Tuesday 11 October 2016

How To Write Address On An Envelope

Addressing an envelope correctly helps get your letter to the correct destination on time. Many people don't realize that there's a "right" way to address an envelope; if it arrives at the right place, you did it correctly... right? Unfortunately, this is not the case. If you're writing an address on an envelope to a business contact, it's especially important to write it correctly so that you are professional. This is a skill that you'll likely use time and time again for work, so you'll want to do it correctly.

Method 1. Personal Letter (United States)


1. Write the name of the recipient on the first line. The first line should contain the name of the person who will be receiving the letter. How you write the name should depend on how he or she likes to be addressed. If, for instance, you know your aunt prefers a certain level of anonymity, you could simply list her as "P. Jones," instead of "Polly Jones."
Include any necessary titles. You can probably skip titles for close friends and family members, but you might consider including them for government officials, military personnel, doctors, professors, or elderly people. For instance, if you were addressing a letter to your elderly aunt Polly who was widowed many years ago, you might call her "Mrs. Polly Jones."

2. Place the letter in care of someone else (optional). If you're sending someone a letter to an address where he or she does not regularly reside, it might be wise to include a "care of" or "courtesy of" line below the name.
Write "c/o" before the name of the person who does live there, the hotel, the hostel, etc.
For instance, if your aunt Polly is staying with a cousin for a few weeks and you're sending her a letter there, you might write "c/o Henry Roth" below her name.
3. Write the street address or post office box number on the second line. If you're writing a street address, be sure to include any directional notation (such as "400 West" instead of simply "400") or apartment numbers. If the street address and apartment number are so long that they don't fit on one line, just write the apartment number on the line below the street address.
For example, if your friend lives on 50 Oakland Avenue in apartment #206, write, "50 Oakland Ave, #206."
You can use some abbreviations for the type of street it is, as long as you use them correctly. You can write blvd instead of boulevard, ctr instead of center, ctinstead of court, dr instead of drive, ln instead of lane and so on.[1]
If you're addressing a letter using a PO box, there's no need to include the street address of the post office. Based on the ZIP code, the postal service will know where the PO box is.

4. Write the city, state, and ZIP code on the third line. The state should be abbreviated with two letters, not spelled out.
You can use a 9-digit ZIP code, though you don't have to. Five digits should be enough.

5. If you're mailing from another country, write "United States" on the address. If you're sending a letter from outside the US, you'll need to change your format slightly. Write the city and state on one line, "United States of America" on the line beneath that, and the ZIP code on the last line.


6. Finished.


Method 2. Professional Letter (United States)

1. Write the name of the recipient. This could be a person or an organization, depending on where your letter is going. If possible, try to name a person as the recipient instead of listing an entire organization — your letter is more likely to get someone's attention that way. Make sure to use formal titles, such as "Mr.," "Ms.," "Dr.," or whatever the person's title may be.
Write the recipient's position after his or her name (optional). For instance if you're writing the director of marketing, you might say "Paul Smith, Director of Marketing" on the first line.
Write "Attn:" followed by the person's name if the person occupies a single desk or office at an address, if you like. For example: "Attn: Shirley Shatten." If you're submitting your work to a journal and do not know who the fiction editor is, write, "Attn: Fiction Editor" to make sure your submission ends up in the right place.
2. Write the name of the organization on the second line. For instance, if you're writing to Paul Smith about a business matter and he works for Widgets, Inc., you'd write "Paul Smith" on the first line and "Widgets, Inc." on the second.

3. Write the street address or post office box number on the third line. If you're writing a street address, be sure to include any directional notation (such as "400 West" instead of simply "400") or suite numbers.
If you're addressing a letter using a PO box, there's no need to include the street address of the post office. Based on the ZIP code, the postal service will know where the PO box is.
4. Write the city, state and ZIP code on the third line. The state should be abbreviated with two letters instead of spelled out.
You can use a 9-digit ZIP code, though you don't have to. Five digits should be enough.

5. Finished.

Method 3. United Kingdom


1. Write the name of the recipient on the first line. Include any necessary titles. You can probably skip titles for close friends and family members, but you might consider including them for government officials, military personnel, doctors, professors or elderly people. This could be a person or an organization.


2. Write the address number and name of the street on the second line. It's important that you write the number first and the street second. For example: 10 Downing St.

3. Name the town or city on the third line. For example: London.

4. Write the name of the county on the fourth line (if applicable). If, for instance, you're sending a letter to London, you probably don't need to write the county. But if you're sending a letter to a rural area, including it might be a good idea. If you know any other principal subdivisions, such as the province, state, or county, then include that as well.

5. Write the postal code on the last line. For example: SWIA 2AA.


6. Include the name of the country (if applicable). If you're posting the letter from outside of Great Britain, write "UK" or "United Kingdom" on the last line.


7. Finished.


3 comments: