PERSONAL LETTERS/EMAILS
PURPOSE
Establish a personal relationship
with the reader through writing
FEATURES
-- Will maintain clear sense of
address to a specific person: sense
of dialogue
--Must be an entertaining paper
able to show emotions
--Tells anecdotes clearly. Arouse
interest
--Simple sentence structure
--Appropriate connectors for an
abundant use of short sentences.
Check register of these
--Appropriate opening and closing
salutation
--Closing statement (excuse) and
signing off
--Typical letter of email format
(recipient address, fields) suggested
LANGUAGE POINTS LANGUAGE IN USE
-- Use informal, colloquial
language which remains easily --How’re u? It’s been ages since…
understandable sorry but I’ve been too busy
doing…
--Direct questions and comments
that would “require” an answer --I’m good, can’t wait your answer
--Will adopt a consistently informal --Btw, anyway,…
register
--It’s awful, I feel devastated…
-- Informal language, including
phrasal verbs, informal vocabulary, --Well, that’s enough about this!
contractions, question tags. How’re you?
--I need to leave not but write soon
--Will adopt a lively, engaging tone and tell me…
and style, perhaps with some
“youth-speak” --Take care!
--Control of digression. Limited
textese and emoticons allowed.
Spelling or grammar “oral flaw”s
must be purposeful
--Exclamations and emotional signs
 FORMAL / INFORMAL WRITING

FORMAL INFORMAL

FEATURES EXAMPLES FEATURES EXAMPLES

Latin/French based remove, retain, consult, enter Phrasal verbs take away/ out, keep back, look p, go/come in
verbs
Uncommon purchase, procure, cease, masticate, Common words with buy, get, stop, chew, nice, a lot
words/sophisticated delicious, endless... hardly any power
vocabulary
Unabbreviated forms If you will take a seat, I will consider your Abbreviated forms I’ll, asap, memo…
request immediately. and contractions
Passive and Impersonal Cfr. A meeting has been scheduled for 3 Active and personal We’ve set a meeting for 3 Oct at 11 a.m.
forms October 2005 at 11 a.m. forms (first and They say that …
It is said that… second person more We can consider the results from another from
It is possible to consider the results used) another viewpoint.
viewpoint. I can’t understand why they put up
It is not clear why such terrible...
I

Noun phrases The President’s speeches were rather Verb phrases The P. was talking rubbis
unintelligible You could tell from his voice that.....
His tone of voice revealed that … I’ve described/set outwhat
My findings are outlined below. .
Not ending with To whom were you speaking? Ending with Who were you speaking to?
preposition preposition
Use the right tone. Be I would urge you to consider… Imperatives and You must visit this place for sure!
correct, polite and straightforward
distant I would be grateful if you could… languages. Friendly If you don’t do it, I will sue you till the last
and familiar manners penny! (Exaggeration)
it would be kind from you to…

Subordinate clauses In spite of the fact that cruises round the More simple Cruises around the Mediterranean are fairly
and complex Mediterranean are fairly expensive, they connectors expensive, but they seem to be very popular
connectors seem to be very popular
Use of inversion and Should you require any additional No inversion unless If you need any more information…
other formal structures information... we need to Take a seat and…
If you would take a seat... emphasize. More
That would increase the risk f your getting colloquial forms
hurt...
We demand that this situation be
immediately resolved…
I would not object to theirs proposing…
OTHERS: OTHERS:
Please refer to… stuff, a lot of, things, sort of…
 Avoid use of  Colloquial
very direct and I would urge you to take action… words, similes
imperative and
forms. Use the To whom it may correspond… expressions
right one even  Slang or
if you’re Your sincerely jargon
complaining  Imperatives
(please The purpose of this letter is…  Friendly,
 Longer and familiar
 more complex
sentences are May I respectfully suggest that you ... manners
preferred  Use of
 The format is Unless you ... , I am afraid that I will have personal or
more closely to take this matter further flowery
respected language
(salutation,  Emotional
body, inside tone
address,  Discourse
closing...) markers,
 Linguistic and question tags
rhetorical and even some
functions some limited
clearly use of textese
expressed (eg 4 for
(statements, four/for and u
objections, for you)
proposals, and/or
complaints...) emoticons is
 No exclamation permissible.
marks or
emotional
language
 More factual
than personal
 May contain
bullet points,
numbering…
 Be concise and
to the point