The Full Block Style: The Most Appropriate Format of Letter
Writing
Ramnath Singh Rathore
Asst. Professor (English)
MIT College, Ujjain
Dhananjay Gogate
Sr. Lecturer (English)
Shri Vaishnav Polytechnic College
Indore
India
Abstract:
The present paper deals with the different styles of letter composition, that is, indented
style, Block Style, Semi-Block Style, Full Block Style, and Hanging-Indented Style. It also
discusses merits and demerits of each of them. It highlights the good qualities of the Full
Block Style and advocates for its use in the corporate world.
Key Words: Style, indentation, open punctuation, closed punctuation, mixed punctuation,
layout, indented, full block, semi-block, hanging-indented.
I. INTRODUCTION:
Generally there are two types of communication; verbal and non-verbal. They play significant
role to make communication effective and successful. Written communication is one of the types
of verbal communication, which has various media of communication and letter writing is one of
them. The success of any organizations also depends on its correspondence. As M. Ashraf Rizvi
aptly says, “In fact, a letter is an important channel of communication used to send information
outside an organization.”1 There are various styles of writing a good business letter namely
Indented Style, Full Block Style, Semi-Block Style and Hanging-Indented style.
Writing style means the manner in which a writer chooses to compose a letter for the
recipient. The present paper highlights on all the pros and cons of all the styles of letter writing
and also stresses on why the Full Block Style is the most appropriate for using in the corporate
houses and in many organizations.
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II. VARIOUS STYLES OF LETTER WRITING
Generally there are five styles which are used for writing business letters in the world of
business. Let us discuss them one by one:
1. Indented Style
This is the oldest form of a business letter. This is the letter in which each new element is
indented two to four spaces. Closed punctuation is used. It consumes more time and extra energy
for typing. The only quality for which it should be appreciated is that of its pleasant look. As it is
shown below:
SURYA TRADING CORPORATION
40, Indore Road, Ujjain-456010
14 October, 2014
Sales Manager
Shiva Computers, Dealers in Intel
Dewas Road, Indore-4562009
Dear Sir,
We have seen your advertisement in The Hindustan Times of 12 October, 2014 about some of
your significant products. The advertisement brought our attention to the products which are the
products of our interest. We cordially want to buy these products so that we can facilitate our
corporate office with these modern facilities.
It would be better for us to know these products in details. So please send us all the
information through the catalogue as soon as possible, which include product specification,
details of discount for bulk purchase, an estimate cost of the products and terms and conditions
of the business and so on.
A prompt reply would be appreciated.
Yours Faithfully,
Aditya Rathore
Purchase Manager
AR/AK
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Enc: 1
2. Block Style
It is another style of letter writing. It is similar to the previous one in case of the position
of the date line, the complimentary close, and the signature which are put with the right hand
margin. All other parts except the letterhead are aligned with the left hand margin. Double
spacing is used between different parts and between the paragraphs of the main body. Single
spacing is used within each part and paragraph. The paragraphs are not indented. Mixed
punctuation is used in this format. It has less indentation because most of the parts are put in the
left hand margin. Therefore it becomes economic in time and less use of energy. It is shown as
below:
SURY TRADING CORPORATION
40, Indore Road, Ujjain-456010
14 October, 2014
Sales Manager
Shiva Computers, Dealers in Intel
Dewas Road, Indore-4562009
Dear Sir,
We have seen your advertisement in The Hindustan Times of 12 October, 2014 about some of
your significant products. The advertisement brought our attention to the products which are the
products of our interest. We cordially want to buy these products so that we can facilitate our
corporate office with these modern facilities.
It would be better for us to know these products in details. So please send us all the information
through the catalogue as soon as possible, which include product specification, details of
discount for bulk purchase, an estimate cost of the products and terms and conditions of the
business and so on.
A prompt reply would be appreciated.
Yours Faithfully,
Aditya Rathore
Purchase Manager
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576
AR/AK
Enc: 1
3. Semi-Block Style
The semi-block format is similar to block style except that each paragraph is indented.
The line endings are unjustified. Some writers advocate this format and say that it is easy to read
indented paragraphs and it also looks appealing and pleasant. Mixed punctuation is preferred in
this style of letter writing. It requires more time due to indentation in the paragraphs in the main
body of the letter. Its example can be seen below:
SURY TRADING CORPORATION
40, Indore Road, Ujjain-456010
14 October, 2014
Sales Manager
Shiva Computers, Dealers in Intel
Dewas Road, Indore-4562009
Dear Sir
We have seen your advertisement in The Hindustan Times of 12 October, 2014 about some of
your significant products. The advertisement brought our attention to the products which are the
products of our interest. We cordially want to buy these products so that we can facilitate our
corporate office with these modern facilities.
It would be better for us to know these products in details. So please send us all the information
through the catalogue as soon as possible, which include product specification, details of
discount for bulk purchase, an estimate cost of the products and terms and conditions of the
business and so on.
A prompt reply would be appreciated.
Yours Faithfully
Aditya Rathore
Purchase Manager
AR/AK
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Enc: 1
4. Hanging-Indented Style
This format is also almost like block style of letter. The only difference is that the first
line of each paragraph begins with the left margin and all the remaining lines in each paragraph
are indented four to five spaces. Its look is unusual and it catches the attention of the reader
quickly. This may be a disadvantage of this format because it leads the reader to focus only on
the form rather than the message of the letter. This style consumes more time in typing due to
many indentation and use of mixed punctuation. Therefore, this format has never been popular
among the writers of letter writing. For example:
SURYA TRADING CORPORATION
40, Indore Road, Ujjain-456010
14 October, 2014
Sales Manager
Shiva Computers, Dealers in Intel
Dewas Road, Indore-4562009
Dear Sir,
We have seen your advertisement in The Hindustan Times of 12 October, 2014 about some of
your significant products. The advertisement brought our attention to the products which are
the products of our interest. We cordially want to buy these products so that we can facilitate
our corporate office with these modern facilities.
It would be better for us to know these products in details. So please send us all the information
through the catalogue as soon as possible, which include product specification, details of
discount for bulk purchase, an estimate cost of the products and terms and conditions of the
business and so on.
A prompt reply would be appreciated.
Yours Faithfully,
Aditya Rathore
Purchase Manager
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578
AR/AK
Enc: 1
5. Full Block Style
All parts of a letter, that is, date line, inside address, salutation, body, complimentary
close, and so on, begin at the left hand margin in this style. Open Punctuation is used and no
indentation is required in this format. Its example is shown below:
SURYA TRADING CORPORATION
40, Indore Road, Ujjain-456010
14 October 2014
Sales Manager
Shiva Computers, Dealers in Intel
Dewas Road, Indore-4562009
Dear Sir
We have seen your advertisement in The Hindustan Times of 12 October, 2014 about some of
your significant products. The advertisement brought our attention to the products which are the
products of our interest. We cordially want to buy these products so that we can facilitate our
corporate office with these modern facilities.
It would be better for us to know these products in detail. So please send us all the information
through the catalogue as soon as possible, which include product specification, details of
discount for bulk purchase, an estimate cost of the products and terms and conditions of the
business and so on.
A prompt reply would be appreciated.
Yours Faithfully
Aditya Rathore
Purchase Manager
AR/AK
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Enc: 1
III. CONCLUSION:
Finally we would like to conclude that the structure and layout of a business letter reflect the
personality of an individual and the image of an organization as Mohan and Sharma states, “The
appearance of the letter often reveals the character of the writer and the organization he belongs
to.”2
The physical presentation of a good letter performs an effective role in the
successful correspondence. All the styles of letter writing have some advantages as well as some
disadvantages. An individual has a choice to select the style which suits him the best. A firm also
may have some particular style of written correspondence. But one should prefer which is widely
used in the corporate houses.
The present paper suggests after the assessment of all the aspects of every styles that the
Full Block Style is the most appropriate format to use for the written communication. However
some writers do not like this format because it appears imbalanced and heavy on the left margin.
But it has many qualities like time saving and less use of extra energy for typing because it has
no indentation. It uses open punctuation which makes the letter free from unnecessary
punctuation marks. This style is thought to have a businesslike appearance. Full Block Style is
the easiest format to use. In the modern world it is the most commonly used style in the
government and private organizations. We would like to conclude in the words of Krishna
Mohan and R. C. Sharma, “The one that is most common these days is the full block form and it
is , therefore, advisable to use this style.’’3
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References:
1. Rizvi, M Ashraf. Effective Technical Communication. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill,
2007, p. 351.
2. Sharma, R.C. And Mohan, Krishna. Business Correspondence and Report Writing. New
Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill, 2008, p. 39.
3. --. Business Correspondence and Report Writing. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill, 2008,
p. 39.
4. Taylor, Shirley. Model Business Letters E-Mails and Other Business Documents. New
Delhi: Pearson Education, 2008.
5. Pal, Rajendra, Korlahalli J. S. .Essentials of Business Communication. New Delhi:
Sultan Chand and Sons, 2009.
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