If you’re writing your letter, make sure to use ink that won’t smear if the envelope gets wet. Ballpoint pens typically work well. Don’t use a pencil.
If you’re not familiar with standard postal abbreviations, check the website of your country’s postal service for a guide. The US Postal Service’s guide to street suffix abbreviations can be found at https://pe. usps. com/text/pub28/28apc_002. htm.
Start with your full legal name on the top line. It isn’t necessary to include a job title unless it would help direct the returned letter back to you. Put the street address, including any suite number or office information, on the second line. Your city and state or province, along with the postal code, should go on the third line. Use standard postal abbreviations for your state or province. Since you’re not supposed to use any punctuation, don’t put a comma between the city and state or province. If your letter is international, put the name of your country on the final line of the return address.
Any other information that will help direct the letter within the building, such as a suite or office number, should be included on the same line.
Normally you will have a single space between each word or set of numbers. Note that if you’re sending your letter to Canada, there is an exception. For Canadian mail, put two spaces between the abbreviation for the province and the postal code.
For example, if you’re sending a letter to someone in London, you would write “GREAT BRITAIN” on the last line – not “U. K. " or “G. B. "
If you don’t know the English translation, you should at least include the foreign-language words in Roman characters.
Each of the lines should be left-justified. Include any additional information, such as your job title, that is relevant to the subject of the letter or will help the recipient more easily identify you.
For medical doctors, it is appropriate to use either “Dr. " before the name, or “M. D. " after their name, but don’t use both. For example: “Dr. Jan White” or “Jan White, M. D. " Leave off gendered courtesy titles such as “Mr. " or “Ms. " if the recipient has a gender-neutral name, or if you’re unsure about their gender identity.
Including the job title means you’re addressing the recipient in that capacity. For example, if someone is both President and CEO of a company, you may address them as President, as CEO, or as both.
Words such as “corporation” should only be abbreviated if they are done so in the legal name of the business. Capitalize and space words exactly as they are done in the business’s legal name, including any special characters. For example, if the recipient works at Yahoo, write the business name on your letter address as “Yahoo!”, which is the registered legal name of the business.
Use numerals for street numbers, unless the street number is part of the name of the building, such as “One Town Plaza. " Spell out the full name of the city, then place a comma, then type out the full name of the state or province and the postal code. If it’s an international letter, include the full name of the country on the last line.
