Writing Informal and Formal letters

Writing - make notes about what you want to say

Before

- Organize your notes

- Make sure you are familiar with the layout of
informal/formal letters

Your address Name and address you

are writing to Your address
Greeting Date (may be omitted)

Greeting Date
Body of the letter
Body of the letter

Goodbye Goodbye
Signature
Signature Name

Informal Register Neutral Register Formal Register

Greetings

. Dear + first name . Dear + first name . Dear + Sir/Sirs/Madam

Opening

Mr.
Mrs. + family name
Ms.
. Bye . Yours truly . Yours sincerely (if you know
.Cheers . Kind Regards the name of the person you are
Goodbye

. See you . Best Wishes writing to).

. Love (…) . All the very best (…) .Yours faithfully ( if you don’t
know the name).
. You may use (eg. I’m) . avoid abbreviations . do not use abbreviations
Abbreviations

.1st paragraph: say why you are writing;

Structur
Letter

.Main body: divide it into paragraphs (use a paragraph for each idea; do not include
e

unnecessary information);
.Last paragraph: include closing remarks.
Writing
After

.Revise your letter: make sure your purpose is clear; make sure you have included all
your notes and avoid language errors, spelling mistakes or poor punctuation.