FORMAL LETTER WRITING

 How to write a formal letter

With the advent of email, it is becoming less and less common to write letters, but the few letters that you will write will probably be very important ones, such as covering letters for job applications, covering letters for questionnaires or surveys which are part of your research, or letters of complaint to your bank manager.

It is very important, therefore, that your letters have the desired effect on the reader. In order to achieve this, they should be:

 in the correct format

 short and to the point

 relevant

 free of any grammatical or spelling mistakes

      polite, even if you’re complaining

      well presented

This guide will give some general advice on letter writing.

1 Your address, but not your name, usually goes in the top right hand corner. You would not
usually include your telephone number or email address here.

2 The name and address of the person you’re writing to goes below this, on the left. If
you don’t have a specific name, always at least try to put some sort of title. You
should always, however, address the letter to a particular person if at all possible.

3 The  date can go on the  right, usually below
the addressee details. The format of the date is also flexible; it could be written
5 April 2003, 5th April 2003, 5/4/03 or 05/04/03. Avoid putting the day and month the
other way round.

4 The salutation at the beginning of the letter depends on whether or not you have the
name of the person.

If you don’t know the name of the person, you would traditionally write Dear Sir. So many people prefer Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Sir or Madam.

The ending of the letter depends on how you have started: see below.

5 It is common now to put the subject of the letter directly below the salutation. This
would be in bold or underlined. The purpose is to give the reader an idea of what the
letter is about before reading it, and to be able to pass it on to a more appropriate
person if necessary.

6 The content of your letter should be as short as possible, divided into short, clear
paragraphs.

7 To end the letter, you would normally write Yours sincerely if you have started the
letter with the name of the person, or Yours faithfully if you have started with
something like Dear Sir.

8 Sign you name directly below this and then print it below the signature. When you attempt this letter in your paper use abbreviations. For example – ABC or DEF. This is mainly to be done so that you don’t disclose your identity.

Be concise and relevant

The person you are writing to may be deluged with letters and if yours is 3 sides of dense text, then there is every possibility it will end up in the bin. Letters should take seconds rather than minutes to read.

As a result, get straight to the point and stick to it, don’t include any unnecessary or supplementary information, don’t use any flowery language or long words just for the sake of it, and don’t repeat too much information which may already be included .

Check your grammar and spelling very carefully

Mistakes will create a very bad impression, will lessen the effect of what you’re saying.

check the spelling yourself.

 check your grammar carefully. If it’s been pointed out to you that you make
   mistakes, look especially for these kinds of errors.

 check your sentences and punctuation. Are the sentences complete? Does the
   punctuation help to make what you’re saying clearer?

Don’t rush the letter; many mistakes occur because of this. Allow plenty of time for checking, and if necessary.

Use the right tone of language

It’s important to use the right type of language. Most letters you write will need to be formal, but not overly so. In fact, you should use similar language to that which you use in your academic writing. This means you should:-

 avoid everyday, colloquial language; slang or jargon

 avoid contractions (I’m; it’// etc)

 avoid emotive, subjective language (terrible, rubbish etc)

 avoid vague words such as nice, good, get etc.

You should always be polite and respectful, even if complaining. One way of doing this in English, which is common in formal letter writing, is to use verbs such as would, could and should. Instead of simply writing Please send me, you could express this more formally as I would be grateful if you coul

Make sure the letter is well presented

Centre for Academic Success 
City North : 0121 331