Grammar Guru's
Tip of the Month
Each month, this space will feature a Tip of the Month
from our Grammar Guru; these tips will address common problems with grammar
and punctuation. Her resource is The Gregg Reference Manual, Ninth
Edition.
With the advent of
PCs, several variations in letter styles have evolved. Probably the most
common is using the left margin for all lines—date, salutation, paragraphs
without indentation, the closing, and the signature block.
Another thing is that
the dictator and typist initials have disappeared in most instances.
This information is generally for the typist and PCs have other ways to
identify an item of correspondence.
Another letter style
that has become quite popular and that is having the right margin justified
just like the left margin. This provides a clean, crisp appearance and
does away with hyphenating words to make the right margin neater. One
drawback is that long words or phrases such as an email address frequently
make the spacing of a line too spread out. When this occurs, a
“manual” hyphenation may make the spacing better.
The simplified
letter is another option which is frequently favored by the typist but is
sometimes disliked by the boss. This style has no salutation and no
complimentary closing. After the inside address, a double line is left
blank; this is following by a subject line (you do not need to start this
line with Subject: or Re:), and the subject line(s) are followed with
another double blank line. It is well used in personal business letters
when the name of an individual addressee is unknown, for example, when
addressed to a department or simply to a company.
If you would like a specific tip presented, or if you would like
a personal response by email with regard to a grammar or punctuation issue,
you may contact Sandi White CAP at
Sandi.J.White@mwhglobal.com
or phone: 916-418-8368
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