How to write correctly, respectfully Tatyana. “With respect” - is a comma necessary or not (rule). English features of ending letters

Nikita(Moscow):
I follow the updates on the site very closely. Although, to be honest, much of the useful things you do have already begun to be forgotten. But your note about the absence of a comma before the phrase “With respect” in letters still does not leave me alone. So what should we 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 addresses too. So often information in the middle of a letter is important to us, why bother looking at all sorts of established correspondence formats? But nonetheless. Since your note appeared, I began to specifically look at all the letters that come to me for this comma, and - oh, horror - all my senders have it. Well, I think, not everyone is familiar with your site and is unlikely to suspect a violation of any language norm in this piece of letter. I admit, I myself had put a comma before and also had no idea about the error. I stopped installing it - I’m sure no one noticed the changes. But I can always approach friends and acquaintances to correct them correctly, or find another opportunity to tell them that not everything is so right. But what about the rest? I have two specific questions for you:

1. What should we do if we are writing 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 cases where the correspondence is not of a one-time nature, this is not so scary and can be corrected. But what if the letter is addressed to a potential employer and will be viewed under a magnifying glass by the HR department? Or is this letter simply addressed to an important person who, upon first reading, may consider the absence of a comma as disrespect for himself? After all, the majority of those who are sure that the comma is necessary and obligatory still prevails. And then there is so much ignorance now, and there are no guiding 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 concerning spelling and syntactic norms are more frequent in life and are more related to orally. What about punctuation and spelling? Their norms are manifested only in written speech. If we follow the logic that we write this and that way in which we are most confident, we avoid writing differently due to uncertainty and ignorance, then the absence/presence of certain errors in written speech indicates a deeper penetration of flaws in proficiency in our native language. Such errors are the most difficult to eradicate. For example, we can remember, or we are corrected that the normative “rings”, or the use of imperative non-prefixed forms of the verb “to ride” is colloquial or even impossible, then the last time we were corrected for mistakes “in writing” was a Russian language teacher at school.

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

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 correct in Russian: the dash replaces the implied words (“wrote to you, addressed you”). That is, it will look like this:

Sincerely -
Name

Even if it looks unusual for your recipient, he is unlikely to regard this punctuation mark as illiteracy or disrespect. He’ll probably be surprised: hey, it turns out it’s possible, but I didn’t even know. And maybe he will even respect you even more.

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

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An employee in 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 basic rules and examples, paying little attention to the final part of the documents.

The letter must be perfect in every way. Even the slightest non-compliance with the rules can harm your authority or the prestige of the company.

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

You will need:

The main rules of business letters

  1. When writing a letter, remember that you are not expressing your own opinion, but speaking on behalf of legal entity(institutions, organizations or enterprises).
  2. It is your responsibility to be clear about the results you want to achieve with this letter and to make effective use of all the text's features.
  3. Clearly define the plan of presentation, highlighting the information in the introduction, main part or ending.
  4. In the introduction, after the address, we prepare the addressee for perception. This may be a summary of the events that led to the emergence of the document. The main part contains a statement of the essence of the problem with the necessary argumentation (explanation, digital calculations, links to legislative acts).

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

Part of the ending - applications

Certain documents have appendices that complement, clarify, or detail specific issues. They must be noted at the end of the letter, departing a few 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: 5 pages, 3 copies.

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

Appendix: “Certificate of assessment of the cost of unfinished construction”, 2 pages, 3 copies.

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

Appendix: according to the list on ... page.

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

The application is usually signed by managers structural divisions. In cases where applications are bound, there is no need to indicate the number of pages.

Politeness and correctness are the basis of the ending

There are various options for constructing the ending. It depends on what was said in the letter.

The most commonly used completion examples:

1) Repeat the gratitude given at the beginning or simply thank you for your 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 hopes:

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 will be able to meet you in person...
I hope to receive your response soon...

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

We assure you that you can fully 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 response...

4) Request:

Please read the materials carefully and respond...
We ask you to urgently inform...
We ask you to take immediate action to improve the situation...
Please call me at any time convenient for you...

5) Repeating 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:

Sincerely…
Best regards and Best wishes…
With sincere respect to you...
We wish you success.

2) If you know the addressee well 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 structures!

English features of ending letters

  1. Usually finish official letter so: Sincerely Yours (Sincerely yours) or simply Yours(Yours) and a signature, indicating your last name and position under it.
  2. To avoid putting your partner in a difficult position or forcing them to 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 “signature” attribute consists of the job title, initials and surname of the person who signed the document.

Director of the Mramor plant (signature) A.B. Koval

Documents concluded in institutions operating on the principle of unity of command are signed by one executive(manager, deputy or employee to whom this is entrusted).

Documents of collegial bodies (protocols, decisions) are affixed with two signatures (the head and the secretary). The order is signed by the manager.

Two or more signatures are placed on documents for the contents of which several people are responsible:

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

The signatures of several persons on documents are placed one below 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 occupying positions the same position, their signatures must be placed at the same level.

Director of the Luch plant Director of the Svet plant
(signature) V.R. Sakhno (signature) L.P. Kotov

The signature begins with the initials (placed before the surname), followed by the surname. There is no need to put the decryption of the signature in brackets!

Seal

To secure legal force, some documents are stamped with a seal: contracts, decrees, conclusions, etc. The stamp must include part of the job title and personal signature.

date

The date is placed below the signature on the left.

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

There is a generally accepted dating order:

  1. Date elements are written on one line using three pairs of Arabic numerals in the order of day, month, year;
  2. if the serial number of the day or month is the number of the first ten (from 1 to 9), then a zero is placed in front of it: 03.01.15 .
  3. Word year, reduction G. they don't put it.
  • When finished, check the letter for grammatical errors and make sure there is nothing superfluous.
  • Give the letter to a colleague or, if possible, a manager to read. An outside perspective will help identify shortcomings that might otherwise be overlooked.
  • Don't forget to include your phone/email address. This is often necessary to quickly resolve the problem specified in the letter.
  • In addition to the general universal requirements and design rules, it must be taken into account that each type of document has its own design features.

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

Good luck with your transactions and the desired answers!

Frequently asked questions and answers

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

    Do not use words and phrases at the final stage that can be considered manipulation (“we hope for mutually beneficial cooperation”, “thank you in advance for your answer”, “we will be waiting for your response letter”, etc.).

    Should you write “best wishes” or “with respect” at the end of the letter?

    Definitely, “with respect”, must be adhered to business style communication.

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

    Nothing like this is written in a business letter.

    Should you write “with regards” or “best wishes” in your email signature?

    "Sincerely".

    How to replace the signature "with respect"?

    "With all due respect", "With respect."

    How to end a presentation letter?

    Thank you for your attention.

    How else can you write “I would like to notify”?

    “I would like to inform”, “notify”, “inform”, “announce”, “bring to the attention of”.

    Is the phrase: “I’ll end my report with words” correct?

QUOTE:

There was also a question about whether it is necessary to put a comma after the phrase... when you are in a letter... so, you finish the letter and write “With respect.” And they asked me to provide, as it were, a theoretical justification. So, I’ll say right away that a comma is always used : “With respect – comma – such and such.” But, unfortunately, there is no theory on this matter, there is always a comma there, and it is simply accepted.

Marina Koroleva in the program “Speaking Russian” on the radio “ Echo of Moscow» 06/29/2014


A COMMENT:

As always, categorically, Marina Koroleva stated that after the expression (not the phrase!) “With respect” at the end of the letter, a comma is supposedly always placed before the signature. She could not explain this “as if theoretically,” but refers to the fact that it is “simply accepted.”

If putting such a comma is “accepted”, then it is not for everyone and, I’m afraid, not for 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 Gramota.ru website:

Of course, Gramota.ru is a respected site, and we know that Echo of Moscow journalists are friends with it. But it is still not the ultimate truth; the certificates on this site are 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 website “Gramma.ru”. He takes the opposite view:

This certificate quite correctly noted that this comma was thoughtlessly transferred by our businessmen from the rules for writing letters to English language.

As for the theoretical justification for the absence of a comma, there is precisely one. Imagine that you wrote on the line: “ Regards, Ivan" This spelling makes the name Ivan circulation, i.e. it turns out that it is not you - Ivan, but the one to whom you are addressing. But a signature is not an address, 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, “With respect” is not the only form of ending a letter; in the same way - without a comma before the signature - the phrases “With greetings”, “With love”, “With best wishes”, etc. are written.

And to completely dispel doubts, it is best to turn to authoritative sources. Such in this case will be letters from undoubtedly educated people. Let me first give two examples:
P.S. After the phrase "Sincerely" you can put a dash (since it replaces the implied words, for example, “wrote to you”) and a period. For example, Blok wrote:

In the structure of any letter, both business and personal, there are usually three parts: introductory - with an address to the recipient, the main - containing the essence, and the final - where the author is indicated. At the end of the letter, the writer usually writes the phrase “with respect” and leaves his full name and/or initials. This is where a reasonable question arises: “After the phrase “with respect,” is a comma necessary or not?”

What do the rules of the Russian language say?

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

Introductory structures

Some, when answering the question of whether a comma is needed after “with respect,” believe that yes, it is necessary, 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 has expressed. At first glance, the phrase “with respect” confirms this. What if we dig deeper? To whom is the speaker showing respect? To myself? It turns out that when answering the question whether a comma “with respect, Ivanov” is needed, such people believe that it is needed because a certain sender Ivanov loves himself. This explanation looks ridiculous and absurd.

Appeals

Others, when they think about this and begin to decide whether a comma is needed after “with respect” or not, remember addresses. Yes, appeals are separated by commas in sentences, but again, who are they aimed at in this case? It turns out that it's on itself again. This attempt at explanation is completely untenable. In a letter, first of all, everyone strives to show their recognition and respect to the addressee, but not to engage in self-praise.

It’s another matter if, when solving the question: “In the phrase “with respect, Ivan Ivanovich,” is a comma needed?” the name Ivan Ivanovich would belong not to the sender, but to the recipient. In this case, separating the proper name with a comma would seem quite reasonable.

Does such a rule exist?

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

What about Rosenthal?

Before going further, it is necessary to find out what the greatest guru and most literate speaker of the Russian language, Dietmar Elyashevich Rosenthal, thinks about this, who has written so many manuals and textbooks of the Russian language during his life that if you put them in a pile, this short man will get lost behind them. If you analyze his letters, it becomes clear that he does not separate the phrase “with respect” with a comma from his last name with initials. He argues that, in accordance with historical tradition, this punctuation mark is not required in this case. So why do many people insist on using a comma at the end of letters?

Alignment to the west

One of the reasons for the positive answer to the question: “Is a comma necessary after the phrase “respect”?” is the cooperation of the majority modern companies With foreign companies. At first glance, the connection is not obvious, but it will be more noticeable for people studying international languages. Indeed, from letters 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 placed 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=mc 2” and “Today Donald Trump said that E=mc 2”.

Intonation emphasis

Of course, you shouldn’t break the invented rules. But it is impossible to formulate all laws in all areas of life, although this should be strived for. All the diversity of words and possibilities of the Russian language cannot be put into a one-sided, rigidly determined framework. We remember this from school, where some of the rules always had exceptions. Therefore, with the answer to the question: “After “with respect,” is a comma necessary or not?” not everything is so simple.

However, we should not forget about intonation, which significantly enriches and embellishes the magnificent Russian language. Any person, when reproducing his thoughts, pauses, highlights individual words and sentences with his voice, and expressively focuses the listeners’ attention on significant places. In paper text, the author's punctuation is sometimes used to correctly reflect individual phrases. After all, it’s no secret that punctuation marks serve as a way to create emphasis on places that are important for comprehension.

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

Business correspondence standards

In accordance with the rules of business etiquette, in modern society you don’t even have to think about what to put after the phrase « Sincerely” - whether a comma is needed or not - just a space, no punctuation. A comma is definitely needed; it will emphasize respectful attitude towards the interlocutor.

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

Did you know about this? In a business letter or document there is no need to put a period after the signature. Here the signature is a mandatory element - a requisite; it does not act as a complete sentence. The exception is personal letters.

Conclusion

And yet, after the phrase “with respect,” is a comma necessary or not? Let's summarize. If you are writing a formal business letter, it is better to use a comma. This will emphasize respect for the recipient and commitment 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, then you can do without punctuation marks, and if it is more important for you to intonationally emphasize an appreciative attitude, you can leave the comma.

 

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