• Enclosure (Encl.)—attached document(s)—or Distribution (cc)—copies sent to another
party—is placed two vertical spaces below the identification line.
LETTER FORMATS
Full Block Format (See Sample 1)
In a full block business letter, every component of the letter (heading, address, salutation, body,
salutation, signature, identification, enclosures) is aligned to the left. Also, first sentences of
paragraphs are not indented.
In Sample 1, you will see that there are two spaces between the address and the date; three
spaces between the address and the salutation; two spaces between the salutation and the first
body paragraph; two spaces between first, second, and third body paragraphs; two spaces
between the body, the complimentary close, the signature line, identification, and enclosures.
Modified Block Format (See Sample 2)
In a modified block business letter, the heading, complimentary close, the signature, and
identification are aligned to the right. Address, salutation, the body, and enclosures are aligned to
the left. First sentences of paragraphs are indented.
In Sample 2, you will see that there are two spaces between the address and the date; three
spaces between the address and the salutation; two spaces between the salutation and the first
body paragraph; two spaces between first, second, and closing body paragraphs; two spaces
between the body, the complimentary close, the signature line, and identification.
Memo Format (See Sample 3)
In a memo form of business correspondence, every component of the memo is aligned to the left.
The following items should appear in the order listed below:
Date:
To: (Name of the recipient)
From: (Your name; initials of sender added in ink)
Subject: (Briefly explains the purpose of the memo)
cc: (If applicable, copies sent to another party)
Text:
Enclosure: (Optional)
In Sample 3, you will notice that there are two spaces between each component listed above.
Also, the first four components: To, From, Date, and Subject as well as cc can appear as above,
including the colon, or they can also appear in all caps. You can also make the items prominent
by making them BOLD, or CAPS+BOLD.
It is common to put a solid line across the page below the Subject line to separate the heading
from the text.
Dr. Murray and Anna C. Rockowitz Writing Center, Hunter College, City University of New York