How to write a formal letter
Currently, all formal documents characterized by the use of block structure. It is believed that this corresponds to contemporary business style. This style makes you save time, and secondly, you maintain a uniform formal letter format for all business documents.
Block structure means that the formal letter can be divided into separate blocks: Date, Address, Title, Salutation, Ending etc. Clearly defined block structure makes it easy to compose the letter, and to quickly orientate in the flow of business correspondence.
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Striking feature of formal letters style is open punctuation, i.e., no unnecessary periods and commas. This makes the structure of writing more clear and transparent.
Formal letter head
Date
Date should be full. There are two existing formats: day/month/year or month/day/year. For example, 16 May 1997 or September 13, 2009
How to write a formal letter
Address
The name and address of the consignee must be on different lines. You need to specify exactly how the recipient signs his letters. For example, if it is John Drumster, there is a need in adding Mr in front of the name, not Mr J Drumster.
Greeting
If you indicated the recipient’s name in the email address (not just company name), there is a need to begin the letter with a personal greeting. If the letter is addressed to the organization, not a specific person, you should use a more formal greeting, for example, Dear Sirs.
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Now, it seems to me that you know more how to write a formal letter?
The ending
How to write a formal letter
Formal letter is written using a polite ending. The most common endings are: Yours faithfully (needs to be used only in conjunction with an appeal Dear Sir/Sirs/Sir or Madam) and Yours sincerely (used in combination with personal references).
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After ending you need to skip 4-5 lines to leave some space for the signature. You can write the sender’s name in capital letters (i.e., using upper case) or use upper case only for the first letters. The sender’s position (or Department name) must be specified directly underneath the name. Bear in mind that Mr is used if the letter writer is man. But if the author is female you should write – Mrs.
Copies
If you need to send a copy of the letter to a third party it can be specified using of the abbreviation cc (copy circulated or courtesy copy). If copies are needed to be sent to two or more recipients, usually it is needed to list them in alphabetical order.
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