8 Letter Writing

Every educated person should know how to write clear and readable letter. Letter writing is the example of non-verbal communication. Every one has sometimes to write business letters of some sort, and may have to face the problem of writing a letter that will vitally affect his interests in life. The art of letter writing is, therefore, no more ornamental accomplishment, but something that every educated person must acquire for practical reasons.

Letters are messages, and certain letter forms have been established by experience and custom as the most useful forms learned and used by every letter writer, for neglect of them is sign of ignorance and carelessness.

There are six points of form to be attended, namely:

1. The heading consisting of (a)- The writer’s address. (b)- The date.2. Salutation.3. The body of letter.4. Conclusion.5. The signature.6. The superscription on the envelope.

1- The Heading: This informs the reader where you wrote the letter, and when. The where (which should be the writers full postal address) gives the writer’s full postal address where reader can reply; and when is for reference as it gives him the date on which you wrote.

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGICAL TRAINING MULTAN (PAKISTAN)

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The Form of Letters

The position of heading is the top right hand corner of first page. The address above and date just below it. The heading and date may go on left.24 Hall RoadLahore 110 05715-Jan-2009

2- Salutation or Greeting: The form of greeting will depend upon the relation in which you stand to the person you are writing.

To members of tour family it will be:Dear Father, My Dear Mother, Dear Uncle, etc.

To friends it will be:Dear friend, Dear Saim, etc.

To business people, it will be:Dear Sir, Dear Sirs, etc.

The position of salutation is at left hand of first page, lower than heading.

3- Body of Letter: This is of course the letter itself and the style in which it is written will depend upon the kind of letter you wish to write. The style of letter to an intimate friend will be very different from that of purely business letter or an official communication letter. But a few hints that apply to all letters are given below.


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Note: The use of the term Dear is purely formal, and is mere polite expression, not necessarily implying any special affection.

a) - Divide your letter (unless it is very short) into small paragraphs, to make changes of Subject-matter, etc.

b) - Use simple and direct language in short sentence. Don't try to be eloquent, and drag in long words, just they are long words. Be clear aboutwhat you want to say and say it directly as possibly.

c) - Try to be complete. It is a sign of slovenly thinking when you have to add post-scripts at the end of letter. Think out what you want to say before you begin to write; and put down your points in some logical order.

d) - Write neatly. Remember that your correspondent has to read what you write, and don't give him/her unnecessary trouble with bad penmanship and slovenly writing.

e) - Mind your punctuation, and put in commas and semicolons and full stops in their proper place. Incorrect punctuation may after the whole meaning of a sentence.

4- The Subscription: A letter must not end abruptly; simply with writer’s name. So certain forms of polite leaving are prescribed. Such as:Yours sincerely, Your Loving son, your sincere friend, Yours faithfully, etc.

{Different leave-taking forms are used in different kinds of letters, and these will be given under their proper heads.}

The subscription, or Leave-taking phrase, must be written below the last word of the letter, and to the right side of the page. This is the traditional method. Note that today there is a growing tendency to place the subscription on the left side


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5- The Signature: This must come below the subscription. Thus: Yours sincerely, K.R. Deshpande In letters to strangers, the signature should be clearly written, so that the reader may know whom to address in reply. A woman should prefix to the name Miss or Mrs. Ms can be used by the women who does not wish to be called Miss or Mrs.

Yours faithfully, (Mrs.) J.L. Desai

6- The address on the envelope:

The address on the envelope or post-card should be written clearly like this:


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Postage Stamp

AIR MAIL

S. Chand & Company Ltd.7361, Anarkali

Lahore – 110055(PAKISTAN)

To Sum up:In a writing letter, first write your address and under it the data in the top right-hand corner of the first page. You may alternatively write on the left. Then write the salutation (e.g., Respectable Sir) lower down at the left side of the page, beginning with a capital and putting a comma after it.Next begin your letter (with capital letter) on the next lower line, to the right of the salutation.At the end of the letter write the subscription, or words of leave-taking (e.g., yours sincerely), at right/left side of the page, with your signature below it.For example: Pak Arab Fertilizer Multan 24 December 2008,

Respected sir, I shall be much obliged if you send me as soon as possible the books which I ordered a week ago.

Yours faithfully,Iram Abass.

Letters are classified according to their different purposes. Thus:

a) - Social Letters or In-formal Letters; including Friendly Letters & Notes of Invitations. b) - Business Letters or Formal Letters; including Letters of Application, Letters of Government Officers & Letters to the Newspapers.


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Classification of Letters

a) - Social Letters: 1-Friendly Letters:

Letters to relatives and intimate friends should be written in an easy, conventional style. They are really of the nature of friendly chat; and being as a rule unpremeditated and spontaneous composition, they are informal and free-easy as compared with essays. Just as in friendly talk, so in friendly letters, we can touch on many subjects and in any order we like; and we can use colloquial expressions which in formal essays are quite out of place. But this does not mean that we can be careless in writing your letters. You mistake care of your punctuation, spellings, grammar etc. It means that you are still bound to follow the basic rules to write a letter.

Forms of address- In friendly letters the proper form of address is the name (without title) of the person to whom you are writing, prefixed by such qualifying terms as Dear, My dear, Dearest, etc. For example: Dear Father or Mother, Dear Brother, Dearest Sister, My dear Saim etc.

But if you are writing to an ordinary friend who is much older then you are, or of superior rank, it is respectful to use prefix like Mr, Mrs, etc. for example Dear Mr. Saim etc.

The forms of subscription are varied. The following can be used in letters to relatives and near friends: Yours affectionately, Your affectionate (Loving) son, or Brother or Friend, Yours very sincerely (to friends); or you can use such form of this:

With love and best wishes,From your affectionate friend,Saim Shaukat

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Note: Students writing friendly letters to their teachers or professionals, should always address them thus


You can also use the word sincerely or very sincerely in the subscription; and this may be preceded by with kind (or very kind or kindest) regards. Thus: With kind regards, Yours Sincerely, Saim Shaukat

1- Letter to a Friend in a Hospital.

Race CottageLucknow 226 00330th December, 2008

Dear Soban, I have only just hared from your brother that you have been ill in the hospital for last 2 weeks. I am very sorry. If I had known, I should have written before. But I am glad to know that the worst is now over, and you are much better. He says that he saw you the other day, and you were quite comfortable and cheery. I hope you will soon be all right, and coming out again. As soon as you can, write and let me know how you are???

Yours Sincerely,

Saim Shaukat

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Note: Sincerely should not be used in letters beginning with the formal Dear Sir, after which the proper word of subscription is Faithfully or Truly.

EXAMPLES


2- Letter to a Friend, arranging for an excursion together.

5 Railway Road,Multan30th December, 2008

Dear Tipu,

We both have holiday next Monday. What do you say to a trip to Murree??? We could start early, say 8 a.m., in my car, and take some grub with us, and make a day of it up in the cool.It would be a change from this heat down here. If you agree, I will arrange the picnic, and be round at your house at quarter to eight on Monday morning. Bring camera with you. Ok.

Yours very sincerely,

Saim Shaukat

b)- Business Letters:

Business letters should be terse, clear, and to the point. Businessmen are busy men and have no time to read long, rambling and confused letters.

Business letters are naturally much more formal in style then friendly letters. Certain forms of polite expressions are used, such as-

"I shell be much obliged if you will send me,""Please despatch at your earliest convenience," etc.

At the same time certain phrases of business "jargon" should be avoided. They are commonly used, but are not good English; and the meaning can be conveyed as clearly in simple everyday language. Examples of such expressions are-

"Yours of even date to hand.""Despatch same at once."

Avoid so far so possible abbreviation (like advt. for advertisement, exam. for examination, etc.)

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In business letters ordering goods, care should be taken to give clear and exact description of the articles wanted. An itemized list of the goods wanted should be supplied, with the quality and quantity required.

Directions for forwarding should be given (by rail, post, etc) and the manner in which payment will be made indicated (by Money Order, V.P.P., cheque, or by debiting to the writer's account). Every thing should be clear and precise.

The address (i.e. the name of the firm or businessman to whom the letter is addressed), which should be written on the first page, lower down than the hading and to the left of the page. (it may be placed at the end of the letter lower than the signature and at the left side of the page, but the usual position is at the beginning.)

Modes of Address:

The modes of address vary.

1)- To a tradesman:

Amjad Ali Bookseller 12 Ring Road Karachi

Begin Dear Sir, and conclude with Yours faithfully.

2)- To a Firm:

Tariq Saeed Seighal Mepal Leaf Cement Factory Lawrence Road Lahore

Begin Dear Sir, and conclude with Yours faithfully.

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1)- Letter to a Bank Manager asking him to stop payment of Cheque.

Goal Bagh Road Multan30th December, 2008

The ManagerCITI BankMultan

Dear Sir,

Would you please stop the payment of cheque 104662 date 29 December 2008 I signed it in favour of Miss. Aliya. The sum was Rs. 50,000.

Yours faithfully,Saim Shaukat(Account # 786)

2)- Letter to a Postman.

46 KingswayKarachi 440 001

30th December, 2008

The PostmasterHead Post OfficeKarachi 440 001

Dear Sir,I have recently shifted from 25-Park Street, Karachi to Kingsway Karachi. I shell be grateful if you will kindly redirect my letters to the new address.

Yours faithfully,

Saim Shaukat

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Examples


3)- Letter to a Businessman.

3519 Front Street

Mount Celebres, CA 65286

31st December, 2008

Ms. Betty JohnsonAccounts PayableThe Cooking Store765 Berliner PlazaIndustrial Point, CA 68534

Dear Ms Johnson:

It has come to my attention that your company, The Cooking Store has been late with paying their invoices for the past three months.

In order to encourage our customers to pay for their invoices before the due date, we have implemented a discount model where we'll give you 2% off your invoice if you pay us within 10 days of receiving the invoice.

I hope that everything is going well for you and your company. You are one of our biggest customers, and we appreciate your business. If you have any questions, you can feel free to contact me at (555) 555-5555.

Yours Sincerely,

Signature

Bob PowersAccounts Receivable

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Documents

8 Letter Writing