Chapter 5 - Civilian Letter

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TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1 (Investigative Report Writing and Presentation) CHAPTER V Civilian Letter

At the end of this module, the learner should be able to: ▪ ▪

Recognize the essential part of Civilian Letter, Illustrate the importance uses of Civilian Leter

CIVILIAN LETTER Misconceptions can arise out of the word “civilian.” The police organization is civilian in character, and even if it is civilian-para military, the police makes use of the civilian letter when writing to those outside the police organization. The police use a purely civilian letter when communicating with the President of the Philippines, Department Secretaries, Provincial Governors, City or Municipal Mayors, owners and managers of private companies, and the like. A civilian letter, unlike the radiographic message, memorandum, and endorsement has a different form, because it is concerned with symmetry or a well-balanced appearance. Also, a civilian letter uses a different phraseology while its paragraphs are not numbered, unless when tabulating.

PARTS OF ACIVILIAN LETTER

1. Heading

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A type or a printed letterhead may be used. It includes the writer’s office and office address. Abbreviations shall not be made for the city, municipality and province.

2. File Reference The use of identifying file reference is optional on the instructions issued by the chief or head of office. If ever used, it is placed at the left margin two spaces below the letterhead, and in line with, and below, the current date.

3. Dateline

4. Inside Address The addressee’s name should be written fully. It should always be preceded by a courtesy title, except in cases of M.D., Ph.D., and a few others.

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TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1 (Investigative Report Writing and Presentation) 5. Attention Line

To speed up handling of the letter, the attention line is used when the letter is addressed to a company or to a particular department of a company or to an individual aside from the addressee.

6. Salutation The salutation greets the reader and the greeting may be formal or informal, cordial or personal.

7. Subject Line The subject line is the gist of the message. It helps a very busy person find out in a split second what the letter is all about.

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8. Body The body is the message itself. In it, one of the problems that may confront a correspondent is paragraphing. This, however, does not pertain to the appearance of the message; but rather, to its contents. A correspondent gets focused on how to end and how to begin another paragraph. 9. Complimentary Clause A complimentary clause is usually followed by a comma, and comes immediately after the last line of the message. The first word starts with a capital letter.

10.

Company Signature

In civilian letter, a company signature may be shown immediately above the writer’s signature, based on the theory that the company, not the writer, is the legal entity. In other words, the company assumes a greater responsibility than the individual; otherwise, the company

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signature is omitted, especially if including it is not a standard policy of the firm. 11.

Reference Initials

Initials of the writer and his typist or secretary appear at the left of the stationary, about two spaces below the writer’s identification. These initials are aligned with the left margin of the letter.

12.

Enclosure Notation

This notation refers to anything sent with the basic communication.

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13.

Postscript (P.S.)

If a writer has forgotten something in the message, he adds a P.S. it is intended to attract attention. The postscript may be flushed with the letter margins or may be intended fives spaces from both margins. 14.

Copy Furnished

When one or two copies are furnished, a carbon copy (cc) notation is indicated on the original and all copies of the letter.

TYPES OF CIVILIAN LETTERS

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Information Letter Invitation Letter Invitation Refusal Claim Letter Adjustment Letter Request Letter Transmittal Letter Credit Application Letter Order Letter Letter of Inquiry Recommendation Letter Reference Letter Application Letter Condolence Letter Appointment Letter Page 6 of 9

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QUALIFICATION SUMMARY The qualification summary, sometimes called a resume’, a personal record, or even a data sheet, states in brief the qualifications of the applicant. This usually contains the position applied for, experience, educational attainment and references. These four items when systematically arranged should attract the reader’s attention.

GENERAL RULES ON SPACING 1. On standard 8.5 by 11-inch stationary, the date is usually typed on line 15 with the inside address typed five lines below. 2. One blank line is left before the salutation, each paragraph, the complimentary close, the company signature, if used. 3. If an attention line or a subject line is included, one blank line precedes and follows these parts. 4. The writer’s identification should be preceded by at least three blank lines to allow room for the signature. 5. At least one blank line usually separates the writer’s identification from the reference initials. 6. Generally, no blank line separates the reference initials from enclosure and carbon notations. 7. A postscript, if used is preceded by one blank line.

GENERAL RULES ON MARGINAL SPACES 1. The left margin of a letter should be straight whether it is penwritten or typewritten. 2. Because it is impossible to achieve a straight line for the right margin, the writer must exercise care and good judgment in driving words at the ends of the lines to prevent the page from having a ragged appearance. 3. When the letter is very short, the margin should increase, and the letter placed far enough from the top of the page to allow it to occupy the middle of the page. 4. For an average-length letter, from 100-150 words, it may be written on a page when double-spacing is used and the marginal stops are set so as to make the lines fifty spaces in length. 5. In a 200-300-word or more letter, the same length line may be used, but single-spaced. Double- spacing between paragraphs should be used if the desire is to accommodate the whole message on one page. Page 7 of 9

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TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1 (Investigative Report Writing and Presentation) 6. If a message cannot be accommodated on one page, a second page may be used, having the same side margins as the first page. 7. In a continuation page, the top margin should be one inch, the first line to be typed on line 7, and approximately the same length, if not more at the bottom margin.

CONTINUATION PAGE A very modern treatment of a continuation page notation in civilian letters is best illustrated in “English for Business.” This book shows the addressee’s name, with initiated first name, (but definitely not the surname), page number, and date, that appear on the first page – all types toward the top margin. These items may be typed vertically or horizontally.

Just like memorandums, civilian letters use plain stationery, not printed letterhead for the second and succeeding pages. They also follow the same rules regarding division of paragraphs.

FOLDING CORRESPONDENCE For an 8.5 by 11-inch stationery to be folded in a short envelope, here are some accepted procedures: 1. Place the sheet flat on the desk, with its face up and its bottom toward the writer. 2. Fold the bottom toward top, bringing the lower edge to within onehalf inch of the top. 3. Fold the bottom right to left a little more than one-third of the within of the sheet. 4. Finally, fold the remaining from left to right.

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ARRANGEMENT AND STYLE The study committee on police correspondence and issuance, under the Directorate for Plans and Programs, National headquarters, Philippine National Police, has chosen the Blocked Letter and SemiBlocked Letter styles. These two styles are very similar in appearance, except in the paragraphing portion. Typist use the blocked letter if the text is composed of more than nine lines, and the semi-blocked letter, if less than nine lines.

THE ENVELOPE 1. The mailing address is begun half way down and half way across. 2. Two-line addresses must be avoided by typing the province and ZIP code number, if any, on a separate line from the city or municipality, or a street from a municipality or city.

3. A three-line addresses is double-spaced; if more than three lines, single-spaced. 4. The attention line is type on the lower left corner of the enveloped. 5. A special mailing service, i.e., “Airmail,” “Special Delivery,” etc. is indicated below the stamp. 6. A return address is typed on the upper left corner, not on the back of the envelope, if there is no printed return address.

References: Basic Police Report Writing By Oscar Gatchalian Soriano BSCrim, MSBA, MACrim, PhDCrim

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