Letters

Formal and Informal

 What is a letter ?
• Letter writing: this is the art of expressing yourself to someone you
know, or you do not know, on a piece of paper
A letter is a written message conveyed from one person to another. There are
two types of letters:
• Informal letter
• Formal letter
• Informal letter writing is one of the social writings.
These letters are written to friends, family members,
acquaintances, and cohorts…
• Formal letters are official letters written to people in
their official capacity or written to a firm
 What do the consist ?
• . Both Informal and formal letters consist of the sender’s address, the
salutation, the reference, the introduction, body, conclusion and the
signing off.
• Both letters are written in block format.
 1) Your Address
 Your address should be displayed in the top right-hand section. This will enable the
person that you are writing to, to reply.
2) The Address of the person you are writing to
This address should be displayed beneath your address on the left-hand side,
remember to include the name of the person that you are writing to (if known).
3). DATE
:This should be displayed on the right-hand side of the page on the line beneath your
address and should be written in full format: e.g. 1st January 2001
3. SALUTATION & GREETING
:1) Dear Sir
,If you do not know the name of the person that you are writing to, use the greeting
“Dear Sirs,”. In some circumstances it is useful to find a name, especially if you are
making a request as this will show that you have done your homework and you are
more likely to receive a response.
Dear Mr Jones, If you know the name, use one of the following titles:
Mr – for a male
Mrs – for a married female
Miss – for an unmarried female
Ms – for a female whose status is unknown or would prefer to remain anonymous
Dr – for a person with the status of a doctor
This should be followed by the surname only (not the first name)
.4 SUBJECT/ REFERENCE - Contains the subject matter.
5. COMPLEMENTARY CLOSE
1) Yours faithfully, If you do not know the name of the person, conclude with
“Yours faithfully,”
2) .2) Yours sincerely, If you know the name of the person, conclude with “Yours
sincerely,”
6 Your signature
Sign your name, then print it underneath the signature. If it is potentially unclear
what your title would be then include this in brackets next to your printed name.
• \
INTRODUCTORY MAIN BODY CONCLUSION
PARAGRAPH PARAGRAPH
The introductory The main body should . The concluding paragraph
paragraph should be clearly state the points that should outline what action
concise and should clearly you want to make. As a you would like the recipient
state the purpose, whether general rule it is a good idea to take: to make a refund, to
itis to lodge a complaint, to keep this as to the point as send you information etc.
make an enquiry or to possible to ensure that the
request something recipient remains engaged. A
longer main body may be
more appropriate when
making a complaint as you
may require to add more
detail in order to convey the
importance of what you are
putting across.
• In modern society there is a trend to use a shorthand writing style, for
instance replacing theword “you” with “u” or replacing the word
“weekend” with “wkend”, there are many otherexamples. This casual
approach and informal writing style can easily be transferred,
sometimessubconsciously, when a more formal style is required.
 Difference notes
• When it comes to writing in English, there are two main styles of writing – formal and
informal. Consider these two examples:
• Example 1: This is to inform you that your book has been rejected by our publishing company
as it was not up to the required standard. In case you would like us to reconsider it, we would
suggest that you go over it and make some necessary changes.
• Example 2: You know that book I wrote? Well, the publishing company rejected it. They
thought it was awful. But hey, I did the best I could, and I think it was great. I’m not gonna
redo it the way they said I should.
• The difference between the two is obvious. The first one is formal, and the second is informal.
But what is it that makes them formal and informal?
• The purpose of writing an informal letter is totally different from the purpose of a
formal letter.
• The content of the two styles is also different.
• The style of greeting and addressing the letter is different.
• There is a set format for formal letters while there is no set structure for an
informal letter.
• Slang and colloquial words can be used in an informal letter but not in a formal
letter