HOW TO WRITE

FORMAL LETTERS
By: Dr. Sari Famularsih, M.A.
-LITERAL READING & WRITING-
 • Usually written to people
What is a you don’t know
formal • E.g. Written to:
– Complain
letter? – Apply for a job
– Reply to a formal letter
you have received
Style / Language

• Not personal
• Need to give information in the
shortest, clearest way possible
• Use language that is business-
like but clear
 Structure
• Every piece of writing should have:

Beginning
Middle
End
In Formal Letters…
Beginning = introduction
Middle = main body
End = conclusion
Writing & Organising a
Formal Letter
• Brainstorm
• Plan layout
• Decide on greeting and ending
• Organise ideas
• Plan introduction, main body & conclusion
• Proof read, edit and redraft
Brainstorming
• Brainstorming is a way of getting your
ideas down on paper
• It doesn’t matter what you write at this
stage
• Just jot your ideas down about the topic
 Formal letter brainstorm might include:

• Reason you are writing

• Info you want to give
• Info you want to get
• A complaint
• A request
• What you want to happen next
Layout
 Greetings & Endings

• Formal letters usually information, factual

• Letters to people you don’t know
• There are only 2 ways of greeting (or
beginning) when you write a formal letter.
– What are they?
 Greetings…
• Dear Sir or Madam
• Dear (Name)
– Use this if you have been given a person’s
name who will deal with your letter or if
you have received a formal letter with the
name of the sender on it
 Endings…
• There are also only 2 ways of ending a
formal letter.
• These are related to your greeting...
• What are these endings?
 Endings…
• If you use:
• Dear Sir or Madam
– Always use – Yours faithfully
• Dear (Name)
– Always use – Yours sincerely
 Organising Ideas
• Think about the order of your information
• Decide what info to put in the:
– Introduction – beginning
– Main body – middle
– Conclusion – end
• Think again why you’re writing the letter
• Make sure you have all info you need written down in your
brainstorm
• Cross out info you don’t need from your brainstorm
 Introductions
Introductions
• Important part of letter!
• Only 1 paragraph long (or 3 to 5 sentences)
• Needs to set the tone of the letter
• Lets the reader know what you are writing
about
• Think about why you are writing
 Introductions
Introductions
• Your letter could start by:
– Giving brief details of a complaint (e.g.
product, time, date, place)
– Referring to a letter you have been sent
– Giving details of a job advert you have seen
(e.g. Where and when you saw it, the job
title)
 Main
Main Body
Body
• Brainstorm usually gives you ideas for main body
• Introduction leads into these ideas
• Conclusion finishes off
• A way of planning your main body would be to
plan what you are going to write in each
paragraph
• Main body in a formal letter is usually quite short
and to the point
 Letter
Letter Plan:
Plan:
• Introduction:
– Paragraph 1 – telling them why you are writing, details
of complaint: place, date, product, fault.
• Main body:
– Paragraph 2 – fault in more detail
– Paragraph 3 – what happened when item was returned
• Conclusion:
– Paragraph 4 – what you want to happen next.
 Conclusions
Conclusions
• The end of the letter
• Only 1 paragraph long (3 to 5 sentences)
• To let the reader know you have
definitely finished your letter
• Think about what you want to say at the
end
 STUDENTS’
WORKSHEET
1. Identify the statement whether it is true or false

a. You put the address of the person you are writing to in the top right- hand corner
of the letter. True / False
b. If you don’t know the person’s name, sign off with Yours faithfully. True / False
c. It is correct to finish the letter with I look forward to hear from you. True / False
d. 4/8/13 is the correct way to write the date. True / False
e. In the first paragraph you should write a few polite lines to express your
admiration of the person you are writing to. True / False
f. The first paragraph should simply contain the reason for your letter. True / False
g. The last paragraph should state what action you expect the person to
take. True / False
h. You should use per pro or pp if you are signing a letter for someone else. True /
False
i. Dear Mr Michael Brown is this the correct way to start a letter. True / False
j. Do the letters cc stands for carbon copy True / False
2. Imagine you are going to apply a job in a position that you
really want. You saw an advertisement about it and one of
the requirement is to write an application letter. Write a
letter for the position you want.
IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

Students’ worksheet is compulsory to be done.

Write your answer on Ms. Word and upload through Google

form I sent.
 THANKS!
Do you have any questions?

sarifamularsih@yahoo.com
+62 819 0285 1431

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