Lexico-sementic chartersticcs of business letter correspondence

"Exclusive" It’s importance in contract English is  vast,  and its omission   creates  difficulties  in  good  many  informal drafts. Exclusivity as a contract term means that somebody  is -barred from dealing with others in a specified area. Typically an employment may be exclusive in that the employee  may  not work for  any  one else,  or a license may be exclusive in the sense that no competing licenses  will  be  issued.

Antitrust problems cluster  around  exclusive  arrangements but they are not all automatically outlawed.

It follows that one ought to specify whether or    not   exclusivity   is   part   of   many transactions. If not,  the  phrase  "nonexclusive"  does  well enough. On  the  other hand,  if a consultant is to be engaged solely by one company,  or a distributorship awarded to nobody else except  X,  then  "exclusive"  is  a  word  that deserves recitation. "Exclusive Right but Not Obligation" is an example that combines  two  phrases  discussed  here.

The  linking of concepts is a  step  in  building  a  vocabulary  of  contract English.

"Solely on  condition that" One of the few phrases that can be considered better than its short counterparts. Why not just   "if"? Because  "if"  by  itself  leaves  open  the possibility of open contingencies:

"If Baker delivers 1,000 barrels I will buy them" is unclear if you will buy them  only  from  Baker.  Therefore what about "only if"? Sometimes this works out, but not always.

"I will buy 1,000 barrels only if Baker delivers them" is an example  of "only if" going fuzzy.  One possible meaning is "not more than 1,000 barrels" with "only" assimilated with the wrong word. Here then a more elaborate phrase is justified.

"I will buy 1,000 barrels solely on condition that  Baker delivers them" makes everything clear.

"Subject to"  Few  contracts  can do without this phrase. Many promises can be made good only if certain  things  occur. The right   procedure   is   to   spell  out  these  plausible impediments to the degree  that  you  can  reasonably  foresee them.

"We will deliver these subject to our receiving  adequate supplies";

"Our agreement is subject to the laws of Connecticut";

"Subject to circumstances beyond our control ".

Foreign esoteric words

Every now  and then a scholarly phrase becomes accepted in business usage.  "Pro  rate"  and  "pari  passu"   are   Latin expressions but concern money.  "Pro rata" proves helpful when payments are to be in a proportion reflecting earlier  formulas in a  contract.  "Pari  passu" is used when several people are paid at the same level or time out of a  common  fund.  Latin, however, is not the only source of foreign phrases in business letters.

"Force majeure"  is a French phrase meaning circumstances beyond one's control.

English itself  has plenty of rare words.  One example is "eschew"; how  many  times  we  see  people  struggling   with negatives such  as "and  we  agree not to produce (whatever it is) for a period of X". The more appropriate phrase would be

"we will eschew production".

But here it should be mentioned  that  not  everyone  can understand such  phrases.  Therefore rare words should be used only once in a long  while.  Those  who  uses  them  sparingly appears to be reliable.

Some words against passive

Until now the  study  of  writing  business  letters  has consisted largely  of  contract  phrases  accompanied by brief essays evaluating  their  usefulness.  The   words   are   only samplings and are presented mainly to conduce writing business letters in a proper way.  It will be wrong,  however, to bring this list  to an end without mention of a more general problem that arises in connection with no fixed word pattern at all. It arises, rather from using too many passives. Such phrases as "The material will be delivered";

"The start date is to be decided";

"The figures must be approved" are obscure ones leaving unsettled who it is that delivers, who decides,  and who does the approving.  Which side it is to be? Lawsuits  are  the  plausible  outcome  of  leaving it all unsettled. Passives used in contracts can  destroy  the  whole negotiations. "You  will  deliver"  is better for it identifies the one who will do delivering.  Certainly,  "must be approved by us" violates other canons.  "We shall have the right but not the obligation to approve" is less unfortunate.  There  is  no doubt that passives do not suit business letters,  and if they go all the way through without adding something like "by  you" or "by us" they are intolerable.  Once in a long while one may find passives used purposely to leave something  unresolved.  In those circumstances  they  will be in class with "negotiate in good faith", which I've examined earlier.

EXAMINING ENGLISH BUSINESS LETTERS

Now let's turn to the practical point of writing business letters. They  may be divided into official and semi-official. The first kind of letters is characteristic  of  those  people working in  business:  an executive,  a department manager,  a salesman, a  secretary  or  a  specialist  in   business   and technology. But also many people may want to buy something, to accept an invitation or to congratulate somebody - this  is  a kind of semi-official letters.  The first kind  of letters may in turn be subdivided into such groups as:  inquiries, offers, orders, and  so  on.  I  am  going  to examine this group more carefully looking at the correspondence of Chicago businessmen and English manufactures.

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Example 1.

MATTHEWS & WILSON

Ladies' Clothing

421 Michigan Avenue

Chicago, III.60602

Messrs GRANT & CLARKSON

148 Mortimer Street

London WIC 37D

England                                  October 21, 1993

Gentlemen:

We saw  your  women's  dresses  and suits at the London Fashion Show held in New York on October 17.  The lines you showed for teenagers, the  "Swinger"  dresses  and trouser suits would be most suitable for our market.

Would you kindly send us your quotation for spring and  summer clothing that  you  could  supply  to us by the end of January next. We would require 2,000 dresses and suits in each of  the sizes 10-14,  and  500 in sizes 8 and 16.  Please quote c.i.f. Chicago prices. Payment is normally made by letter of credit.

Thank you for an early reply.

Very truly yours,

P.Wilson.Jr

Buyer

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This is undoubtedly an import inquiry letter. In the first part of a  letter  there  is  a  kind  of  introduction  as  a prospective customer  approaches supplier for the first time ,and it  is  from  this  part  that  we  found  out  that   the correspondents are engaged in textile industry.

The second   part   expresses   request   for   detailed information about the goods in question, their prices and terms of possible transaction.

In this   example   we   come   across  the  abbreviation concerning the terms of delivery, that is commonly accepted  in the business  world.  It is interesting to know what this kind of abbreviations means:

c.i.f. - cost, insurance, freight.

If consignment  is  to  be  delivered  according to c.i.f., then the supplier insures  the  goods  and pays for the whole delivery.

f.o.b. - free on board.

If consignment  is  to  be  delivered  according to f.o.b., then  the  supplier pays for transportation to port,  steamer or air shipment and dispatch; and the customer  pays  for  onward  transportation and insurance.

f.o.r. - free on rail.

It is   the   same   as  f.o.b.,  but  for  railway transportation.

c & f - cost and freight.

If consignment  is  to  be  delivered  according to c & f, then the supplier pays for the whole delivery and the customer - for insurance.

It is worth mentioning here  that  the  whole  letter  is written in  a  highly  polite  way,  nevertheless  it is quite precise and sticks to the point.

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Example2

GRANT &CLARKSON

148 Mortimer Street

London W1C 37D

MATTHEWS & WILSON

Ladies' Clothing

421 Michigan Avenue

Chicago, III.60602                                   30th October, 1996

Dear Sirs,

We are pleased to make you an offer regarding our ‘Swinger’ dresses and trouser suits in the size you require. Nearly all the models you saw at our fashion show are obtainable, except trouser suits in pink, of which the smaller sizes have been sold out. This line is being manufactured continuously, but will only be available again in February, so could be delivered to you in March.

All other models can be supplied by the middle of January 1997, subject to our receiving your form order by 15th of November. Our c.i.f. prices are understood to be for sea\land transport to Chicago. If you would prefer the goods to be sent by air freight, this will be charged extra at cost

Trouser suits sizes 8-16 in white, yellow, red, turquoise, navy blue, black

Sizes 12,14 also in pink                      per 100 $2,650.00

Swinger dresses sizes 8-16

in white, yellow, red, turquoise, black           per 100 $1,845.00

You will be receiving price-list, cutting of our materials and a colour chart. These were airmailed to you this morning.

Yours faithfully,

F.T.Burke

Export Department

 

As you can clearly see it we face  the  second  phase  of business correspondence  -  the  answering letter.  It is very important, because it adjusts the  relationships  between  two partners. It does not only characterise the company,  but also advertises it.  The purpose of the letter is to  persuade  the partner that you are the best in business.

This letter  contains  the  quotation  in  reply  to   an inquiry. In lots of similar letters the quotations are simply prices and another information asked for.  But this sample  is quite the  opposite:  it  shows  the  customer that he met the sales-cautious businessman,  who  uses  every  opportunity   to stimulate his   correspondents   interest   in  his  goods  by including the  sales  message. And  the  assurance  that   the customer will  receive  personal attention is read between the lines. In order to draw the attention of the customer  to  the products in  question  the  supplier  offers  "cuttings of our materials and a colour chart".  On the whole a firm  offer  is subject to  certain  conditions,  a deadline for the receipt of orders, or a special price for certain quantities.

Example 3.

A business  transaction often starts with an inquiry which may later be followed by an order.

Both inquiry  and  order are meant to arose and stimulate business activity on the part of recipient. They are typically asking letters.  Orders  convey  the  writer's intention to do business with his correspondent,  usually to  buy  some  goods from them.

MATTHEWS & WILSON

Ladies' Clothing

421 Michigan Avenue

Chicago, III.60602

GRANT &CLARKSON

148 Mortimer Street

London W1C 37D                                      November 4, 1996

Gentlemen:

Thank you for your quotation of October 30. We have pleasure in placing an order with you for

1,900 ‘Swinger’ dresses                             at Price: $38,745

in the colours and sizes specified below: