How to write correctly with respect tatiana. "Best regards" - a comma is needed or not (rule). English letter completion features

Nikita (Moscow):
I follow the updates on the site very closely. Although, to be honest, many of the useful things that you do have already begun to be forgotten. But here is your note about the absence of a comma before the phrase "Sincerely" in the letters still does not leave me alone. And now what to do next?

Usually in business correspondence or just individual letters, especially when we are already familiar with the sender, we do not often pay attention to signatures, and sometimes to appeals too. So often the information in the middle of the letter is important to us, why should we peer into all sorts of established formats of correspondence? But nonetheless. Since your note appeared, I began to specially scan all letters that come to me for this comma, and - oh, horror - all my senders have it. Okay, I think, not everyone is familiar with your site, and they hardly suspect a violation of any language norm in this piece of email. I confess that I myself had put a comma before and I also had no idea about the error. I stopped putting it on - I'm sure no one noticed the changes. But I can always approach friends and acquaintances in order to correct them correctly, or find another opportunity to inform them that not everything is so right. But what about the rest? I have two specific questions for you:

1. What if we write a letter for the first time and its significance is so great that the absence of a comma will be perceived as gross negligence, almost disrespect for the addressee? As I said, with acquaintances and in those cases when the correspondence is not ad hoc, it is not so scary and correctable. But what if the letter is addressed to a potential employer and will be viewed under a magnifying glass in the HR department? Or is this letter simply addressed to an important person who, upon first reading, may consider the absence of a comma to be disrespectful to himself? After all, so far the majority of those who are sure that the comma is necessary and obligatory prevail. And then there is so much ignorance now, and there are no reference points-ideals in the person of the same Solzhenitsyn and Rosenthal, that it is useless to appeal to them.

2. This question is more global. What about corrections in writing in general? Corrections regarding spelling and syntactic norms are more frequent in life and are more related to oral speech. What about punctuation and spelling? Their norms are manifested only in written speech. If we follow the logic that we write this and the way we are most confident, otherwise we avoid writing because of uncertainty and ignorance, then the absence / presence of certain errors in written speech indicates a deeper penetration of the flaws in our native language. Such errors are the hardest to eradicate. For example, you can remember or we are being corrected, what is normatively “ringing”, or the use of imperative non-prefixed forms of the verb “to drive” is colloquially or even impossible, then the mistakes “in writing” were last corrected by a Russian teacher at school.

Dmitry Ivanovich, I will be very happy if at least a little clarify this situation and express your authoritative opinion on these two issues. Thanks!

DI. ERMOLOVICH:

Nikita, in cases where you are afraid that the addressee will really notice the absence of a comma and perceive it as "illiteracy" or "disrespect", I can tell you a "knight's move": put dash! This is also literate in Russian: a dash replaces the implied words (“I wrote to you, I turned to you”). That is, it will look like this:

Yours faithfully -
Namearek

Even if it looks unusual for your addressee, he is unlikely to regard this punctuation mark as illiteracy or disrespect. Rather surprised: eka, it turns out, and so it is possible, but I did not know. And maybe she will even respect you even more.

In general, my principle is this: if there is a chance that they will not understand me correctly, I try to find a compromise formulation that will not offend the addressee and will not force me to violate the language norm.

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An employee of any field sooner or later faces the problem of writing a business letter. The main question is how to start and how to finish? Many sites offer ground rules and examples, with little attention to the final part of the documents.

The letter must be perfect in everything. Even the slightest violation of the rules can harm your credibility or the prestige of the company.

In a short form, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the main rules of business letters and dwell in more detail on the final part of the official letter.

You will need:

General rules of business letters

When filling out the letter, remember that you are not expressing your own opinion, but acting on behalf of a legal entity (institution, organization or enterprise).
You must clearly present the results to be achieved with this letter, and effectively use all the possibilities of the text.
Determine the outline of the presentation clearly, highlighting the information for the introduction, main part or ending.
In the introduction, after the appeal, we prepare the addressee for perception. This could be a summary of the events that led to the origin of the document. The main part contains a statement of the essence of the problem with the necessary argumentation (explanation, numerical calculations, references to legislative acts).

A more effective and easy-to-read text, in which, first, a proposal, request or demand is stated, then the argumentation, and there is no introductory part at all.

Part of the ending - appendices

Certain documents have attachments that complement, clarify, or detail specific issues. They must be noted at the end of the letter, indenting several lines from the last paragraph.

Application design methods:

1) Applications mentioned in the text, then a note about this is drawn up as follows:

Appendix: on 5 pages, in 3 copies.

2) Applications that are not specified in the text must be listed, be sure to indicate the title, the number of pages in each application and the number of copies.

Appendix: "Act of assessing the cost of construction in progress", on 2 pages, in 3 copies.

3) Sometimes there are several applications. Then they are listed by name and numbered. With a large number of applications, their list is separately compiled, and in the letter after the text they note:

Appendix: according to the list on… p.

Attach copies of the documents to the letter in the order in which they were numbered in the attachment.

The application, as a rule, is signed by the heads of structural divisions. In case applications are stitched, there is no need to indicate the number of pages.

Politeness and correctness are the basis of the ending

There are various options for building the ending. It depends on what the letter said.

The most common completion examples are:

1) Repeat the gratitude given at the beginning or simply thank for the help:

Thank you again ...

Let me thank you again ...

We would like to once again express our sincere gratitude ...

Thanks for the help …

2) Express hope:

We hope that the agreement will be mutually beneficial ...

We hope that our offer will interest you ...

We look forward to close and mutually beneficial cooperation ...

I hope that soon I can personally meet with you ...

Hope to receive your answer soon ...

3) Reassurance of the addressee (usually, it has a psychologically positive effect on the addressee):

We assure you that you can well count on our support ...

We will be glad to cooperate with you ...

I would be glad to cooperate with you and look forward to your reply ...

4) Request:

Please read the materials carefully and give an answer ...

We ask you to inform us urgently ...

Please take urgent action to improve the situation ...

Please call me at any time convenient for you ...

5) Repetition of the already expressed apology for the inconvenience:

Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience caused ...

We sincerely apologize for this forced delay in payment ...

Parting

1) In official correspondence, you can say goodbye in different ways:

Yours faithfully…

Regards and best wishes ...

With sincere respect to you ...

We wish you every success.

2) If you are familiar with the addressee or successfully cooperate with him, then you can end the letter with friendly phrases (not familiar):

Yours sincerely…

Best wishes…

With gratitude and best wishes.

You can finish the document without using these constructions!

English letter completion features

They usually end an official letter like this: Sincerely Yours or simply Yours (Your) and signature, indicating your name and position under it.
In order not to put your partner in a difficult position and not make you make assumptions about your gender, take the trouble to write your name in full, that is, not P.R. Dovzhenko, but Pavel Dovzhenko.

Signature

Officials sign documents within their competence.

The requisite "signature" consists of the title of the position, initials and surname of the person who signed the document.

Director of the "Mramor" plant (signed) A.B. Koval

Documents that are concluded in institutions operating on the principle of one-man management are signed by one official (manager, deputy or employee who is entrusted with this).

On the documents of collegial bodies (protocols, decisions), two signatures are put (head and secretary). The order is signed by the head.

Two or more signatures are put on documents, for the content of which several people are responsible:

Monetary documents are signed by the head of the institution and the chief accountant;
agreements are signed by representatives of the contracting parties.

Signatures of several persons on documents are placed one under the other in a sequence corresponding to the service hierarchy.

Director (signature) S.P. Antonyuk

Chief Accountant (signature) V.T. Dudko

If a document is signed by several persons holding the same position, their signatures must be at the same level.

Director of the "Luch" plant Director of the "Light" plant

(signature) V.R. Sakhno (signature) L.P. Kotov

The signature begins with the initials (placed before the surname), then the surname. Decrypting the signature in brackets is not necessary!

Printing

On some documents, in order to consolidate their legal force, they put an imprint of the seal: contracts, decrees, conclusions,. The imprint should capture part of the title of the position and a personal signature.

date

The date is placed below the signature on the left.

The official letter is dated the day it was signed or approved by the head of the institution.

There is a generally accepted dating order:

Date elements are written in one line with three pairs of Arabic numerals in sequence: day, month, year;
if the ordinal number of the day or month is the number of the first ten (from 1 to 9), then zero is put in front of it: 03.01.15 .
Word year, reduction r... do not put.

When finished, check the letter for grammatical errors and see if there is anything extra.
Let a colleague or, if possible, a manager read the letter. An outside perspective will help you identify flaws that you might not notice.
Do not forget to include your phone / email address. This is often necessary to quickly solve the problem indicated in the letter.
In addition to general universal requirements and design rules, it should be borne in mind that each type of document has its own design features.

Remember that not all documents have a complete list of the above details, but only a certain set of those that provide the legal force and completeness of this particular type of document.

Successful deals and desired answers!

Frequently asked questions and answers

What's nice to write at the end of a business proposal?

Do not use in the final stage words and phrases that can be considered manipulations ("we hope for mutually beneficial cooperation", "thanks in advance for the answer", "we will wait for your reply letter", etc.).

What to write "best wishes" or "best wishes" at the end of the letter?

Definitely, "with respect", you need to adhere to a business communication style.

What do they usually write at the end of a letter if they ask for a quick answer?

They don't write anything like that in a business letter.

Should you write in your email signature "Regards" or "Best wishes"?

"Yours faithfully".

How to replace the signature "with respect"?

"With all due respect", "Respectfully."

How to end your presentation letter?

Thank you for your attention.

How else to write "would like to notify"?

"I would like to inform", "notify", "inform", "announce", "bring to notice".

Is the phrase "I will end my report with words" correct?

QUOTE:

There was also a question whether it was necessary to put a comma after the phrase ... that's when you are in a letter ... here, you finish the letter and write "Sincerely." And they asked me to lead, there, as it were, a theoretical basis. Here, I say right away that a comma is always put : "Respectfully - comma - such and such." But, unfortunately, there is no theory on this score, there is always a comma, and this is simply accepted.

Marina Koroleva in the program "We Speak Russian" on the radio " Echo of Moscow"06/29/2014

COMMENT:

As always categorically, Marina Koroleva said that after the expression (not the phrase!) "Sincerely" at the end of the letter, a comma is supposedly always put before the signature. She could not explain this “as if theoretically”, but refers to the fact that it is “just accepted”.
If you put such a comma and "accepted", then far from everyone and, I'm afraid, not from those from whom one should take an example. However, I must admit that the problem is complex. M. Koroleva's opinion is shared by the site "Gramota.ru":

Of course, "Gramota.ru" is a respected site, and we know that the journalists of "Echo of Moscow" are friends with it. But it is still not the ultimate truth, the help on this site is written by ordinary people who also make mistakes. And let me remind you that there are other people who are doing the same thing, for example, the site "Gramma.ru". He is of the opposite opinion:
In this reference, it is quite rightly noted that this comma has been thoughtlessly transferred by our businessmen from the rules for writing letters in English.
As for the theoretical justification for the absence of a comma, then it just exists. Imagine that you wrote on the line: “ Regards, Ivan". This spelling makes the name Ivan treatment, i.e. it turns out that it is not you - Ivan, but the one to whom you are addressing. But the signature is not an appeal, and the words "with respect" are not an introductory phrase. These words are an incomplete sentence, a fragment of the implied phrase: "Ivan wrote this letter with respect to you." By the way, "Sincerely" is not the only form of completion of the letter, in the same way - without a comma in front of the signature - the phrases "With regards", "With love", "With best wishes", etc. are written.
And in order to finally dispel doubts, it is best to turn to authoritative sources. Such in this case will be letters from undoubtedly educated people. Let me give you two examples first:

P.S. After the phrase "Yours faithfully" you can put a dash (since it replaces the implied words, for example, "wrote to you") and a period. So, for example, Blok wrote:

In the structure of any letter, both business and personal, three parts are usually distinguished: introductory - with an appeal to the recipient, the main - containing the essence, and the final - where the author is indicated. At the end of the letter, the compiler usually writes the phrase "with respect" and leaves his full name and / or initials. This is where a reasonable question arises: "Do you need a comma after the phrase" with respect "or not?"

What does the Russian language rules say?

What can the compilers of the dictionary of the "great and mighty" Russian language, who perfectly know the rules of spelling and punctuation, advise? Let's consider different aspects from all sides.

Introductory constructions

Some, when answering the question of whether a comma is needed after "with respect", believe that yes, it is, since the phrase "with respect" is an introductory construction. But is it?

Introductory constructions are words and phrases that reflect the speaker's attitude to what he said. At first glance, the phrase "with respect" confirms this. And if you dig deeper? To whom does the speaker show respect? To myself? It turns out, when answering the question whether the comma "with respect, Ivanov" is needed, such people believe that it is needed, since a certain sender Ivanov loves himself. This explanation looks ridiculous and ridiculous.

Appeals

Others, when they think about it and begin to decide - after "respectfully" a comma is needed or not, remember the appeals. Yes, messages are highlighted with commas in sentences, but again, who are they targeting in this case? It turns out that again on myself. This attempt at an explanation is completely untenable. In the letter, first of all, everyone seeks to show their recognition and respect to the addressee, but not to engage in self-praise.

It's another matter if, when deciding the question: "Is a comma necessary in the phrase" with respect, Ivan Ivanovich? " the name Ivan Ivanovich would not belong to the sender, but to the recipient. In this case, the separation of the proper name with a comma would seem quite reasonable.

Is there such a rule?

Any author, even the most detailed textbook on punctuation of the Russian language, does not regulate this situation in any way, that is, there is simply no rule that can resolve a dispute in one direction or another. Looking through all the sources and collections, you can see that there are no prescriptions that a comma is needed after "with respect". Therefore, we will try to consider this issue from a different angle, based on the semantic load of this phrase and the traditions of modern society.

How about Rosenthal?

Before going further, it is necessary to find out what the greatest guru and the most literate native speaker of the Russian language, Ditmar Elyashevich Rosenthal, thinks about this, having written so many manuals and textbooks of the Russian language in his life that if you put them in a pile, this short person will get lost behind them. If we analyze his letters, it becomes clear that he does not separate the phrase "with respect" with a comma from the surname with initials. He argues that, in accordance with historical tradition, this punctuation mark is not required in this case. So why do so many persist in using a comma at the end of a letter?

Aligning to the West

One of the reasons for the positive answer to the question: "After the phrase with" respect "is a comma needed?" is the cooperation of most modern companies with foreign firms. At first glance, the connection is not obvious, but it will be more noticeable for people learning international languages. Indeed, from letters of business correspondence with foreign enterprises, written, for example, in English, it is clear that the phrase "best regards" is separated from the proper name by a comma. This phrase can look different, for example, "with regards, John" or "with kind regards, John" or even just "regards, John". The practice of long-term partnerships with foreign companies was one of the reasons for borrowing the comma.

In English texts, a comma is always put when there is a semantic pause, in contrast to the Russian language, where the placement of punctuation marks is strictly limited by the rules. Compare the sentences: "Today, Donald Trump said that E \u003d mc 2" and "Today, Donald Trump said that E \u003d mc 2."

Intonation emphasis

Of course, you shouldn't break the rules you made up. But it is impossible to formulate all laws in all areas of life, although this is what we must strive for. All the variety of words and possibilities of the Russian language cannot be shoved into one-sided, rigidly conditioned framework. We remember this from the school course, where some of the rules always had exceptions. Therefore, with the answer to the question: "After" with respect "is a comma needed or not?" not everything is so simple.

However, one should not forget about intonation, which greatly enriches and embellishes the magnificent Russian language. Any person, while reproducing his thoughts, pauses, singles out individual words and sentences with his voice, expressively focuses the attention of listeners on significant places. In a paper text, for the correct semantic reflection of individual phrases, the author's punctuation is sometimes used. After all, it's not a secret for anyone that punctuation marks serve as a way to create emphasis on important places for understanding.

Proponents of this theory believe that the answer to the question: “After the phrase « best regards "do you need a comma?" is a positive statement "yes". If you focus on how the written word will be read, then it is better to leave the punctuation mark in order to emphasize intonationally a grateful attitude towards the recipient of the letter. Otherwise, the phrase "with respect" will look a little damp and lose some of its significance.

Business Correspondence Design Standards

In accordance with the rules of business etiquette, in modern society you shouldn't even think about what to put after the phrase « respectfully "- whether you need a comma or not - just a space, no punctuation marks. The comma will definitely be needed, it will allow you to emphasize respect for the interlocutor.

What to write after the comma? It already depends on the sender's wishes. If the addressee is close to the author of the letter, you can limit yourself only to your own name. In business correspondence, it is desirable to indicate the position, place of work, full name or surname with initials.

Did you know about this? There is no need to put a full stop in a business letter or document after the signature. Here the signature is an obligatory element - a props, it does not act as a complete sentence. Personal letters are an exception.

Conclusion

And yet, after the phrase "with respect" is the comma necessary or not? Let's summarize. If you are writing a formal business letter, then it is better to put a comma. By doing this, you will emphasize respect for the recipient and adherence to modern traditions. In a personal letter, everyone can act according to their own understanding: if you want to emphasize your literacy and knowledge of the rules of the Russian language, you can do without punctuation marks, and if it is more important for you to emphasize intonationally a grateful attitude, you can leave the comma.

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