Compare and contrast full block letter style with modified block letter style

The business letter is the cornerstone of typing and keyboarding classes. If you spent time boosting your words per minute in high school or took a business communication class in college, you have experience with the full block letter whether you remember its name or not. A complete block letter features a left alignment for all parts of the letter, including the first line of every paragraph – think "no indents, ever." When you write in block, character counts drop by two if you use open punctuation because you eliminate the use of a colon and comma after the salutation and complimentary close.

Starting Your Full Block Letter

Craft the beginning of your letter using the standard elements of complete block letter style, including the sender's address, date line, the address of the intended recipient and a salutation. In the traditional format, the salutation will close with a colon. For a block letter, the returns at the end of elements may deviate slightly from keyboarding class. Hit "Return" or "Enter" two times after entering your address – left aligned – at the top of the letter, type the date, and return four times after the dateline and two times between all other elements, such as the address and salutation and all subsequent paragraphs. For open punctuation, the salutation does not have any ending punctuation.

Examples:

Traditional full block:

Dear Mr. Smith:

Open punctuation:

Dear Mr. Smith

Always include the full address of your intended recipient in your letter and use the date the letter is crafted as your dateline. Only use one "Return" key strike to separate each line of both the sender and recipient addresses.

Example:

John Smith

123 Main Street

New York, NY 10001

Body of the Letter Basics

There is no indentation in a full block letter, including at the beginning of paragraphs. Block style requires all lines of text to start at the left-hand margin. As you type the body of your letter, use a double-space between paragraphs by hitting the "Return" key on your keyboard twice. When you conclude the letter, there is also a double-space before the complimentary close. Open punctuation does not require changes to paragraph construction.

Example:

Dear Mr. Smith:

I enjoyed my visit to Company XYZ today and hope to expand our business-to-business relationship in the near future. The factory tour answered many of my questions regarding production of Widget 1, but as we discussed, there are additional areas where I would appreciate greater insights into production.

My administrative assistant will be scheduling a follow-up appointment for one of our design supervisors during the week of October 8. His or her job will be to obtain additional information regarding streamlining the Widget 1 production process through improved design.

Sincerely,

Mark Jones

In Conclusion: Ending Your Letter

The complimentary close of your letter, such as "Sincerely," "Yours truly" or "Best regards," is where the last difference between open punctuation and traditional full block style letter writing is evident. With open punctuation, you can ditch the comma after the closing.

Professional correspondence should have a clean, polished look, which is where proper business letter format comes in. The overall style of the correspondence depends on the relationship between you and the letter’s recipient, and it can contain almost anything. Read on to learn more about the two main types of business letter as well as four indentation types that are used less frequently.

Full Block Style

The full block style business letter layout is more popular than other business letter templates, and given the option, it is the one most people prefer to use. When you use this business letter format, all the information is typed flush left and margins are set at 1 to 1 ¼ inches all the way around. This happens to be the default setting in most word processing programs including Microsoft Word.
The left justified type is easy to read, looks crisp on the page, and leaves little room for error. If you are new to writing business letters and your company doesn’t have a policy in place concerning business letter format, you may find this is a good place to start.
Follow the salutation or greeting with a comma or colon. In the United States, colons are sometimes preferred; in the United Kingdom, greetings are usually followed by commas. If you aren’t sure which your company prefers, use a comma for all greetings other than the generic “To Whom It May Concern,” which is always followed by a colon.
Full block style business letters have a formal look, however they can be used in any business situation. If you are looking for a single format that will work well in every situation, this is a good one to use.

Modified Block Style

The modified block style business letter is the second-most popular layout. It has a clean, traditional look, with your company’s return address, the date, the closing, and the signature line being started at the center point of the page.
All other elements including inside address, greeting, body, and enclosures notation are left justified, and paragraphs are followed by either double or triple spacing.
Like the margins on a full block style business letter, the margins of the modified block style business letter layout are set to 1 to 1 ¼ inches.
Follow the salutation or greeting with a comma or colon. In the United States, colons are sometimes preferred; in the United Kingdom, greetings are usually followed by commas. If you aren’t sure which your company prefers, use a comma for all greetings other than the generic “To Whom It May Concern,” which is always followed by a colon.
Modified block style business letters are less formal than full block style letters. If you are corresponding with someone you already have a good working relationship with, the modified block style letter is a good one to use.

Standard Format

The standard business letter has the same look as the block style business letter, meaning that all lines are flush with the left margin. All margins should be set at 1 ½ inches.
The greeting or salutation in a standard format business letter is always followed by a colon.
An optional subject line follows the salutation or greeting. This is written in all caps, and should read “SUBJECT” or “RE:” (an abbreviation for ‘reference’). This should be followed by a brief description of the letter’s subject, an account number, or other applicable information. The subject line is often underlined.
The letter’s closing is followed by a comma.
A standard format business letter has some additional, optional elements added to the closing and signature area.
If a third person, such as an assistant or secretary, typed the letter, a blank line should follow the sender’s information located below the signature. The typist’s initials should follow the sender’s initials on a line located just below the blank line, with the sender’s initials in uppercase and the typists in lowercase. For example: “KS:pj” or “MJ:ak”
On the next line, you should indicate whether a copy of the letter is being sent to anyone else with the notation “cc:” in lowercase letters. For example: “cc: John King”
On the line below that, you should indicate the presence of enclosures, if appropriate. Note that the abbreviation “Encl:” beginning with a capital ‘E’ is used with standard business letter format. For example: “Encl: copy of invoice”
Standard format business letters are quite formal. Because they include an optional subject line, they are ideal for situations in which you need to create a formal response or communicate about an account number or case number.

Open Business Letter

The open format business letter looks almost exactly like the block format business letter. There are two basic differences between the two layouts:

• There is no punctuation after the greeting or salutation
• There is no punctuation after the closing

The open format business letter has a clean, formal look just as the block format letter does. It is suitable for all business communications.

Semi-Block Business Letter

In the semi-block format business letter, all text is aligned to the left margin. As in other business letter templates, each paragraph is separated by double or triple spacing. The main difference between this type of correspondence and others is that the first line of each paragraph is indented.
The semi-block format business letter is a little less formal than the block format letter and slightly more formal than the modified block format letter. It works well in almost all situations and is a good choice if you find yourself on the fence about which format to use.

Modified Semi-Block Business Letter

The modified semi-block format business letter looks almost identical to the modified block letter, with just one difference: The first line of each paragraph is indented.
The modified semi-block business letter is the least formal-looking of all business letters and is best for using when you know the recipient very well.

Business Letter Writing Tips

Regardless of which business letter format you prefer, use the following basic tips to ensure that your correspondence has a clean, professional look.

Which characteristic is exclusive to a modified block business letter?

Which letter style is most efficient for business letters?

What are three examples of end notations for a letter?

What style of business letter has all of the lines beginning at the left margin?