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C L A R IT Y
Yourcorrespondentmust be ableto
understand what you have written. Confusion
in correspondence
often arisesthrough a lack
ofthought and care,andthere are a number of
ways in which this can happen.

Abhreviations
andinitials

2

Abbreviations can be useful becausethey are
quick to write and easyto read.But both
correspondentsneed to know what the
abbreviations stand for.
The abbreviationscrr and ros, for example,
are INcorERMs which mean,respectively,

Cost,Insurance,and Freightand FreeOn Board.
But canyou be surethat your correspondent
knows thatp&pmeans postageand packing?
Someinternational organizations,e.g.rvaro
(North Atlantic Treaty Organization),are
known in all countries by the same set of
initials, but many are not, e.g.ru (European
Union) and urv (United Nations).National
organizations,e.g.in the UK,c n r
(Confederationof British Industry) and luc
(TradesUnion Congress),
are unlikelyto be
familiar to correspondentsin other countries.
A range of abbreviations are used in email
correspondence>seepagezz,but many of
them are not widelyknown.If you are not
absolutely certain that an abbreviation or set
of initials will be easilyrecognized,it is best
not to use it.

hlumbers
We saw on page8 that the use of figures
insteadof words for datescan createproblems.
Numerical expressionscan alsocause
confusion.For example,the decimal point in
British and American usageis a full stop,but a
comma is usedin most continental European
countries,sothat a British or Americanperson
would write 4.255where a Frenchperson
wouid write 4,255(which to a British or

Americanpersonwould meanfour thousand
tw o hundredandfifty -five).
If there is the possibility of confusion,write

36

the expressionin both flguresand words,e.g.
fto, 575.9o (ten thousandfive hundred and
pounds,ninetypence).
seventy-five

Prepositions
Specialcareshouldbe taken when using
prepositions.Thereis a big differencebetween
Theprice hasbeenincreasedto t45o.oo,
Theprice hasbeenincreasedbyt45o.oo,and
Theprice hasbeenincreasedfromt45o.oo.
A C C UR A C Y

S p e llin g
Carelessmistakesin a letter can give readersa
bad impression.Spelling,punctuation,and
grammar should all be checkedcarefully.Many
peoplehavecometo rely on the spellcheckerin
their computersto ensurethat there areno
spellingmistakes.But a word speltincorrectly
mayform a completely different word, e.g.
Pleasegive it somethough (thewriter means
thought);I sawit their (the writer meansfhere).
A spellcheckerwouldmiss thesemistakes.

There is no substitute for carefully reading, or
proofreading a letter that you have written.
Ti tl er. nanref" ;l nd addresses
Usethe correcttitle in the addressand
salutation. Spellyour correspondent'sname
correctly(nothing createsa worseimpression
than a misspelledname),and write their
addressaccurately.
If you do not knowyour correspondent,do
not assumethat they are one sex or the other,
i.e.useDearSir/ Madam ratherthanDear Siror
DearMadam.If you know a correspondent's
name but not their sex,useMr / Ms,e.g.DearMr
/ Ms Barron.

References
When replying to a letter, fax, or email, quote
all referencesaccuratelysothat it is immediately
clearto your readerwhat you are writing
about.