LETTER WRITING
2. Informal Letters
These letters express private thoughts and feelings between people who are very intimate. We may call them intimate/private/personal letters. They are generally written in a conversational style. But in formal letters, the addresses and the writer may not know each other. They are called non private official or business letters. They are written in connection with business or official correspondence. If business letters are exchanged between people who know each other, the letters may be semi-private.
Purpose: It is the body part of a letter. In short, it is the true reflection of the writer’s mind etiquette.
All kinds of letters should written neatly and clearly. We should be very careful so as not to hurt anyone’s sentiments. Our duty is to please, not to offend while writing letters. Our letters should not run short of politeness and generous qualities. We should use fresh and sweet soothing words. Then only our letters will have a good appearance.
B. We have so far dealt with the general aspect of art of letter writing and its kinds. Now let us look to the practical side of it in current letter writing. Let’s look at the format given below:
A letter chiefly consists of six parts:
(i) The heading: the address along with the date is known as the
“heading” of a letter. Put your address at the top right hand corner or left hand corner. (Do not put your name). Your name only come at the end of the letter. Then put the date under the address.
Example:
Nandahatapalli Kanduapalli Kalapathar Cuttack (0)
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Remember: You may put a comma at the end of each line and a full stop at the end of the last line. It is optional. These days commas and full stop is rarely used.
But there are several ways of writing the date beneath the address.
Example : 2nd February 2020 British use Or 2 February 2020
Or 2 Feb. 2020 Or 2 Feb. ‘20
American : February 2nd 2020 Or February 2 2020 Or Feb. 2 2020 Or Feb. 2, ‘20
Important: When we read out a date, we have to read like: The 2nd of February two thousand and twenty / twenty 20.
But NOT two thousand twenty 20 C. Informal Letters:
Here is a sample letter to a friend about one’s aim in life.
Raghunathpur Jagatsinghpur 753011
Dear Sushree,
How do you do now? I hope you are keeping good health.
You would like to know my aim in life. Ok then let me tell you. I wish to be a teacher. Teachers have good respect and they are very knowledgeable persons. They are very kind and co-operative in every aspect of life. They educate the future citizens with self-sacrificing love and dedication. They are the anchors of the nation. After passing B.Sc. Examination, I’ll go for teacher’s training and I shall serve in my country as a teacher of repute. I hope you’ll love my plan. May God fulfil my desire.
Life is much the same here and I am as busy as ever. Do write to me when you have a free moment, I’ll try and write to you soon.
Ever yours, Geeta
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From,
Ms Geeta Jena
At/Po – Raghunathpur Dist – Jagatsinghpur 753011
To,
Ms Sushree Lenka At/Po – Pipili Dist – Puri 753035
Now try out yourself to write the following informal letters in about 100 words.
Q1. Imagine you are Nabakishore Swain, Kalapathar, _________ H/S, Kalapathar, Cuttack residing in school hostel. Write a letter to your father who is working in the State Bank of India, main Branch, Puri requesting him to send you a sum of rupees two thousands for your hostel expenses.
Q2. Imagine you are Mitali Dutta, Zilla School, Sambalpur. Write a letter to your friend Anasuya Mandal, Tapoban H/S, Kandagiri, Bhubaneswar, Khurda telling her what you do after the Board Examinations.
The heading (Address and the date) may be written on the top right hand or left hand margin.
ii) The Greeting (Salutation):
Put the greeting (Dear X) on the left side the sheet of paper, not in the middle. It shows the relation or intimacy between the writer and the receiver / addressee.
a) ‘Dear’ / My ‘dear’ is the friendly greeting followed by the first name or surname / nick name. Dear is a very common term/word that takes care of most needs in a personal or informal letter. We should not write both the name and the title. For Example: Dear Gadadhar Behura (*)
the greeting may or may not be followed by a comma. i.e. Dear Gadadhar, (comma is optional). Remember while writing to a friend, do not write
“My dear / Dear friend Gadadhar, only Dear Gadadhar.
b) If you begin Dear Sir / Madam, end with “Yours faithfully” – not yours.
They are the usual greetings in “business / official (formal) letters.”
If you begin with the personal name i.e. Dear Ms Sanjukta, end with
“Yours sincerely.”
[When the sender/writer and receiver are known to each other through business transaction, we end with “Yours sincerely”.]
The term Sir/madam is very formal in official and business letters.
c) The Body part / Subject:
It should be written on the line below the “greeting”. You should put it in a paragraph so that the ideas of the writer will be put in a decent way.
Whether the letter is a formal or an informal one, use simple and clear
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English. Always keep to the point and be courteous. Try to present your information in an interesting way.
d) The Ending (Subscription):
It must bear a close relation to the situation. This part consists of the closing words of respect or affection. In present day English the ending is written on the left side beneath the ‘body part’ of the letter.
Formal Letters: Sample Ones:
1. A letter to a book seller placing an order for a set of textbooks.
Koel Nagar Rourkela-10 Sundergarh
December 17th, 2020 Or 17th December 2020 To
The Proprietor, The Book World Neem Chouri Cuttack-2 Dear Sir,
I should be happy if you would send me the following textbooks by value payable post. At present I am badly need of them. I will be very kind of you to send them at an early date, I send a money order for Rs 500/- as an advance. I shall pay the rest amount at the time of receiving the parcel.If you can’t manage this, please write to me soon.
I hope you will be much prompt to my request.
Yours faithfully,
Pramod Patra Book List:-
1. Communicative English-P-II 2. English Grammar in Action
3. A guide to Odia-English Translation 4. Gadya Sahitya
5. Odia Grammar 6. Maths
7. Science
8. Social Science
From
Pramod Patra Koel Nagar Rourkela Sundergarh
To STAMP The Proprieter
The book world Neem chouri
Cuttack-2
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Q2. You are Mahesh Mishra living with your parents at Narasinghapur, Cuttack.
Write a letter to your friend Prateek Biswal of Balugaon, Khurda inviting him to join you on a picnic.
Q3. You are Sarada Prasad Swain living in Nemol, Jagatsinghpur. Your younger sister Mita is staying in a school hostel in Govt. Girl’s High School, Banki, Cuttack. Write a letter to her to participate in a dance competition to be held at Kala Bikash Kendra, Cuttack on 25th October 2020.
Q.4.Suppose you are Suresh Rout staying with your family at Surya Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Khordha. Your father is working at Tarnaka, Hyderabad. Write a letter telling him how you observed your birthday at home.
Q5. You are Pabitra Kumar Swain working as a post master in Ranpur Post Office, Nayagarh. Write a letter to your younger brother who is in class VIII, B.B.
High School, Dhenkanal to join N.C.C Army Wing.
Q6. You are Chikul staying at Tarapur, Jagatsinghpur. Your father is working as a teacher at Nabarangapur. Write a letter to him to come immediately because your mother is seriously ill.
Q.7.You are Somanath residing in Revenshaw Collegiate School Hostel. Write a