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Block-Style Business Letter Types

ROFESSIONAL business letters are

used in an assortment of ways

to connect with employees and

customers. People grow familiar with

how business letters look; and this

helps create trust, credibility, and a

level of comfort for customers and

employees. This lesson covers

formatting rules for three block-style

letters. Once you have learned these

styles, you are ready to create

business letters! When people see

your letters, they will know you are a

professional.

Objective:

þ Create block-style, modified block-style, and simplified block-style business let-

ters using appropriate formatting rules.

Key Terms:

Learning Popular Styles for

Writing Business Letters

As you move from high school into college and then into the workforce, there are certain

basic skills you need to assure your success. One such skill is understanding how to format

formal business letters. For example, you may write a college application letter or a cover letter

when applying for a job. Hence, it is important to learn the basic formatting rules for writing

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block-style letter

body

closing elements

elements

margin

modified block-style

letters

opening elements

salutation

simplified block-style

letters

signature area

professional business letters. Business professionals find these letter styles easy to read and it

saves them from wasting time or being confused with other varieties of formatting.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A BUSINESS LETTER

As you may have read about in another e-unit in this library, there are essential elements

that act as the building blocks for writing a business letter. Elements refer to the different

parts or sections of a business letter. Standard business letters contain the following elements:

sender’s address, date, inside address, salutation, body, complimentary close, sender’s typed

and handwritten signatures, sender’s job title, typist initials, enclosure notation, and indication

of copies sent to others.

Opening Elements

Opening elements refer to information

contained in the upper part of the letter,

before the body of the letter. Opening ele

ments consist of sender’s address, date,

inside address, and salutation.

The sender’s address contains street

address, city, state, and zip code. The date

reflects when the letter was written. Write

out the month, day, and year.

Inside address is another way of saying the

recipient’s address. It contains the courtesy

title (Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Dr.), first and last

name, and job title of the person to whom

the letter is written. The information also

includes company name, street address, city,

state, and zip code.

The salutation is the opening greeting

line of the letter.

Body

The body is the part of the letter that articulates the substantive content of the letter. The

first paragraph tells the reader the reason for the letter. The next paragraph provides detailed

information that includes background information and the bottom line message or purpose or

desired actions or outcome.

Closing Elements

Closing elements refer to additional details and authentication practices that tie up the

communication with professional closure. The first closing element is called the complimen

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FIGURE 1. Think of the opening like starting a race.

tary close. The complimentary

close includes a respectful phrase

such as “sincerely; or respectfully

yours”. Under the complimentary

close is the signature area. The

signature area is the place on

the letter where the author signs

his or her name to add authentic

ity and credibility to the letter.

Under the signature area is the

typed name of sender and job

title. The typist’s initials can be

placed under the sender’s name.

An attachment/enclosure notation

can be included at the bottom of

the letter if there are accompanying materials. If the letter was sent to other people, then “cc:”

with the names of those copied on the letter can also be listed at the bottom of the letter.

BLOCK-STYLE FORMATTING

A block-style letter is a type of letter that features all of the business letter elements pre-

sented in this e-unit along with distinct left margin alignment. Block-style formatting includes

the following formatting rules: left margin alignment; top, bottom, left, and right side margin

settings; and line spacing.

Left Margin Alignment

Elements of a block-style letter are aligned on the left margin. All of the opening, body, and

closing elements start at the same place on the left margin. When looking at a block-style letter,

the information is perfectly aligned straight down the left margin and there are no indents. It

forms a perfect visual line down the left margin of the page; hence it looks like the side of a

block.

Top, Bottom, Left-, and Right-Side Margin Settings

Margin refers to how far the text begins in relation to the edges of the page. The top mar

gin setting is 2 inches. The bottom margin setting is 1 inch. Both left- and right-side margins

are also set at 1 inch.

Line Spacing

In the body of the letter, use single space with no additional spacing before or after para

graphs. Besides single spacing the body, there are other special spacing rules. First, after the

sender’s address in the opening, use a double space (hit “enter” key twice) before writing the

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FIGURE 2. The closing is crossing the finish line.

date. After the date, use a quadruple space

(hit “enter” key four times) before writing

the inside address. (Note: you may see

examples where there is only a double

space after the date. You may find some

variation in conventions in spacing,

depending on how long the letter is.

Either way, the information must be

spaced greater than single space in order to

give some visual separation of the infor

mation. Do not worry too much about

small differences such as whether to dou

ble or quadruple-space. Choose the one

that gives the best visual separation of the

information.) Double space between

inside address and salutation. Double space between salutation and body. Double space

between paragraphs in the body. Double space after complimentary closing. Quadruple space

after complimentary closing—this creates the space for the signature. Double space after the

written sender name under the signature. Double space between written name and typist ini-

tials. Double space after typist initials and attachment/enclosure and “cc:” information.

Special Note

If the stationary (paper) is on letterhead that contains the sender’s address, then that infor-

mation can be left out of the opening elements. In this case, start with the date as the first

opening element.

MODIFIED BLOCK-STYLE AND

SIMPLIFIED BLOCK-STYLE LETTER FORMATTING

Modified and simplified block-style letters are quite similar to block-style letters. Modified

block-style letters are letters containing all of the same elements as block-style, but

changes have been made to some of the alignments and placement of information on the page.

Modified Block-Style

All of the elements remain in modified block; however, elements in the opening and closing

are positioned in the center. Specifically, the date is center formatted, or approximately 4

inches from the left margin. The complimentary closing, signature area, and sender’s name in

the closing are also placed at the center of the page, or approximately 4 inches from the left

margin. Also, the first line of each paragraph can be indented in modified block-style letters.

The spacing requirements are the same as block-style.

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FIGURE 3. Line spacing options.

Simplified Block-Style

Simplified block-style letters are letters that do not

contain all of the same elements as block and modified

block-styles; hence it gets the name “simplified”. The salu

tation and complimentary closing are not included. The

inside address is written in all capitals. A subject line is

included to replace the salutation. The subject line is writ-

ten in all capital letters. Under the signature area in the

closing elements, the sender’s name and title are typed in all

capitals. All of the simplified elements are aligned to the left

margin and follow the same spacing formatting as block-

style.

Summary:

Standard business letters contain the following elements: sender’s address, date,

inside address, salutation, body, complimentary close, sender’s typed and handwrit

ten signatures, sender’s job title, typist initials, enclosure notation, and indication of

copies sent to others. A block-style letter is one that feature all of the business letter

elements listed above, along with distinct left margin alignment. Block-style for

matting includes the following formatting rules: left margin alignment; top, bottom,

left-, and right-side margin settings; and line spacing rules. Modified block-style

letters are letters containing all of the elements as block-style, but change some of

the margins and placement of information on the page. Simplified block-style letter

are letters that do not contain all of the same elements as block and modified block-

styles; hence it gets the name “simplified”. The salutation and complimentary clos

ing are not included. These three styles of business letters are used to maintain pro

fessional business standards.

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FURTHER EXPLORATION…

ONLINE CONNECTION: To Simplify or not to Simplify?

To simplify or not to simplify, that is the question. Why do you suppose a professional would select the

simplified block—style letter over the block-style letter? Recall the key differences are omitting salutation

and complimentary closing in a simplified block-style letter. Under what conditions would it make sense to

leave out these two elements? Begin your exploration of this question at the following web resources:

https://www.reference.com/world-view/simplified-letter-style-ec687690c159a986

; and

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/simplified-style-business-letter-10318.html

LEFT SIDE ALIGNMENT

FIGURE 4. Left side alignment icon.

Checking Your Knowledge:

´ 1. What are the eleven elements of a block-style business letter?

2. What are two big differences between block-style and modified block-style

letter formatting rules?

3. In which format are the salutation and complimentary closing not used?

4. What is the required line spacing in the body of all three formats?

5. What is the alignment formatting for date, inside address, and signature area in

a simplified-style letter?

Expanding Your Knowledge:

Search for letter templates in Microsoft Word and on the Internet. Find templates

for the three styles covered in this e-unit: block-style, modified block-style, and

simplified block-style.

Web Links:

: Modified Block

http://www.savvy-business-correspondence.com/ModifiedBlockBizLetter.html

Formats for Different Letter Types

https://www.universalclass.com/articles/writing/business-writing/formats-for-

different-business-letters.htm

Side-by-Side Comparison of Four Business Letter Types

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/27825138/4-business-letter-

formats-block-modified-block-simplified-the-

Letter Formats

https://www.lexico.com/grammar/letter-formats-block-modified-block-and-

semi-block

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