; use a comma) December 1, 2008
XXVII LO im T. Czackiego w Warszawie / Marcin Stanowski / www.moodle.waw.pl 8

9. 3. Complete name, title, and address of the
recipient.
Use "Mr." for a male recipient. (Mrs. for female)
If you do not know how a female recipient
prefers to be addressed, it is best to use "Ms.„
• Ms. Anna Brown, Chair
Department of Linguistics
Right State University
1415 University Drive
Felicity, OH 45434
• 4. Salutation with a colon.
Dear Ms. Brown,
XXVII LO im T. Czackiego w Warszawie / Marcin Stanowski / www.moodle.waw.pl 9

10. 5. Body of the letter.
• It is best to keep an initial business letter short. Business
people are busy and do not have time to read long letters!
In a one-page letter, you will usually only need three or four
paragraphs, single spaced. Use a double space in between
paragraphs.
• The easiest way to write the body of the business letter is
to use a prewritten business letter.
6. Closing.
• The most common closing is ‘Faithfully’ – if you don’t know
the person, ‘Sincerely’ if you know them. Follow this with a
comma. Skip four single lines after the closing and type
your name. Sign your name in the space above your name.
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