Formal Letter Writing

Writing a formal letter is a great way to engage people with a topic you are passionate about and to influence public opinion. These letters have set patterns and are generally written to to officials regarding serious issues. These letters can be written in a clear pattern and matter-of-fact style. The language should be kept simple without including any unnecessary expression.

Main Parts of a Formal Letter

Sender’s Address: A formal letter begins with the address of the sender. According to the latest format, the address is written at the left hand corner. Write the House number and Street number in the first line and the name of the city in the second line. While writing the address, you must not use ‘comma’ at the end of each line.
Date: Date should be written after leaving some space after sender’s address. Always write the date in full. For example 10th January, 20X.X.
Receiver’s Address: After the date, the address of the receiver is written.
Subject: After leaving some space, the subject of the letter should be written. It includes the main objective of the letter in the fewest possible words, yet clear in approach.
Salutation: Begin the letter in a formal manner by addressing the receiver as Sir/Madam.
The Body: The body or content of the letter consists of three main points : introduction, content and conclusion.
Complimentary Close: The letter ends in a formal manner by using yours sincerely or yours truly. The letter ‘Y’ of ‘Yours’ is always capital.
Name: It is mentioned just below the ‘Complimentary Close’ and includes sender’s name. One must try to write the name in full (along with surname) in a formal letter.

Formal Letter Format

Senders’ Address

Date

Receivers’ Address

Subject: _______________________________

Sir/Madam

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Body___________________________________________________________________________________________________________