Explanation of the structure of a letter
A letter is generally composed of the following seven parts: the letterhead, the date of writing, the inside address, the salutation, the body, the complimentary close, and the signature. You may mention enclosure(s) if there is any.
Letterhead
Letterhead refers to the full address (street/road address, city, province, country) of the writer (the conference host). Postcode, phone number, fax number and email address may also be included. It usually appears at the very top of the letter, either in the left corner, right corner, or at the center. Wherever you put it, be sure that your address is complete.
For example:
(1) School of Law
Shandong University
27 Shanda Nanlu
Jinan, Shandong 250100
P.R. China
(2) School of Materials Engineering
Purdue University
Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering
701 West Stadium Avenue
Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2045
Phone: +1-765-494-4103
Fax: +1-765-494-1204
Date
Put down the full date: day, month, and year. It comes right after and just below your address. It is a common practice to put the date against the left margin in the full block style. The date of the letter should be quite clear. The year should be given in full, the month should be written in words to avoid misunderstanding and confusion, and the day may be written in cardinal or ordinal numbers and may be put before (British style) or after (American style) the month.
British style: 8 May, 2066 8th March, 2006
American style: May 8, 2006 March 8th, 2004
Inside address
The inside address gives the name and full address of the recipient, which is always on the left margin. Write it with an appropriate courtesy title (e.g. Mrs., Ms., Miss, Mr.), professional title (e.g. Dr., Professor) or business title if any (e.g. Manager, Director), institution/ organization, address, etc. Courtesy and professional titles always appear before the name while business titles come after the name. Never use business titles in the salutation. Remember to make the inside address as complete as possible.
(1) Professor George Smith
School of Mathematical Science
The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RD UK
(2) Mr. George Bush
East-West Center
1601 East-West Road
Honolulu, HI USA-96848
USA
Salutation
This is a greeting to the recipient, e.g. Dear Ms. Ann Mellon (use Ms. For a woman recipient when her marital status is not known or when she prefers Ms.). or Mr. John Wood, or Dear Professor Williams. Salutation is also always on the left margin.
Body of the letter
The body of the letter-the message—is the most important part in which the conference host/organizer(s) state(s) the occasion, time and venue, introduce(s) the purpose of writing, the theme/arrangement of the conference and express(es) the anticipated pleasure in seeing the invited person(s).
Complimentary close
The complimentary close can be put either on the left-hand side or right-hand side of the page, with the first letter capitalized, and followed by a comma. As with the salutation, your complimentary close should reflect your relationship with the recipient. The following are some of the most often used complimentary closes.
(1) Formal closes:
Sincerely yours, Respectfully yours, Very truly yours,
Yours Sincerely, Yours respectfully, Yours truly
(2) Informal closes (often in emails):
Best regards, Best wishes, With best wishes,
All the best, With respect
Signature
An English letter always requires to be signed, which should be put between the complimentary close and the typed name, including the writer’s position or status in the organization.
Enclosure(s) (if any)
This can be used to remind the recipient of the additional material(s) put in the invitation letter, such as an agenda of a conference or a curriculum vitae in an application letter. Some prefer the abbreviation Encl.
