Writing Letters
This general form of a
business letter can be used to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper to
express your opinion about something you read in the newspaper, to write to a
business to request help about a product that you bought from them, or to write
to the Principal of your school to complain about how much homework your teacher
assigns.
If you click on the highlighted part of the letter in the left hand column, you can get additional information about this part of the letter.
| Heading (Your Address) |
236 Astral Drive Dartmouth, NS, B2V 1B8 March 22, 2004
Editor Halifax Herald Limited 1650 Argyle Street, P. O. Box 610 Halifax, NS, B3J 2T2
Dear Editor:
I do not agree with your March 16th story about School Uniforms. I have gone to schools where uniforms were mandatory, and I have gone to schools where we did not have to wear anything special. I think that schools do have to have a general dress code, or some students might wear clothes that would be inappropriate, but most students are very responsible and reasonable in what they wear. If students all have to wear the same uniforms, they will find some other way to express their individuality, and this might be worse than the different clothes they might wear.
I think that schools should allow students to express their individual taste in clothes by letting them wear the clothes that they like.
Sincerely,
Joe Smith
Joe Smith
|
| Inside Address (The Name and address of who you are writing to) | |
| Salutation | |
| Body (The main part of your Letter - What you want to say) | |
| Closing | |
| Signature | |
| Your Name | |
The Heading consists of your address and the date. The heading normally is about 2 - 3 cm from the top of the page. It can be either on the left or right side of the page depending on the "Format" used.
The inside address contains the name and the address of the person you are writing to. It usually appears four lines below the Heading. and it is always on the left side.
It is up to you whether or not you include Mr., Ms., Dr., etc before the name.
If the person has a title (Vice President, Principal, Editor, etc) it should be included after the name separated by a comma.
If the letter is being sent to the person where they work, the name of the company should be included on a separate line.
Mrs. Haley, Principal Astral Drive Elementary School 236 Astral Drive Dartmouth, NS, B2V 1B8
The most common salutation, or greeting, for a business letter is Dear followed by the word Mr., Ms., Mrs., or Miss. Next of course is the person's name. All the words in the salutation should start with a capital letter.
Dear Mrs. Haley
Dear Mr. Hill
If you are writing to a company instead of a person, you should use a salutation such as these:
To Whom It May Concern:
Dear Sir or Madam:
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
The body of your letter is where you get to say what you want the person to read. Generally begin with a brief greeting, then state your ideas, opinions, or anything else you need to say, and then end with a thank-you if necessary.
Get to the point - After a brief greeting, get to business. Don't waste time with small talk, the person is probably busy, and will take your letter more serious if you state your opinion quickly and simply.
Don't use slang, and try to avoid contractions - Business letters are usually formal, and the person you are writing to will take you more serious if you use all those grammar rules Mr. Hill has been teaching you.
Even though it is a business Letter, don't be TOO formal - You do still want to sound like you.
The closing is the ending of your letter. It normally appears in the bottom left corner, directly under the body. Only the first word is capitalized, and it is followed by a coma.
Some typical closings are:
Truly yours and Yours truly are the most common closings.
Sincerely and Sincerely yours are less formal and better to use if you know the person.
Respectfully yours is used only for important officials.
The signature is your full name signed. Your signature should appear directly under the closing. It shouls always be written in ink (Not Pencil or pink marker). Under your written signature, write print, or type your name the same way it appears in your signature. That way if your signature is a impossibly hard to read as mine is, the reader can read your name.