Letter Writing
Introduction busine ss corre sponde nce . It me ans that all
redundancy, be it a quotation, an illustration, an
Of all forms of writing, letter writing can be the elaboration, in short, padding of any kind, must be
most challenging as well as rewarding. Challenging, avoided at all costs.
because in every letter you write you are on trial, for
it is your whole personality and character that get Accuracy
revealed in it. And rewarding, because nothing can
give more satisfaction than the feeling of achievement Avoidance of redundancy helps achieve accuracy of
born of successful communication without face-to- statement. For, much unwanted language in letters
face interaction. Good letter writing, therefore, is what is the direct result of inaccurate and inconsistent
everyone must learn. thoughts and statements. A little care, particularly
Writing letters is both an art and a technique. The habitual revision of what one has written, will go a
latter can be mastered through adherence to formal long way towards making writing accurate.
conventions; the former has got to be cultivated with
care and deep personal interest. Letters can be of Courtesy
many types. But some general principles can be laid As remarked earlier, a letter reveals its writers
down which would apply to all of them. We might call personality and character. Since there is always a you
them the essentials of a good letter. They are as in every letter, it is necessary that this you or the
follows: addressee be shown all the courtesy and respect that
language can express. Even when a complaint is lodged
Knowing What to Say or a statement or application rejected, care should be
Nothing is more harmful to good communication taken that it is couched in polite and civilised language.
than muddle-headedness resulting in not being able It is worth remembering that while courtesy costs
to make ones point. Before writing a letter one should nothing, there is hardly anything more abrasive than
be sure of what one wants to say and accordingly one impolite language.
should be in command of all the necessary facts and
information arranged logically and systematically.
Good Looks
Finally, a letter must be a visual attraction to the
Clarity reader. It can displease either through wrong spelling
and punctuation or bad writing and typing. These are
Knowing what one wants to say is not enough
not matters merely of form as even a well-thought-
unless one says it in as clear a language as possible.
out letter, rich in ideas and having all the qualities of
Here comes the importance of the right word and the
clarity, brevity, accuracy and courtesy may not only
right expression put in a sentence constructed neatly
fail to make proper impact on the reader, but may
and with precision. It should, however, be remembered
even defeat its purpose by causing him unnecessary
that right words and right expressions become relevant
annoyance.
only when they occur in the right place. Thus emotional
and even flowery language may be apposite to a
Parts of Letter
personal letter but it will be completely out of place
in a business letter. A letter consists of several parts that are given below:
1. The Heading consisting of (a) the writers address
Brevity and (b) the date.
2. The courteous Greeting or Salutation.
A few generations ago, when man enjoyed unlimited
3. The Communication of Message - The body of the
space and time, prolixity in language would not have
letter.
be e n unwe lcome , at le ast in ce rtain kinds of
4. The Subscription, or courteous Leave-taking, or
correspondence. In the modern age, however, addition
Conclusion.
of even one extra word will cost time and energy most
5. The Signature.
people will like to avoid. It is all the more true of
6. The Superscription on the envelope.
1. The Heading: This informs the reader where you (a) Divide your letter (unless it is very short) into
wrote the letter, and when. The where (which should paragraphs, to mark changes of subject matter,
be the writers full postal address) gives the address etc.
to which the reader may reply; and the when is for (b) Use simple and direct language and short sentences.
reference, as it gives him the date on which you wrote. Do not try to be eloquent, and drag in long words,
Traditionally, this Heading was written on the right just because they are long words. Be clear about
hand side top corner of the paper. But these days, the what you want to say, and say it as directly as
Heading is begun with the top left corner of the paper possible.
without any indenting (ie space), like (c) Try to be complete. It is a sign of slovenly thinking
when you have to add postscripts at the end of a
Traditional mode -------------------> letter. Think out what you want to say before you
215 C, Upper Ridge Road, begin to write; and put down your points in some
New Delhi. logical order.
15th January, 20XX (d) Write neatly. Remember that your correspondent
215 C, Upper Ridge Road, <--------- Current has to read what you write, and do not give him
mode unnecessary trouble with bad penmanship and
New Delhi slovenly writing.
15th January, 20XX (e) Mind your punctuation, and put in commas and
semicolons and fullstops in their proper places.
Note: The date may be written in any of the following Incorre ct punctuation may alte r the whole
meaning of a sentence.
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ways:
The beginning of the letter must be attractive and
Date inviting with proper protocol or decorum, like
(a) 25th October, 20XX I am in receipt of your letter ....
(b) October 25, 20XX It gives me immense pleasure to .....
(c) October 25th, 20XX I am glad to write ......
(d) 25 October, 20XX I got your letter yesterday ......
I was pained to know/learn ......
But here we follow the first one. It has been long since we/I heard from you.....
2. Salutation or Greeting: Salutation is given on The ending of personal letter should be with proper
the left top corner just below the address of the writer wishes. In official letters, the ending is usually with
of the letter, without any indenting. Salutation is the hope of the completing of the work or with thanks
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different in different kinds of letters. etc.
Personal Letters
I. Personal Letters Your loving son/daughter/brother etc.
With warm regards.
(a) To Relatives: My Dear Father/Dear Father/My Dear
With best wishes.
Brother/Dear Mother/Dear Uncle/Dear Arun etc.
Hoping to hear/meet soon.
(b) To Friends: My Dear Anu/Dear Anu etc. (Never
Write soon. Bye.
write Dear Friend Anu/Dear Friend)
With kind regards.
(c) To Acquaintances: Dear Mr Gupta/Dear Miss
Seema/Dear Mrs Poonam/Dear Madan/Dear Sir
Business Letters
etc.
Thanking you.
(d) To Strangers: Sir/Madam etc.
Hoping to hear soon from you.
(e) To Principals/Headmasters/Teachers: Sir/Madam
Looking forward to.
etc.
Hoping to receive a favourable reply.
II. Business Letters Assuring you of our fullest cooperation.
In Business letters, if the letter is written to the 4. Subscription: Subscription is always determined
General Manager/Director etc of a company, we use by salutation. This is given at the left side after one
Dear Sir. If the letter is addressed to a firm as a whole, or two spaces of the closing of the body of the letter.
we use Dear Sirs/Gentlemen. This is usually given in the following manner.
3. The Communication or Body of the Letter: (a) To close relatives : Yours affe ctionate ly
This is, of course, the letter itself, and the style in Affectionately
which it is written will depend upon the kind of letter Yours/Your affection-
you wish to write. The style of a letter to an intimate ate son/daughter nep-
friend will be very different from that of a purely hew /cousi n/nie ce /
business letter or an official communication. But a br ot he r/ sis te r/ Yo ur
few hints that apply to all letters are given below: loving son etc.
(b) To friends/acquaintances : Yours sicerely/ 6. Address: Address of the addressee is usually
Sincerely yours given in three lines on the top left corner of the page.
(c) To strangers/officials/ : Yours faithfully/Yours This is added on the middle part of the envelope
firms truly/Truly yours/Sin- downside. The right top corner of the envelope is
cerely yours usually meant for postal stamp.
(d) To Principal/head- : Yours obediently/ The first line of the address has the name of the
master/teacher Yours sincerely/Yours person to whom the letter is being sent. In the second
faithfully line, House no./Street/Name of the locality etc is
Note: In applications, we use Sir/Madam as the case given. In the third line, the name of the city with
may be, and Yours obediently/Yours faithfully. District is given and thereafter the name of the state
If the salutation is Sir/Madam, we should close in which the city is situated. In the fourth line, PIN
the letter with Your obediently or Yours faithfully (Postal Index Number) is given in small boxes if it is
and not Yours truly. known to the writer of the letter as given below:
5. Signature: Signature comes under subscription.
Mr PK Mishra
In personal letters we never append full signature.
45 M, University Road
Usually in them, only pet names are appended in
Aligarh, UP
signature form by which they are known, like:
Pin:
Anu, not Anupam
Dipu, not Dipender Be low are give n the formats of the le tte r
Sunni, not Kamlesh conventional and current. Students may understand
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Anupam Singh/Dipender Kumar/Kamlesh Kumari on their own and practise these for their usage.
with surname etc., if any, are never written as these
give out a shallow impression.
CONVENTIONAL FORMAT CURRENT FORMAT
__________________ __________________
________________ __________________
Heading/Address
______________ __________________
____________ __________________
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_________________
______________
___________
________
_________________
_______
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
Date
Inside Address
(of the Addressee)
Greeting
__________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________ ____________________________________________
____________________________________________ ____________________________________________
____________________________________________ ____________________________________________
____________________________________________ Body ____________________________________________
____________________________________________ ____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________ Complementary close
______________
______________ ______________
______________ Signature ______________
Kinds of Letters letters to editors.
The use of first names is best avoided in business
Mainly letters are of four kinds: letters, e xcept perhaps when correspondence is
(a) Personal or Private Letters: These are written between people who are very informal and of equal
to brothers, sisters, friends, relatives etc. These status. It is, however, not uncommon to address
include letters of invitations also, written formally people by name (for example Dear Mr Sharma, Dear Miss
or informally. Nayyar), especially when the writer and receiver are
(b) Business Letters: These letters are written to already known to each other and when they want to
Business Houses, Companies, Newspapers, Banks strike a friendly and polite note.
etc. on purely business matters.
(c) Official Letters: These letters are written to 3. Yours sincerely or Yours faithfully?
officials. Applications for jobs fall under this When the salutation is Dear Sir(s) or Dear Madam the
category. subscription is: Yours faithfully. Yours sincerely is used
(d) Letters to the Editor: These are usually written when someone is addressed by name (for example,
to the Editors of Newspapers concerning local Dear Mr Sharma; Dear Miss Nayyar).
problems, generally official in nature or concerning
public interest. 4. (Mrs), (Miss), (Ms)?
If the writer is a lady the signature cannot merely be
Presentation her name (for example Madhu, Rani, etc.) Mrs, Miss
or Ms (title for a woman who does not wish to call
There is an aesthetics of letter writing which must be
herself either Mrs. Or Miss) should be mentioned
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paid due attention to, both in handwritten and typed
before or after the name so that the replies are
letters. For the same reason various parts of the letter
appropriately addressed.
should be suitably and attractively spaced. Likewise,
a long letter is best divided into paragraphs instead
Some important matters of usage are:
of being written in one almost unending paragraph.
Some points to note are: 1. As a follow-up to previous correspondence there
may be a choice between (This is) in continuation of
1. Use of Headings
my/our letter of .... (date) and further to my/our letter
It is often regarded as a mark of unfriendliness and of .... (date). The latter is a bit old-fashioned but
coldne ss to use he adings in le tte rs writte n to more economical.
individuals. However, they are perfectly justified and 2. In making requests or asking for information it is
even desirable in correspondence between and within best to avoid direct questions (for example, How
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firms, specially if it is lengthy. soon do you intend to open a new account?).
Headings are often used in Pleasanter ways of doing the same would be:
I/We should be grateful if you would .... perhaps
(a) letters between companies, especially for a series you would be kind enough to tell us ....
of letters on the same subject. 3. A useful way of referring to a point made in the
(b) letters between the departments of a company. letter received is: We note from your letter of ...
(c) letters from firms, government departments, (date).
associations, e tc to private individuals, for 4. Any unpleasant suggestion is best introduced
example, in circular letters and in final demands indirectly, for example: We are wondering whether
for payment. ... (as in We are wondering whether you have
2. Dear Sir or Dear Sirs? overlooked an important point in our proposal).
5. Good or bad feelings are best expressed as:
Dear Sir or Dear Madam is used when the addressee We are pleased to learn that ...
is just one person (for example, Mr Sharma; The We are sorry to hear that ...
Personnel Manager, Life Insurance Corporation; The 6. Remember the combinations:
Secretary, Rotary Club, New Delhi, West). Dear Sirs Place an order with someone for something. Write
is used when the addressee is a whole firm or any a cheque for Rs 1,000,000. Cheques should be
other group of people. But Sir alone is often used in made out to BSC Publishing Co.
