How To Write A Formal Letter In English

A formal writing is one thing that every organisation will ask for and for the same reason everyone should know how to write a formal letter. Formal letter writing should be taught to students from a young age itself so that they don’t have to depend on anyone else to write one when needed.

Formal letter examples for students are of many types. These should be given to students as a homework or assignment and they should be well versed in writing them.

What to Include in a Formal Letter

While writing a formal letter there are some standard inputs which must be present in them. These form the basic rule for any kind of formal letter, be it to a bank manager, to your teacher or principal, to the police inspector or to the editor of a newspaper.

Any formal letter will have a standard format with each element of the letter having a standard set location on the page. So, let us see the basic elements that are to be present in a formal letter and also the place where it should be written while you are writing a formal letter.

The sender’s address- the address of the sender is written at the top right-hand side. The address of the sender is the primary or the most important element of the formal letter or an informal letter. The recipient of the letter, be it formal or informal will first check the source of the letter, i.e. the person who has written the letter to him or her. After checking the source only, they would go into the main content and see the purpose why the sender has written the letter to them.

Include your contact number or email id if available. This is done so that the recipient of the letter has a way of getting back to you quickly to know his response, whether it is positive or negative, or what he feels about your letter rather than writing a letter back to the sender.

The address of the person to whom you are writing the letter is another important element in any formal or informal letter. The people who process your request of sending the letter on your behalf should know the destination or whose hands the letter should reach. The recipient’s address should be mentioned on the left side below of the page just below the sender’s address.

The Date: date is another important element in a letter. Be it formal or informal, a letter is written for a purpose. The person receiving it should know when the sender has written the letter. In formal cases, the person at the other end will surely be a busy person with certain responsibilities. The date is necessary for him to decide how quick he should take actions and set his priorities accordingly.

Greetings

While writing a formal letter, it is advisable to address them as “Respected Sir” or “Respected Madam”. Or you can simply address them as “Sir” or “Madam”.

Subject

A formal letter should always have the subject, i.e. the purpose of the letter in a single line. A busy person will first check the purpose of the letter before going in to the contents. Depending on the subject the person will decide on whether the letter has to read urgently or not. It will be better to write the subject within a line as no one will be interested in reading a long explanation of the problem in the subject.

Complimentary Closing with your Signature

Always end a formal letter with “Yours faithfully” or “Yours sincerely” followed by your signature
below the closing. Never give an apostrophe for “Yours” in the closing.

• Heading
• Inside Address
• Salutation
• Body
• Closing & Signature
• Be Crisp and come to the point directly
• Use a formal tone. Avoid any slang.
• Proofread the letter once you have written it.

Simple Formal Letter Formats Samples For Students

Conclusion

You have got an idea of how to write a formal letter now. Keep the mentioned points in your mind
while writing one. Follow them and you will not need any second person’s help in writing a formal
letter.

Originally published at www.everylasttemplate.com.