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What is Letter?
Letter is a mean of communication, that contains a text message, which can be handwritten, typed or printed, sent by one person to another, via email or post, so as to inform, complain, report, enquire or request something.
IMPORTANCE OF LETTER:
1- Letters represent your company’s public image and your competence
- Letters are more personal than a report, yet more formal than memos or e-mail
- Letters are more permanent than e-mail
- Letters constitute an official legal record of an agreement
- Letters follow up on telephone calls and other types of oral communications
- Letters provide a wide range of corporate information
- Letters can support action
- Letters sell
- Letters are efficient for targeted mass mailings
There are two types of letter writing:
1- Formal letter writing.
2- Informal letter writing.
Formal letter writing:
Formal letters refers to the letters written in a professional language and follow a prescribed format. These letters avoid unnecessary details and directly address the point for which the letter is written. They can shape others' perceptions of you, inform the reader of a serious issue, or get you a job. Formal letters are basically business letters.
Parts of Business letter:
1. Your Address : (Not needed if the letter is printed on
paper with the company letterhead already on it.): The return address of the sender of the letter so the recipient can easily find out where to send a reply to. Skip a line between your address and the date.
2. Date : Put the date on which the letter was written in the
format Month Day Year i.e. August 30, 2003. Skip a line between the date and the inside address (some people skip 3 or 4 lines after the date).
3. Inside Address : The address of the person you are
writing to along with the name of the recipient, their title and company name, if you are not sure who the letter should be
9. Printed Name : The printed version of your name, and if
desired you can put your title or position on the line underneath it. Skip a line between the printed name and the enclosure.
10. Enclosure : If letter contains other document other than
the letter itself your letter will include the word "Enclosure." If there is more than one you would type, "Enclosures (#)" with the
being the number of other documents enclosed that doesn't
include the letter itself.
11. Reference Initials : If someone other than yourself
typed the letter you will include your initials in capital letters followed by the typist's initials in lower case in the following format; AG/gs or AG:gs.
Format of formal letter:
Points to remember:
Avoid the use of unnecessary words. Language should be polite. Free from grammatical mistakes. Formal standard English is used. Sentences must be precise and straight to the point. Date format should be like november 3, 2020 and not 03/11/
Parts of informal letter writing:
1. The Heading. This includes the address, line by line, with the last line giving date. Skip a line after the heading. The heading is indented to the right side of the page. If using preaddressed stationery, add just the date. 2. The Greeting. The greeting always ends with a comma. The greeting may be formal, beginning with the word "dear" and using the person's given name or relationship, or it may be informal if appropriate Formal: Dear Uncle Jim, Dear Mr. Wilkins, Informal: Hi Joe, 3. The body. Also known as the main text. This includes the message you want to write. Normally in a friendly letter, the beginning of paragraphs is indented. If not indented, be sure to skip a space between paragraphs. Skip a line after the greeting and before the close. 4. The complimentary close. This short expression is always a few words on a single line. It ends in a comma. It should be indented to the same column as the heading. Skip one to three spaces (two is usual) for the signature line 5. The signature line. Type or print your name. The handwritten signature goes above this line and below the close. The signature line and the handwritten signature are indented to the same column as the close. The signature should be written in blue or black ink. If the letter is quite informal, you may omit the signature line as long as you sign the letter.
6-Postscript (optional). If your letter contains a postscript, begin it with P.S. and write the message. Skip a line after the signature line to begin the postscript (P.S. will be written on the left side of the page).
Format of informal letters:
Difference between formal and informal letter writing:
