LETTER-WRITING ( FORMAL )

Every educated person should know how to write a clear and readable letter. Everyone
has sometimes to write bussiness letters of some sort, and may have to face the problem
of writing an important letter that will vitally affect his interests in life. The art of letterwriting
is, therefore, no mere ornamental accomplishment, but something that every
educated person must acquire for practical reasons


1. THE FORM OF LETTERS
Letters are messages, and certain letter-forms have been established by experience and
custom as the most useful forms learned and used by every letter-writer, for neglect of
them is a sign of ignorance and carelessness.
There are several different kinds of letters (such as friendly letters, business letters, etc.)
each of which has its own particular form; but there are certain matters of form which
apply to all, and these may be explained first.
In all kinds of letters there are six points of form to be attended to, namely:-
1. The Heading consisting of (a) the writer's address and (b) the date.
2. The courteous Greeting or Salutation.
3. The Communication or Message-The body of the letter.
4. The subscription, or couteous Leave – talking, or conclusion.

5. The Signature.
6. The Superscription en the envelope


1. The HEADING:- This informs the reader where you wrote the letter, and when. The
where, (which should be the writer's full postal address) gives the address to which the
reader may reply; and the when is for reference, as it gives him the date on which you
wrote.
The position of the heading is the top right-hand corner of the first page-the address
above and the date just below it. The heading and the date may alternatively go on the
left.
24 Poorvi Marg
New Delhi 110 057
10 October 2001
The date may be written in any of the following ways:
4 June 2001
4th June 2001
June 4, 2001
4-6-2001 -- To a British person this means the fourth of
4.6.2001 -- June; to an American it is the sixth of April.
4/6/2001 -- (Americans put the month before the day.)


2. SALUTATION or Greeting. The form of Greeting will depend upon the relation in
which you stand to the person to whom you are writing.
To members of your family, for example, it will be-
Dear Father, My dear Mother, Dear Uncle, Dear Hari, etc.
To friends, it will be-
Dear Shri Desai, or Dear Desai, or Dear Ramchandra, etc.
To business people, it will be-
Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, etc.
[Full examples will be given for each kind of letter later.]
Note:- The use of the term Dear is purely formal, and is a mere polite expression, not
necessarily implying any special affection.
The position of the Salutation is at the left-hand of the first page, at a lower level than the
Heading.

3. The COMMUNICATION or Body of the letter:- This is, of course, the letter itself, and
the style in which it is written will depend upon the kind of letter you wish to write. The
style of a letter to anintimate friend will be very different from that of a purely businessletter or an official communication. But a few hints that apply to all letters are given
below.
(a) Divide your letter (unless it is very short) into paragraphs, to mark changes of
Subject-matter, etc.
(b) Use simple and direct language and short sentences. Do not try to be eloquent, and
drag in long words, just because they are long words. Be clear about what you want to
say, and say it as directly as possible.
(c) Try to be complete. It is a sign of slovenly thinking when you have to add postscripts
at the end of a letter. Think out what you want to say before you begin to write; and put
down your points in some: logical order.
(d) Write neatly. Remember that your correspondent has to read what you write, and do
not give him unnecessary trouble with bad penmenship and slovenly writing.

(e) Mind your punctuation, and put in commas and semicolons and full stops in their
proper places. Incorrect punctuation may alter the whole meaning of a sentence.


4. The SUBSCRIPTION or courteous Leave-taking:- A letter must not end abruptly,
simply with the writer's name. This would look rude. So certain forms of polite leavetaking
are prescribed. Such as:-
Yours sincerely, Your sincere friend, Yours faithfully, etc.
[Different leave-taking forms are used in different kinds of letters, and these will be given
under their proper heads.]
The subscription, or Leave-taking phrase, must be written below the last words of the
letter, and to the right side of the page. This is the traditional method. Note that today
there is a growing tendency to place the subscription on the left side.
Note:- The first word of the Subscription must begin with a capital letter; e.g.,
Sincerely yours


5. The SIGNATURE or name of the writer:- This must come below the Subscription.
Thus :
Yours sincerely,
K.R. Deshpande
In letters to strangers, the signature should be clearly written, so that the reader may
know whom to address in reply.
A woman should prefix to the name Miss or Mrs (or: Kumari or Smt) in brackets. Ms can
be used by a woman who does not wish to be called Miss or Mrs.
Yours faithfully,
(Mrs.) J.L. Desai


6. The address on the envelope (or postcard): The address on the envelope or postcard
should be written clearly, like this:
Postage Stamp
MrB.N.Joshi
96 Hill Road
Bandra
Mumbai 400050

EXAMPLE

                                                                                                              16 North Usman Road
                                                                                                              Chennai 600 017
                                                                                                              4 October 2001
Dear Sir,
I shall be much obliged if you send me as soon as possible the books which I ordered a
week ago.
                                                                                                               Yours faithfully,
                                                                                                                  Abdul Ghani