Formal Letters

Lengua BII (Inglés)

2021-2022
 Formal letters (I)

• Types: Letters of complaint, application letters, covering letters…

• Starting off:

➢ Correct addresses: YOUR address (right)

Their address (left - but only if it is an official letter, not
personal)
➢ Date
➢ Dear Sir or Madam ( or their actual name…Jim, Anne, Mr.Jones, Miss. Peters, etc..)
➢ Indent the first word under ‘Madam’
 Formal letters (II)

• 1st paragraph

• Why are you writing to them...“I am writing to you to because…..”

• Explain who YOU are….
• Be polite! “I hope you don’t mind me writing to you but I have to tell you about..”
• Be strong (If it is a letter of complaint) eg. “I must inform you that I am not happy with….”
I am writing to inquire about
I am writing in connection with
I am writing in reply to your letter asking for information about
I am writing to inform you about
I am writing in response to your letter/advertisement…
 Formal letters (III)

• 2nd & 3rd paragraph

• You can have more than one paragraph

• If it is a persuasive letter, then take 1 or 2 points of persuasion for each paragraph
• Don’t make one enormous paragraph- it looks boring!
• State each point, then back it up eg. “I believe Italy will win the World Cup because they have extreme talent and have greater fitness”
• Offer your own opinion on things. eg. “I firmly believe that custard is the finest food because it is smooth yet refined”
• Use any planning sheet you have to tick off each point you are making.
• Use facts to back up your arguments eg. “In a recent school survey, 94% of boys would like Kylie as their girlfriend”
 Formal letters (IV)
• Last paragraph

• This is a concluding paragraph eg. “To sum up, I would say that…”
• Give an overall view of the letter. eg. “What I am trying to say to you is that I would dearly love you to come and stay with us”

I look forward to receiving a reply

I look forward to hearing from you
I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience
I would appreciate it if you could inform me as soon as possible
Please do not hesitate to contact me (again) if you require any further information
Thank you in advance for your assistance
Yours faithfully/Yours sincerely
 Formal letters (IV)

• Signing off

• If you know them personally - Yours sincerely

• If you don’t know them - Yours faithfully

Yours truly, Yours sincerely,

Sincerely, Sincerely yours
Thank you, Best wishes
All the best,
Warm regards,
 Style

• Formal language and grammar

-To whom it may concern
• No short forms (contractions) -Not only did I want to know this but also..
-Should you need further information do not hesitate to ask
• No slang or colloquial words -Passive voice
-may/might
• Be factual rather than emotional -I shall describe some of the documentation that I gathered
-Etc.
• Use polite questions
• Be careful with idioms and phrasal verbs
• Sophisticated vocabulary
• Use of passive voice: impersonal tone
• Formal linking words: Accordingly,Thus, On no account…
• In short….keep to formal layout conventions
 Example complaint letter (I)

Dear Sir or Madam

I am writing to complain about the unacceptable treatment that I received in your restaurant last friday when I was intended to have dinner with my husband.

First of all, we were given a table just in front of the toilets because there was not any other available, although we had booked it in advance. Furthermore, we
were forced to leave at 10 p.m because someone else had also booked the same table.

Secondly, we had to wait for nearly half an hour to be served and after the long waiting we were obliged to change our minds and ask for meat because there
was no lobster left. In fact, only three out of the seven main courses were available. I would also like to point out the incompetence of the service because the
waiter spilled the sauce over my husband´s dish even though we had asked him not to do so.

To make matters worse, there was no response when I asked to meet the manager of the restaurant so I have been forced to write to make you know
about these unfortunate incidents.

I very much hope that in future you will take care of these mistakes in order to prevent them /\ and I am afraid to say that I will have no alternative but to put
the matter in the hands of my solicitors should not I receive compensation within the next few days.
Yours faithfully,
Carmen Pliego
 Example complaint letter (II)

• You recently helped organise a college ski trip and you have received this email from a parent of one of the
students who went.

[…] I understand you were one of the organisers of our son’s ski trip. I have to say my husband and I were extremely dissatisfied
with the arrangements. My son has informed us that the ski slopes were poor, the lessons were fewer than promised and the
accomodation was inadequate.
Could you please give us a satisfactory explanation?
Nora White
 Example complaint letter (III)
Dear Ms White,
First, let me apologise for any disappointment your son experienced on our ski trip. It is true that there
were several concerns. Since we had been led to believe by the company that there would be sufficient slopes
for both beginners and advanced skiers, we were extremely upset when this turned out to not to be the case.
It was also unfortunate that lack of snow meant that artificial snow had to be used instead.
As for the question of lessons, if you look at the letter we sent you, you will see that only five one-hour
lessons were included in the price and that extra hours would have to be paid for separately.
In relation to accomodation, I am not quite sure what you are referring to. I know that in one room there
were not enough beds but this was not the case in your son’s room.
We would like to assure you that we take all complaints seriously. We have already decided that next year
we will change the company and the location for our trip and we hope that your son will consider joining us
again.
Yours sincerely,
Ernest Omate
 Exercise
• Rewrite the sentences below using a more appropiate formal style:

1. Having kind and helpful personnel is important – people expect this kind of stuff.

2. Lastly, I would like to say that the discount seemed better than what you are now proposing.

3. I am writing this letter to your newspaper because I think you guys made a mistake the other day.

4. And some more things, I would like to make a few suggestions, which I hope you can take into consideration.
Example application letter (I)
Example application letter (II)
Example application letter (III)