WRITING A FORMAL LETTER

• Letter writing is one of the ancient
forms of communication
• Letter writing is one of the arts of usage
of language
• With the advent of emails and modern
technology, the concept of writing letter
has taken a back seat but the style
persist and people use it while writing
emails.
• One should be careful about what is
being written.

Writing Formal Letters and e mails
•Try to write as simply and as clearly
as possible,
and not to make the letter/email
longer than necessary.
• Remember not to use
informal language like
contractions.
•LETTERS->

Your Address
should be written in
the top right-hand
corner of the letter
Date:
You can write
this on the right
or the left on
the line after
the address you
are writing to.
Write the
month as a
word.
The
Address of
the person
you are
writing to
should be
written on
the left,
starting
below your
address
Salutation or greeting:
1)Dear Sir or Madam,
If you do not know the
name of the person you
are writing to, use this.
2)Dear Mr Jenkins,
If you know the name,
use the title (Mr, Mrs,
Miss or Ms, Dr, etc.) and
the surname only.
Ending a letter:
1) Yours faithfully
If you do not know
the name of the
person
2) Yours sincerely
If you know the
name of the
person
3) Your signature
Sign your name, then print it
underneath the signature.

Content of a Formal Letter
Formal Letter should be short and state
letter- to make an enquiry, to complain, apply for a job,
etc.
Paragraphs in the middle of the letter is relevant
information behind the writing of
n to the essentials and concentrate on organising manner rather
than expanding too much.
of a formal letter should state what action
ipient to take- to refund, send you information, etc.

A covering letter is the one that accompanies your CVwhen
you are applying for a job. Here is a plan for the layout of
the paragraphs.
Opening Paragraph
• Briefly identify yourself and
the position you are applying for.
Add howyou found out about
the vacancy.
Paragraph 2
• Give the reasons why you are
interested in working for the
company and why you wish to be
considered for that particular
post. State your relevant
qualifications and
experience, as well as your
personal qualities that make
you a suitable candidate
Paragraph 3
• Inform them that you have
enclosed your current CV and
add any further information
that you think could help
your case.
Closing Paragraph
• Give your availability for
interview, thank them for
their consideration,
restate your interest and
close the letter.

The following abbreviations are
widely used in letters:
• asap = as soon as possible
• enc. = enclosure (when you include other
papers with your letter)
• ps = postscript (when you want to add
something after you've finished and signed
it)
• pto (informal) = please turn over (to make
sure
that the other person knows the letter
continues on the other side of the page)
• RSVP = please replyrépondez s'il vous plaît,

Types of Formal Letters
• Letter of Inquiry
• Order Letter
• Letter of Complaint
• Reply to a letter of Complaint
• Promotion Letter
• Sales Letters

STYLES OF
LETTER

Writing a formal e mail
•Use a neutral e-mail address. It should be a variation of
your real name, not a username or nickname.
•Use periods (.), hyphens (-), or underscores (_) to secure
an e-mail address that's just your name,without
extra numbers or letters, if you can.
•Use a short and accurate subject header.
Avoid saying too much in the subject header,
but make sure it reflects the content of your email .E.g:
>Inquiry regarding sales position
>Request for volunteer application.
© Dulce Rosales- EOI Arucas

Use a proper salutation. Addressing the recipient by
name is preferred. Use the person's title (Mr. Mrs. Ms.
or Dr.) with their last name, followed by a comma (,) or
a colon(:).
• Optionally, you can precede the salutation with
"Dear..." (but "Hello..." is acceptable as well).
Using a last name is more formal and should be
used unless you are on first-name terms with the
recipient.
If you don't know the name of the person you're
writing to (but you really should try and find one)
use "To Whom It May Concern".
•
•
© Dulce Rosales- EOI Arucas

Introduce yourself in the first paragraph. Also
include why you're writing, and how you found that
person's e-mail address, or the opportunity you're
writing about
• E.g. "My name is Pitt Rivers. I am writing about
the traffic citation I received on December 31,
2009. I obtained your e-mail address for the
Westchester County Clerk website.
"My name is Pitt Rivers. I am contacting you to
apply
•
for the administrative assistant position listed
on CareerAABB.com.“

• Write the actual message. Be sure to get your point
•
across and do not ramble on! Be direct and to the point.
The email should be no more than 5 paragraphs long, and
each paragraph should be no more than 5 sentences long
• Use the correct form of leave-taking.
– Yours sincerely,
– Yours cordially,
– Respectfully,
– Best,

7. Sign with your full name.
• If you have a job title, include that in the line
after your name, and write the company name or
website in the line after that.
• If you do not have a job title but you have your
own blog or website related to the content of the
e-mail, include a link to that below your name.
• If the e-mail is about a job, only include a career-
related website or blog, not hobbies or interests

The term cc stands for carbon copy, and bcc for blind carbon copy. The cc
addressee is visible in the email, but the bcc is not. These are old terms that
originated with the use of typewriters to type letters. To make a copy before
photocopy machines, you had to use carbon paper