CHAPTER III

FORMAL INVITATION
1. DEFINITION
A Formal invitation is an invitation which follows a dignified form, tone or style in agreement
with the established norms, customs or values (Websters, 2012)
There are two kinds of invitation:
a. Formal Invitation
b. Informal Invitation
- The examples of formal invitation:

 An invitation to the opening of a school

 An invitation to a graduation of a school or university
 An invitation to business event
 An invitation to a competition

2. SOCIAL FUNCTION
Formal invitation is used to invite people to formal and social events

3. LANGUAGE FEATURE
 Simple, precise, and concise words
 Detailed information
 The style of writing should be formal
 The tone should be friendly and sincere
 Words should be chosen carefully

4. GENERIC STRUCTURE
The common / general format of formal invitation is:
1) Letterhead (Optional)
2) The first line is the name(s) of the person(s) who invite
3) The second line is the name of the event
4) The third line is the names of the person(s) invited
5) Salutation & Greeting
6) Body:
- The time and date of the event
- The place of the event
7) Closing
8) The last line is the request for reply / RSVP (It is a French word – “repondez s’il vous plait”
which means “please reply”). But it is optional.

5. THE EXAMPLES OF FORMAL INVITATION