The grammar use in business correspondence is also different about the pronouns who and whom, and the place of prepositions:

e.g. She wanted a partner for her business in whom she could confide. (formal)

She longed for a partner (who) she could confide in. (informal)

In what country was he born? (formal)

What country was he born in? (informal)

Formal written language often goes impersonal style. That means that one doesn’t refer directly to himself / herself or to his / her readers, but avoids pronouns. Some of the common features of impersonal language are passive sentences beginning with the introductory word it and abstract nouns. The effect of the change into a passive construction is to reverse the focus from the subject to the object of speech.

Abstract nouns, especially amount words (majority, minority, amount), specify more precisely the meaning of an utterance.

e.g. Announcement from the librarian

It has been noted with concern that the stock of books in the library has been declining alarmingly. Students are asked to remind themselves of the rules for the borrowing and return of books, and to bear in mind the needs of other students. Penalties for overdue books will in the future be strictly enforced. [16, P.13]

It is a very formal and impersonal message which could have been written in a more informal and less impersonal way, achieved by usage of phrasal verbs, contractions, colloquial phrases and other linguistic means:

Librarian’s message

The number of books in the library has been going down. Please make sure you know the rules for borrowing, and don’t forget that the library is for everyone’s convenience. So from now on, we’re going to enforce the rules strictly. You have been warned! [16, P.13]

To be tactful is to avoid causing offence or distress in correspondence. Sometimes it means disguising or covering up the truth. In such a case, the use of imperatives should be polite:

e.g. Would you like to stipulate details of the contract?

Let us compare some more examples:

e.g. I suggest that we postponed signing of the contract till tomorrow. (tactful)

Could I suggest that we postponed signing of the contract till tomorrow. (tentative and more tactful)

In other cases tentativeness is not connected with tact, but is simply an indication of the speaker’s reluctance to commit himself / herself on a given question. To use of might is characteristic of business correspondence, because it is a more tentative way of expressing possibility than may. Let us compare two sentences:

e.g. It may have been an error in a business deal.

It might have been an error in a business deal.

In the second sentence might presupposes a greater degree of uncertainty and sounds more tactful than may.

Texts of business documents are specific and aimed at a definite purpose. In order to make one’s business work and work effectively, a person should possess knowledge of language standards in business letters. Skilful application of this knowledge is somehow determined by standards of documents’ writing. If a document is written in an accepted way, it will be assessed by specialists. A unified business text takes up less time and work to compile in comparison with private letters.

Since a writer of a business letter has a unified form in front of him / her, this person follows a set pattern while doing it. All the writer’s attention is focused on major information and data which represent the subject of the document. In this way, an addressee can decode the subject-matter faster, because a document is written in the standardised form.

Moreover, if business documents are drawn up in a unified and, to some extent, simplified way, it takes less money spending and saves time of the dealing sides, and shortens the time of business procedure as well. A special branch of English linguistics, - business English, - is devoted to the purpose of simplifying of business making.

Written business English has got certain traits and problems of its usage, not only for foreigners, but for English-speaking business people.

1.2. Theoretical problems of the language of documents

Knowledge of drawing up business correspondence is equal to communicating with people in a businesslike manner [7, P.4]. A person should know rules of documents’ writing to make one’s business effective and profitable. All of them are united under the notion of style.

A style of the language is a system of interrelated language means which serve a definite aim in communication [3, P.33]. As has already been written, the style can be formal (business written English) and informal (spoken English). The difference of formal and informal English is a matter of style and attitude of people to each other. However, it is not an easy matter to draw an exact line between formal and informal English [8, P.28], and that is the first, and the most important thing to be clarified in this paper.

English of business correspondence possesses some important qualities, common for formal style of English as well.

The language of business correspondence is very bookish and is remarkable for the usage of larger and more exact vocabulary, in comparison with informal style of communication. Sentences in documents are longer and their clauses are grammatically fitted together more carefully, which means a lot of practise for a person who draws up a contract. It is generally considered and expected that real business people, experts in their field of activity, should enjoy the preciseness and careful grammatical construction. It does not mean, of course, that business people must communicate orally in formal business style.

Formal business correspondence should be more impersonal. It should not emphasise the individuality of the writer, and takes little account of the personal qualities of people who are going to make use of it. Thus, the speaker should not refer directly to himself or his readers, but avoid the pronouns I, we, you, and it may also be of a difficulty for a person.

One more problem is that formal English lacks force and vividness. The fact that it is formal implies its great dependence on arbitrary conventions, rather than on natural speech habits [8, P.29]. That is why it is so hard for non-business people to keep concentrating their attention on contents of documents all the time, as their attention is diverted by intricate language use. Some of them will find their long and complicated sentences rather confusing. Words of formal English may sound nice, but their meaning is often hard to get through. Very often a person must read something all over again to make sure what it means.

e.g. This stipulation being of the essence of the contract, default by the buyers shall entitle the Sellers to load and ship the goods as convenient to themselves to any of the ports named in this contract and Buyers shall take delivery accordingly. (Extract from a standard form of contract for the sale of timber through broker in the U.K.) [6, P.229]