Formal letters

In English there are a number of conventions that should be used when writing a formal or business letter. Furthermore, you try to write as simply and as clearly as possible, and not to make the letter longer than necessary. Remember not to use informal language like contractions.

Addresses:

1) Your Address
The return address should be written in the top right-hand corner of the letter.

2) The Address of the person you are writing to
The inside address should be written on the left, starting below your address.

Date:

Different people put the date on different sides of the page. You can write this on the right or the left on the line after the address you are writing to. Write the month as a word.

Salutation or greeting:

1) Dear Sir or Madam,
If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, use this. It is always advisable to try to find out a name.

2) Dear Mr Jenkins,
If you know the name, use the title (Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms, Dr, etc.) and the surname only. If you are writing to a woman and do not know if she uses Mrs or Miss, you can use Ms, which is for married and single women.

Ending a letter:

1) Yours faithfullyIf you do not know the name of the person, end the letter this way.

2) Yours sincerely
If you know the name of the person, end the letter this way.

3) Your signature
Sign your name, then print it underneath the signature. If you think the person you are writing to might not know whether you are male of female, put you title in brackets after your name.

Content of a Formal Letter

First paragraph
The first paragraph should be short and state the purpose of the letter- to make an enquiry, complain, request something, etc.

The paragraph or paragraphs in the middle of the letter should contain the relevant information behind the writing of the letter. Most letters in English are not very long, so keep the information to the essentials and concentrate on organising it in a clear and logical manner rather than expanding too much.

Last Paragraph 
The last paragraph of a formal letter should state what action you expect the recipient to take- to refund, send you information, etc.

Abbreviations Used in Letter Writing

The following abbreviations are widely used in letters:

• asap = as soon as possible
• cc = carbon copy (when you send a copy of a letter to more than one person, you use this abbreviation to let them know)
• enc. = enclosure (when you include other papers with your letter)
• pp = per procurationem (A Latin phrase meaning that you are signing the letter on somebody else's behalf; if they are not there to sign it themselves, etc)
• ps = postscript (when you want to add something after you've finished and signed it)
• pto (informal) = please turn over (to make sure that the other person knows the letter continues on the other side of the page)
• RSVP = please reply

Outline: A Covering Letter

A covering letter is the one that accompanies your CV when you are applying for a job. Here is a fairly conventional plan for the layout of the paragraphs.

Opening Paragraph
Briefly identify yourself and the position you are applying for. Add how you found out about the vacancy.

Paragraph 2
Give the reasons why you are interested in working for the company and why you wish to be considered for that particular post. State your relevant qualifications and experience, as well as your personal qualities that make you a suitable candidate.

Paragraph 3
Inform them that you have enclosed your current CV and add any further information that you think could help your case.

Closing Paragraph
Give your availability for interview, thank them for their consideration, restate your interest and close the letter.

Outline: A Letter of Enquiry

A letter of enquiry is when you are approaching a company speculatively, that is you are making an approach without their having advertised or announced a vacancy.

Opening Paragraph
Introduce yourself briefly and give your reason for writing. Let them know of the kind of position you are seeking, why you are interested and how you heard about them.

Paragraph 2
Show why their company in particular interests you, mention your qualifications and experience along with any further details that might make them interested in seeing you.

Paragraph 3
Refer to your enclosed CV and draw their attention to any particularly important points you would like them to focus on in it.

Closing Paragraph
Thank them, explain your availability for interview and restate your enthusiasm for their company and desire to be considered for posts that might as yet be unavailable.

State and dynamic verbs

Verbs in English can be classified into two categories: stative verbs and dynamic verbs. Dynamic verbs (sometimes referred to as "action verbs") usually describe actions we can take, or things that happen; stative verbs usually refer to a state or condition which is not changing or likely to change. The difference is important, because stative verbs cannot normally be used in the continuous (BE + ING) forms. This will explain the differences between the two types of verb, and give lots of examples of each kind.

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Dynamic verbs

There are many types of dynamic verbs, but most of them describe activities or events which can begin and finish. Here are some examples:

Dynamic Verb	Type	Examples
play	activity	She plays tennis every Friday. She's playing tennis right now.
melt	process	The snow melts every spring. The snow is melting right now.
hit	momentary action	When one boxer hits another, brain damage can result. (This suggests only ONE punch.) When one boxer is hitting another, brain damage can result. (This suggests MANY repeated punches.)

Dynamic verbs, as you can see from the table above, can be used in the simple and perfect forms (plays, played, has played, had played) as well as the continuous or progressive forms (is playing,was playing, has been playing, had been playing).

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Stative verbs

Stative verbs usually refer to a state or condition which is quite static or unchanging. They can be divided into verbs of perception or cognition (which refer to things in the mind), or verbs ofrelation (which describe the relationships between things). Here are some examples:

Stative Verb	Type	Examples
hate	perception	I hate chocolate.
believe	perception	She believes in UFOs.
contain	relation	The box contains 24 cans of soda.
own	relation	Yong owns three motorbikes.

Note that we CANNOT use these verbs in the continuous (progressive) forms; you CAN'T say "*Yong is owning three cars." Owning is a state, not an action, so it is always in the simple form.

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Example verbs

Here some common stative and dynamic verbs. The lists may help you to understand what types of verbs are likely to be stative and what types are commonly dynamic.

Stative Verbs	Dynamic Verbs
love hate like see hear sound think (meaning "have an opinion") mind (meaning "care about") recognize seem have (meaning "own") prefer doubt consist of mean	eat drink go type read write listen speak watch say grow work sleep cook talk

The Layout of a formal letter

The Lay out of a formal letter

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Sender's adress date   6 Lower Turn Road Mountainthyme X26 3A 12th May 2007 inside adress The Manager, W. Jones & Sons Ltd Hermes House Clanton, Northshire CL20 OZX   greeying or salutation introductoryparagraph body of letter Dear Madam, I have seen your advertisement in yesterday's Daily Standard, and I am writing to ask you to send me more information about your Students' Note Taking Kit. I would be grateful if you could send me your catalogue. I and some friends are particularly interested in the wallet containing a ring file, extra sheets of paper coloured ball-point pens.   final paragraph the closing I look forward to seeing your catalogue and will apreciate if you could let me know by return if you can supply these kits. Yours sincerely Heidi Braun

How to write a formal letter

With the advent of email, it is becoming less and less common to write letters, but the few letters that you will write will probably be very important ones, such as covering letters for job applications, covering letters for questionnaires or surveys which are part of your research, or letters of complaint to your bank manager.
It is very important, therefore, that your letters have the desired effect on the reader. In order to achieve this, they should be:
 in the correct format
 short and to the point
 relevant
 free of any grammatical or spelling mistakes
 polite, even if you’re complaining
 well presented
This guide will give some general advice on letter writing and includes some sample letters.
If you are replying to a letter it can be a good idea to note how that letter has been formatted and expressed.

Format
There are certain conventions that your reader will expect you to follow; if you don’t, you will create a bad impression.
Here is a letter in standard format. Refer to the notes afterwards for explanation.

42, Greyhound Road
Perry Barr
Birmingham
B42 6HJ

Mr. E. Scrooge
The Manager
Barclay’s Bank Ltd
113 Mammon Street
Andover
HU4 9ET

5 April 2003

Dear Mr. Scrooge,
Application for post of trainee manager
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Yours sincerely

Jane Teller

1 Your address, but not your name, usually goes in the top right hand corner. You would not
usually include your telephone number or email address here, but this would be
permissible.


2 The name and address of the person you’re writing to goes below this, on the left. If
you don’t have a specific name, always at least try to put some sort of title. You
should always, however, address the letter to a particular person if at all possible.


3 The position of the date is more flexible. It can go on the left or the right, usually below
the addressee details. The format of the date is also flexible; it could be written
5 April 2003, 5th April 2003, 5/4/03 or 05/04/03. Avoid putting the day and month the
other way round.


4 The salutation at the beginning of the letter depends on whether or not you have the
name of the person.
If you do, write Dear Mr. Ochs, Dear Mrs. Baez, Dear Miss Perhacs, or, if you don’t know
the marital status of a woman, or if she has written this, Dear Ms. Bunyan. It is possible
to write Dear Robert Fripp or Dear Alison Statton, but many people consider this
awkward. If the person has a specific title, use this: Dear Dr. Hammill.
If you don’t know the name of the person, you would traditionally write Dear Sir. This
is clearly somewhat sexist, so many people prefer Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Sir or Madam.
The ending of the letter depends on how you have started: see below.


5 It is common now to put the subject of the letter directly below the salutation. This
would be in bold or underlined. The purpose is to give the reader an idea of what the
letter is about before reading it, and to be able to pass it on to a more appropriate
person if necessary.
If you are replying to a letter which had a reference (or ref.) on it, you should repeat this
on your letter, probably on the same line as the date, but on the other side of the page.
Write Your ref.: xxxx/xx


6 The content of your letter should be as short as possible, divided into short, clear
paragraphs.


7 It is common to end your letter with a phrase such as I look forward to hearing from
you. It’s OK to do this, but it’s a bit meaningless.


8 To end the letter, you would normally write Yours sincerely if you have started the
letter with the name of the person, or Yours faithfully if you have started with
something like Dear Sir.


9 Sign you name directly below this and then print it below the signature.

Be concise and relevant
The person you are writing to may be deluged with letters and if yours is 3 sides of dense text, then there is every possibility it will end up in the bin. Letters should take seconds rather than minutes to read.
As a result, get straight to the point and stick to it, don’t include any unnecessary or supplementary information, don’t use any flowery language or long words just for the sake of it, and don’t repeat too much information which may already be included in a CV, for example.

Check your grammar and spelling very carefully
Mistakes will create a very bad impression, will lessen the effect of what you’re saying and in the case of a job application letter, could well also consign it to the bin. So:-
 use the spellchecker if you’re using a computer
 check the spelling yourself, as the spellchecker won’t recognize incorrect use,
for example, of dose and does. Use a good dictionary.
 check your grammar carefully. If it’s been pointed out to you that you make
mistakes, look especially for these kinds of errors. Get someone else to check it
for you if necessary.
 check your sentences and punctuation. Are the sentences complete? Does the
punctuation help to make what you’re saying clearer?
Don’t rush the letter; many mistakes occur because of this. Allow plenty of time for checking, and if necessary, for rewriting. The letter may well help to decide your future.



Use the right tone of language
It’s important to use the right type of language, the right ‘register’. Most letters you write will need to be formal, but not overly so. In fact, you should use similar language to that which you use in your academic writing. This means you should:-
 avoid everyday, colloquial language; slang or jargon
 avoid contractions (I’m; it’// etc)
 avoid emotive, subjective language (terrible, rubbish etc)
 avoid vague words such as nice, good, get etc


You should always be polite and respectful, even if complaining. One way of doing this in English, which is common in formal letter writing, is to use ‘modal verbs’ such as would, could and should. Instead of simply writing Please send me, you could express this more formally as I would be grateful if you could send me ... Don’t overdo it though, and make your language too formal or maybe old fashioned; don’t look through a thesaurus and put in lots of unnecessarily long words.
Having said this, British people tend to be fairly informal, even in business and academic circles, so it is normal to start using first names at an early stage.



Make sure the letter is well presented
First impressions are important, so use good quality paper, centre the letter on the page, don’t leave coffee stains on it, make sure you’ve spelt the person’s name correctly and don’t forget to sign it!

Sample letter 1: Covering letter

12, Kenmore Road
Littletown
LT12 9BH

1st December 2001

Mr G. Sands
Fitness First
Lake Road
Littletown
LT1 5MX

Dear Mr Sands

Re: Fitness Instructor FF/32

I am writing to apply for the job of Fitness Instructor, as advertised in Thursday's Courant. This is an ideal job for me given my enthusiasm for sport, my related experience and qualifications.
Sport and fitness training have always been important to me, which is why I chose to take a BTEC Diploma in Sports Science. I obtained distinctions in the Sports Anatomy & Physiology and Sports Injuries modules last year and am confident that I will get similar marks in Exercise Physiology, Mechanics of Sport and Sports Supervision & Management this year. I am a confident user of Microsoft Office 2000 and have worked extensively with Fitness Publisher, a program for analysing fitness.
As you can see from my CV, I've taken the opportunity to gain extra qualifications that were on offer at college, which has helped me get part-time work as a pool attendant. I'm called on to provide cover during busy times so am used to working irregular hours at short notice. I've also run a lunchtime aerobics class at college since the start of this year.
I finish college in six weeks and am keen to find a job rather than carry on with further full-time study. I could start any part time work or training sooner as many of my classes are finishing and most of my assignments are done. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely


Louise Longford



Sample letter 2: Business letter

Whitcomb Polytechnic
20-30 Newcastle Road
Whitcombe
Tyne and Wear
WT5 4AH

11 October 1997

The General Manager
Fukuoka Motors (UK) Ltd
PO Box 137
York Road
Loughton
Durham
LT3 5HD
Dear Sir
I understand from my colleague, Professor William Jones, who visited your Loughton plant last month, that you sometimes allow groups of students to tour the factory and see for themselves how Japanese production techniques operate in a European environment. Professor Jones himself was most impressed by his own visit, and recommended that I write to you.
Would it be possible for a group of 20 Business Studies students - male and female, aged between 18 and 22 - from Whitcomb Polytechnic to visit you before the end of this term, which is on the 21 December? I realise that you must receive many requests for such visits, and that the time available may already be booked up. If it is not, and you are able to see us, I should be most grateful if you could suggest a date and let me know of any normal conditions you lay down for visits of this kind.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully

B Farrant (Dr)
Senior Lecturer

Present Tense

Present Simple

We use the present simple:

      a)   to talk about facts, routines and with adverbs of frequency

She comes from the north of Brazil.

I go to English classes three times a week.

We usually order a pizza on Friday nights.

They often take an extra staff at Christmas.

b) we also use the present simple verbs with “stative verbs”:

-which deal with states: be, seem, looks.

-with verbs of cognition: think, know, understand, believe, remember, mean.

-with verbs of perception: see, taste, hear, smell

-with verbs of possession: own, belong.

-other verbs: need, want, cost.

REMEMBER

Some of these verbs can also be dynamic, with a change in meaning:

To be (stative) = natural state.

To be (active)  = to act/behave.

Dynamic verbs can be used in the present continuous to show the temporary nature of the action:

What do you think about global warming? What´s your general opinion? (stative sense)

 Is everything OK? What are you thinking about? (right now – dynamic sense).

She is lazy (it is her natural state).

She is being lazy (at the moment).

She is smelling the flowers. The flowers smell nice. The flowers smell are smelling nice.

She is tasting the soup. The soup tastes good. The soup is tasting good.

Present Continuous

We use the present continuous:

       b)   To talk about activities which are in progress

Q: Hey, what are you doing in my room?

A: I´m looking for the CD I lent you.

        c)   To talk about activities. In other words, activities that began in the past, are going on now and into the future

Justine studies at Bordeux University; at the moment she is spending a term in Oxford.

c)To talk about trends or a changing situation

Unemployment is still going up by 1% a month.

d)To express a future meaning. (Have a look at “Future forms”)

e)With always to add expression

she´s always taking my things (to express annoyance).

Present Perfect Simple

We use the present perfect simple:

d)   To talk about something which started in the past and continues into the present.

We have lived in this house for thirty years.

e)   To talk about past events when no specific time is given or suggested.

Have you ever eaten oysters?

Mandy has been to Argentina.

f)    To talk about recent events where the result is still visible

Your sitting room looks different. Have you painted it?

g)   With adverbs such as yet, just and already (especially in British English)

Have you written your composition yet?

h)   To talk about quantities, a number of repeated, completed actions

She has done more than fifty parachute jumps.

Present Perfect Continuous

We use the present perfect continuous:

i)     To talk about continuous activities which started in the past and continue into the present (with an emphasis placed on the duration of the activity)

Your father has been working in the garden since eight o´clock this morning.

j)     To talk about repeated actions up to the present.

I´ve been trying to call the box-office all day, but I just can´t get through.

k)   To emphasise an activity rather than a quantity/result

She has been writing short stories for ten years (activity), she has written more than fifty (result)

l)     To talk about a recent activity where a result is still visible

Q: Why are you all red?

A: I´ve been sunbathing.