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FORMAL LETTERS

Professionally written letters are known as formal letters. These letters are written in a formal tone and adhere to a specific format. There are some pre-defined set of rules that people follow while writing these letters. Information in these kinds of letters is to point. These letters are written to the head of a department, principal of school or college, company’s manager.

Reasons for writing a formal letter can be the following:

Application for sick leave

Job offer letters

Complaint letters

Appointment letters

Circular letter

 

FORMAT OF FORMAL LETTER

Sender’s Address

The sender’s address is written on the top left-hand corner of a page. The address should be written correctly, then only the receiver of the letter will be able to get in touch with you in case they want to.

 

Date

Just below the sender’s address, a date has to be written. Do not use abbreviations for writing the month. Since formal letters may be used as a potential record, it is critical to include a date.

 

Receiver’s Address

Below the date, write the address of the person to whom you are writing the letter. Also, make sure to write the receiver’s official title/name/position, and so on.

 

Greetings/ Salutation

Skip one line and then start with your greeting. Generally used salutations are “Sir” or ” Madam”. Always remember in these letters you don’t address the person with his/her first name. Full name should be used. If you know the recipient’s name then use ”Mrs. Abc” or ” Mr. Abc”. If you don’t know the recipient’s gender, in such a case use their job title followed by the recipient’s name.

 

Subject

It is written just below the greetings, on the center of the page. It helps the receiver to know what the letter is all about. Generally, it is of one line.

 

Body

Now, comes the main content of the letter. Here, you state what is the purpose of writing the letter. Use only professional language. Keep your sentences short, clear, and brief enough that you can convey the message to the other person. Information stated here should be to the point. The body generally consists of 3 parts:

1) Introductory part

2) Middle part that is; where you describe your purpose of writing the letter. Support the purpose with some facts.

3) Conclusion: here, you write about what do you expect from the other person, the actions you expect from the other person.

 

Closing of letter

Here we do the closing of the letter by using some specific words, like ” yours faithfully” or ” yours sincerely”. The first letter of the closing should be capitalized and put a comma there.

 

Signature

Sign your full name. Just below your Signature, write your full name in the block letters in the bracket. It is done so that the recipient can know who is sending the letter.

 

Enclosures

It is used when you have attached some document such as a resume with your letter then this can be shown by writing enclosures below the closing. In case, one has enclosed many documents in such a case one can list the name, so that receiver is aware of what all are documents are enclosed by you.