INTRODUCTION
EXAMS ESSAY LETTER PRECIS WEIGHTAGE
WRITING WRITING
SBI PO- MAINS ✓ ✓ NA 50 MARKS
RBI GRADE B ✓ ✓ ✓ 100 MARKS
PHASE II
IBPS PO- ✓ ✓ NA 25 MARKS
MAINS
LETTER
WRITING
FORMAL LETTERS INFORMAL LETTERS
written to a formal entity written to friends,
like bank manager, relatives, parents,
news editor, government siblings (brother/
officials, etc. sister)
How are Letters Evaluated?
Formal
Requirement
Development,
Content Structure and
Coherence
How are
essays
evaluated?
Vocabulary &
Grammar
Spelling
Components of Letter Format:
Writer’s Address:
The letter should have the writer’s address. This informs the recipient of the letter when and where the letter
was drafted by you. Also this gives a reference to the reader in case he plans to reply to your letter. The
commonly accepted position of the heading is at the top-left or right corner. The address should be in short
lines at the corner, each line beginning exactly from under the previous line. Each line should end with a
comma and the last line with a full-stop. This is common for both formal and informal letters.
Date: It is essential to mention the date at the end. E.g.: 19th July, 20XX.
In a formal letter, below the writer’s address, you are supposed to write the recipient’s address.
Subject Line:
It is absolutely imperative to write a subject in formal letters only.
Components of Letter Format:
Salutation:
An initial greeting or Salutation to the receiver of the letter: This contains the greeting to the reader. For e.g., if it’s a letter
to your Brother it will “Dear Brother”, if it’s an official letter to a bank manager it will be “Respected Sir” or “Dear Sir”. The
Salutation will be present below the heading.
Body of the Letter:
This is the main content of the letter, conveying the message to the reader. The style of writing will depend on the type of
letter (More of which is given below).
(i) It’s important to split the body of long letters to smaller paragraphs. Each paragraph can address one small portion of
the body. For e.g., the first paragraph might contain the background of the letter, the 2nd the course of action intended,
and a final closing paragraph.
(ii) Try to avoid long sentences. Be clear and concise in your letter.
(iii) Do not leave room for ambiguity. Try to be as complete as possible.
(iv) Be careful with punctuation. A wrong punctuation mark can change the meaning and tone of the letter.
Components of Letter Format:
The courteous ending and Signature:
On completing the body, it is important to have a courteous leave taking. These include “Yours Sincerely”,
“Yours faithfully” etc. This is present on the right/left corner below the body of the letter. Please make sure
that the ending starts with a Capital Case alphabet. Below this, a placeholder for your name is present.
Enclosure
If you have enclosed some documents with the letter (for ex, CV, Certificates etc), leave two spaces below
your name and write Enclosure/Enclosures. If you have enclosed more than one document, mention the
number in brackets. For example, if you have enclosed three documents, write- Enclosures (3)
WHAT DIFFERENCIATES AN INFORMAL LETTER
FROM A FORMAL ONE?
Letter Writing Topics
• Letter to the editor (formal) : Increase in selfies among youth
• Letter from a Principal to Parents (formal) : Importance of parents’ involvement in a
child’s education
• You have relocated to a new city. Write a letter to your Branch Manager for updating
your address details and transferring your bank account from PQR branch to XYZ
branch(formal).
• Write a letter to your sibling, advising him/her on the importance of exercising and yoga
for a healthy
life (informal)
• Letter to parents (informal) : New job in a new city and problem faced there.
