LETTERS

letters
 LETTER WRITING
• Letter writing: this is the art of expressing yourself to someone you know, or you
do not know, on a piece of paper

• A letter is a written message conveyed from one person to another. There are two
types of letters:
• Informal letter
• Formal letter
 FORMAL LETTER
1) What is a formal letter
2) Types of formal letters
3) Format and Sample of formal letter
4) Sample question
 TYPES OF FORMAL LETTERS
Formal letters are official letters written to people in their official capacity or written to a firm
• Letter of Enquiry: For collecting information or details regarding a course/product/services, etc. from
a certain institution/business/organisation
• Order Letter: Written by a buyer to place an order for certain products they need to buy from the
seller.
• Letter of Complaint: As a formal letter of a complaint regarding a certain product/service, a
complaint letter is addressed to the seller and generally includes the details regarding the lack of
quality/quantity and the like.
• Reply to a Letter of Complaint: Written by the seller in reply to the buyer’s letter of complaint, this
letter commonly includes a clarification or an apology for the buyer’s complaint.
• Promotion Letter: For promotion or advertisements of certain products or services to the customers.
• Sales Letters: Mainly curated for sales promotions, a sales letter is sent by a business to its customers
to familiarise them with their products and services.
• Recovery Letters: Written by a business in order to recover their money from the customers who
haven’t paid for their products or services.
FORMAL LETTER SAMPLE
1.Your address:  Your address should
be displayed in the top left-hand
section. This will enable the person
that you are writing to, to reply.
2.Date :This should be displayed on
the left-hand side of the page on the
line beneath your address and should
be written in full format: e.g. 1st
January 2001
3.Reciever’s address:This address
should be displayed beneath your
address on the left-hand side,
remember to include the name of the
4. Salutations:Dear Sir/madam,If you do not know the name of the person that
you are writing to, use the greeting “Dear Sirs,”. In some circumstances it is
useful to find a name, especially if you are making a request as this will show that
you have done your homework and you are more likely to receive a response.
5. Subject reference: Contains the subject matter.
6. Complementary close :Yours faithfully, If you do not know the name of
the person, conclude with “Yours faithfully,”
1) .2) Yours sincerely, If you know the name of the person, conclude with “Yours
sincerely,”
7. Your signature
• Sign your name, then print it underneath the signature. If it is potentially unclear
what your title would be then include this in brackets next to your printed name
CONTENT/SUBJECT
 INFORMAL LETTER
1) What is it ?
• Informal letter writing is one of the social writings. These letters are written to friends, family
members, acquaintances, and cohorts…
• There could be many topics to write informal letters:
• Inviting a friend for a ceremony say for a birthday
• Calling a friend for a trip or holiday
• Asking sorry or apologizing to someone for mistakes you have done
• Congratulating a friend for his success or achievement
• Writing just to ask for the well-being of a person
• Invitation for a marriage
• Asking help from someone
• Informing about someone’s demise in family or friends
• Apart from the above-given reasons, there could be many other reasons for which we can write
an informal letter.
INFORMAL LETTER SAMPLE
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORMAL AND
INFORMAL LETTERS
When it comes to writing in English, there are two main styles of writing – formal and informal. Consider these
two examples:
Example 1: This is to inform you that your book has been rejected by our publishing company as it was not up to
the required standard. In case you would like us to reconsider it, we would suggest that you go over it and make
some necessary changes.
Example 2: You know that book I wrote? Well, the publishing company rejected it. They thought it was awful.
But hey, I did the best I could, and I think it was great. I’m not gonna redo it the way they said I should.
The purpose of writing an informal letter is totally different from the purpose of a formal letter.
The content of the two styles is also different.
The style of greeting and addressing the letter is different.
Slang and colloquial words can be used in an informal letter but not in a formal letter
DIFFERENCE IN FORMAT
Difference in content
SAMPLE QUESTIONS