Professional Documents
Culture Documents
30:/
Formal Style
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Informal letters
1. Words shortened to look phonetic "to look the way they sound":
X How y doin? √ How are you?
2. Text message "SMS"- style phonetics, such as:" u → you", "i → I" or a
number to present a word: "4 → for"
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Features of Friendly Register:
R1 Always Personalise and Create the reader's Interest
Here is a list of phrases which help you to join your ideas together and also personalise
them for the reader – in other words, these phrases will make the reader feel that he is
included in your thoughts as you write and that his feelings and opinions have been
taken into account.
You’ll truly / absolutely / genuinely/ enjoy.......
You’ll be pleased / delighted/ glad to know.......
I know you....
I’m sure you’ll get well on with.
The following examples show you how to use these phrases:
1) E.g.: ‘You’ll be delighted/ tickled to know there’s a fitness centre near where I live, so
that we can work out in the gym anytime.’
‘You’ll be delighted to know’ = personalising; it shows you know
something about what makes your friend happy, her hobbies,
character, etc.
‘There’s a fitness centre near where I live’ – Why tell your friend this? To
create interest.
‘so that we can work out in the gym.’ = personalizing again because it
shows you know your friend likes to work out. It is also support,
because it explains why your house is in a good location for your
friend.
2) E.g.: I’m sure you’ll get on well with my brother, Seif! He’s frantic/
delirious about football, just like you!
'I’m sure you’ll get on well with my brother Seif'= personalising
'He’s frantic about football'= support.
'just like you''= personalising
3) E.g.: I know you’ll love my mum’s cooking! She’s a PRO and can make
almost anything – especially the red velvet cupcakes; your favourite of
course!
I know you’ll love my mum’s cooking! = personalising; it shows you know
your friend well enough to know what food she like
4) E.g.: ‘You’ll absolutely enjoy not having to walk to school in the morning.’
You’ll absolutely enjoy not having to walk to school = personalising; you know
your friend hates walking to school. He’s lazy!
5) E.g.: I know you enjoy sightseeing, so I thought you might like to spend a
day at the Pyramids – it's charming especially at night!
6) E.g.: At the weekends I am quite lazy – as usual!
As usual = personalising; your friend knows your habits.
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Creating interest
One of the best ways to create interest when you write is through
contrast. However, do not try to draw a contrast in every single case, or
your letter will not sound natural. Look at the following example sentence,
describing where you live:
‘I live in a three-bedroom house right in the centre of the city, which is way
different from your quiet village. Here you'll find countless / tons of things
to do. You will never be at a loose end!’
‘here you'll find countless / tons of things to do. You will never be at
a loose end!’
- This supports your statement by explaining why your friend enjoys
coming to stay in a noisy city.
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R2 Replace formal verbs with simple verbs and prepositions or phrases:
- I was sorry to hear that you feel lonely I was sorry to hear
you feel lonely.
- We will We'll.
- I have I've.
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R7 Avoid listing when writing friendly letters:
When you want to introduce ideas one after another, you should replace
words such as "firstly" and "secondly"
a) Don't use firstly USE To start with, First off "at the beginning"
OR for a start, for starters "at the end of the sentence"
E.g.:
- "There are lots of ways to revise for an exam. To start with,
make a revision timetable."
- "If you really want to lose weight, you'll have to give up chips, for
a start."
E.g.:
- "What's more, try to have a break from revision every two hours."
- "Another good thing is to make sure you get a good night's sleep."
c) To introduce the final or the most important point, do not use finally or
lastly,
and one of the best things….
use and best of all
above all
E.g.:
"Above all, try to have plenty of time to revise."
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Tip:
Exercise 1:
Rewrite the following sentence expanding it using friendly
register:
1-Taking up employment in a children's holiday camp offers
excellent opportunities for adventure.
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Achieving a suitable tone:
Read the following sentences taken from students' exchange visit letters .If you were
the recipient, which would make you feel at ease? Which might worry you? Put a tick
against the sentences you like and a cross against the others.
As you work discuss how many inappropriate expressions could be made more
suitable. Correct any structural errors.
1. It'll be lovely to see you.
2. The food here will be rather distasteful for you.
3. At least when you are in the house try to behave with respect to my
parents.
4. You'll be very welcome.
5. My friend, you can come and enjoy it but my family is very strict.
6. We can go cycling through our beautiful countryside and have great
parties on the beach.
7. You'll soon feel at home.
8. Mostly, we will visit our countryside every day because here that is the
only worth visiting place.
9. Mum and Dad always listen to our problems before giving their own point
of view.
10. We can go cycling through our beautiful countryside and have great
parties on the beach.
11. We're going to have a wonderful time together.
12. As I already told you, this is a very small place, so don’t think about
hotels, theatres, cinemas, and so on.
13. We can promise you the best time of your life.
14. Don’t take chances if you cannot swim my friend, you will not survive.
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Writing an Introduction
In an informal letter, you know the person you are writing to, so always
remember to maintain a chatty style in the introduction, and include the
reason why you’re writing.
There are different ways to start an informal letter:
1) Apology + reason
Ex. "I’m sorry I haven’t written for ages (or, since we last met/ for a long
time), but I’ve been busy studying and haven’t had the time."
(reason can change; better use a reason that leads to the topic)
2) Apology + no real excuse
Ex. ‘I’ve been meaning to write earlier, but I’m afraid I haven’t got round
to it.’
OR ‘I’ve been meaning to write since your graduation day, but with one
thing or another I’m afraid I just haven’t had the time.’
3) No apology, just being friendly
Ex. ‘It was lovely to hear from you last week. Hope you’re feeling better
after your injury.’ OR 'I thought I’d better write and update you with
...' OR 'I know you're longing to hear all about …..'
4) Begin with something personal
Ex. ‘Congratulations on winning the scholarship.’
After this chatty beginning, you need a ‘Transition’ to start the reason why
you’re writing this letter. Normally, the word used is ‘anyway’ or ‘anyhow’ +
past tense, yet you can come up with something different; it depends on
what you’re saying in your introduction.
For example:
Dear Jane,
I’m sorry I haven’t written for so long, but I’ve been busy settling into my new house.
Anyway, I thought I’d drop you a line to let you know about my new life here in...
Signature:
‘Love / Love From/ Yours/ Cheerio / Bye For Now.
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