Informal Letters Address

- not always necessary

Purpose - has to be your address (address of the addressee in not needed)
- communication between two people who are usually familiar to each other - no name is needed
- topic on a personal level (introduction, personal report, invitation, etc.)

Sample Letter Date

- always necessary
56 Shamrock Avenue - quite free format, e.g. 24 October 2011
Dublin, Ireland 24th October
Monday, 24 October
24 October
Salutation
Dear Laura, - always necessary
This is Ruth Parker. Remember me? We used to be friends in primary - Dear …,
school. We haven’t seen each other for about 10 years- right? Hi …,
Anyway, how are you? I’ve got your address from Debbie Turner. I hope Hello …,
you don’t mind. What are you doing now? Are you working? You always wanted to Body
be a police officer! - has to be divided into paragraphs
At the moment I’m studying medicine at the university here. I think I’ve - format of paragraphs: first line of each paragraph is indented or
changed a lot over the years. I’m not fond of heavy metal anymore- I prefer classical an empty line between paragraphs without indentation
music now. Do you remember Tony Gibbs? He’s on the same course as me and - the 1st paragraph should lead in the topic; starting examples:
guess what- we’re going out together! -
Well, I must finish now because I’ve got an exam tomorrow. Write back - Thanks for your letter./ I’ve just received your letter and I’m writing at
soon and tell me all your news. once because….
All the best, - I’m sorry I haven’t written for a while but I’ve been very busy.
- Sorry for not writing so long.
Ruth
- It was great to hear from you again.
- Thank you very much for answering my last letter so quickly.
P.S. John Austin says hi.
- use short forms like “I’m”, “don’t”, etc.
- exclamation marks are also possible to give emphasise
Closing Post Script
- ask questions to motivate an answer
- always necessary - not necessary - the last paragraph should close the topic; examples:
- Examples:
Lots of love, - I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Love, - I hope to see you soon.
Yours, - I’ve no more news at the moment.
All the best, - I hope to have a letter from you soon.
Take care, - Write me and let me know how you are getting on.
Best regards, - I must end now but I’ll write a longer letter next time.
- I can’t think of anything else to write about at the moment.
- Bye for now. Take care and write me soon.
- Well, that’s all for now.
 Useful Expressions 1 Look at the phrases and match them with a purpose.

Saying thank you

• I’m just writing to thank you for…….
• It was very kind of you to …… That reminds me,... • to finish the letter
• Thanks very much for…… Why don't we... • to apologize
• I am very grateful for… I'd better get going... • to thank the person for writing
Thanks for your letter... • to begin the letter
Giving advice Please let me know... • to change the subject
• Well, if I were you, I would…… I'm really sorry... • to ask a favor
• Have you thought about…….? Love, • before signing the letter
• In your last letter you said you were’t sure what to do about….. Could you do something for me? • to suggest or invite
• I think you should/shouldn’t…… Write soon... • to ask for a reply
• In your last letter you asked me about…. Did you know that.. • to ask for a response
I'm happy to hear that...
• to share some information
Good news
• I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that…….
• I feel sure that you’ll be interested to know that….
• By the way, did you know that…….?
• You’ll never guess what happened!
• I’m really glad/ happy to hear about…
• I was very happy to read that…

Bad news
• I’m sorry to tell you that…….
• Bad news, I’m afraid.
• I’m extremely sorry to hear/read that…
• It’s so sad to hear/read about…

Asking for help

• I wonder if you could help me.
• I hope it’s not too much to ask but……
• I wonder if I could ask you a favour.Could you……?

Apologising
• I’m writing to say sorry (for……)
• I would like to apologise for……..
• I’m so sorry that…