Informal Letters

Informal Letters

Purpose

- communication between two people who are usually familiar to each other

- topic on a personal level (introduction, personal report, invitation, etc.)

Sample Letter

56 Shamrock Avenue

Dublin, Ireland

24 October

Dear Laura,

This is Ruth Parker. Remember me? We used to be friends in primary school. We haven’t seen each other for about 10 years- right?

Anyway, how are you? I’ve got your address from Debbie Turner. I hope you don’t mind. What are you doing now? Are you working? You always wanted to be a police officer!

At the moment I’m studying medicine at the university here. I think I’ve changed a lot over the years. I’m not fond of heavy metal anymore- I prefer classical music now. Do you remember Tony Gibbs? He’s on the same course as me and guess what- we’re going out together!

Well, I must finish now because I’ve got an exam tomorrow. Write back soon and tell me all your news.

All the best,

Ruth

P.S. John Austin says hi.

Closing Post Script

- always necessary - not necessary

- Examples:

Lots of love,

Love,

Yours,

All the best,

Take care,

Best regards,

Address

- not always necessary

- has to be youraddress (address of the addressee in not needed)

- no name is needed

Date

- always necessary

- quite free format, e.g. 24 October 2011

24^th October

Monday, 24 October

Salutation

- always necessary

- Dear …,

Hi …,

Hello …,

Body

- has to be divided into paragraphs

- format of paragraphs: first line of each paragraph is indented or

an empty line between paragraphs without indentation

- the 1^st paragraph should lead in the topic; starting examples:

- Thanks for your letter./ I’ve just received your letter and I’m writing at

once because….

- I’m sorry I haven’t written for a while but I’ve been very busy.

- Sorry for not writing so long.

- It was great to hear from you again.

- Thank you very much for answering my last letter so quickly.

- use short forms like “I’m”, “don’t”, etc.

- exclamation marks are also possible to give emphasise

- ask questions to motivate an answer

- the last paragraph should close the topic; examples:

- I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

- I hope to see you soon.

- I’ve no more news at the moment.

- I hope to have a letter from you soon.

- Write me and let me know how you are getting on.

- 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

That reminds me,... Why don't we... I'd better get going... Thanks for your letter... Please let me know... I'm really sorry... Love, Could you do something for me? Write soon... Did you know that.. I'm happy to hear that...

· to finish the letter · to apologize · to thank the person for writing · to begin the letter · to change the subject · to ask a favor · before signing the letter · to suggest or invite · to ask for a reply · to ask for a response · to share some information

Saying thank you

· I’m just writing to thank you for…….

· It was very kind of you to ……

· Thanks very much for……

· I am very grateful for…

Giving advice