Особенности деловой переписки на английском языке/§1. Business correspondence: essentials

I. The notion of a business letter

Although an impressive amount of business and social interaction takes place over the telephone or in person today, oral communication has not yet begun to re— place the written word. The well-written letter remains “a staple of business success and one of the strongest connecting links between individuals.” (Maggio 1990: 1)

Business correspondence — the sum total of generally shared forms of written communication in business (Dictionary of General Business English Terminology, p. 22)

Letter — a written or printed message that is usually put in an envelope and sent by mail (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, p. 811). Recurrent collocations: write a letter to someone, get a letter from someone, a long letter, sign/mail/post a letter.