A Guide to Writing Formal Letters

Writing a formal letter has gone out of style with the rise of e-mails and text messages. However, it is not gone yet and if you would like to stand out as a great English writer, I really recommend you learn more about the art of writing formal letters. Writing a letter, in general, is great practice especially when it comes to developing your vocabulary and sentence structure. Being able to write down your thoughts, be truthful with your words, and hold the person’s attention singularly is not easy to do nowadays but it is not a lost art.

Simply put, it is an extremely thoughtful gesture that won’t go unnoticed by the person or people whom you write letters to. It is also a nice way for you to be able to receive letters and to work on your reading comprehension skills too as an English learner. It is also overlooked how writing a letter by hand especially will increase your penmanship and make your writing more legible. Perhaps most importantly, you are using formal language in writing letters and there are various ways you can use this kind of language from the beginning of the letter to its final conclusion.

Let’s start with writing formal letters in a general way. Depending upon the gender of the person you are writing to, it will change. In terms of greetings, your options will look like the following:

• Dear Sir

• Dear Madam

• Dear Sir/Madam

• Dear Mr Brown

• Dear Ms Jones

Then, after the greeting and citing who you are writing to, you must state your purpose or you reason for writing your letter to them, also in a formal manner.

• I am writing in response to your article/advertisement/letter/email/message

• I am writing with regard to your article/advertisement/letter/email/message

• I am writing regarding your article/advertisement/letter/email/message

• I am writing to you about my proposal / my business / my project, etc.

• I am writing for the purpose of sharing my findings / research / news / updates, etc.

When you come to ending a generally addressed letter, you can choose to end it formally in a number of ways and it would be fine to do so in any of these cases. Here are some of the most common examples:

• I look forward to receiving your reply

• I look forward to your reply

• I look to hearing from you

• I am, yours faithfully (if you don't know the name of the person you are writing to)

• I am, yours sincerely (if you know the name of the person you are writing to)

• Yours faithfully

• Yours sincerely

• Sincerely

• Warm Regards

• Best Wishes

Beyond just writing letters for general purposes, we can sometimes write letters that involve complaints whether it is to an airline for their baggage policy, to a restaurant for unusually poor service, or to a company to request money back for a product that didn’t work, sometimes, a written letter with the right language can do the trick to help you get your money back and also help maintain your patience with that same company.

If you would like to formally introduce a complaint that is singular in nature, there are a number of ways to do so and politely since you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings unnecessarily.

• Firstly ,

• In the first place ...

• First of all ...

• My first complaint is ...

• The first problem is ...

• The first thing I would like to draw your attention to is ...

• My first concern is ...

If the letter you are writing happens to have more than one complaint, do not worry because there are ways in English for you to make it known to the reader that there is more than one thing that you disproved of or would like to see fixed in the future.

• Secondly ,

• In the second place ,

• Not only…but also ..

• In addition ,

• In addition to this ,

• Added to this ...

• ________ was also unacceptable and unfortunate .

The heart of this kind of complaint letter involves demanding some kind of action on the part of the reader and you can make this also known in a polite way. If you would like to see change happen, you have to be kind about it even if you are steaming mad on the inside. A sign of a mature person is when they can make their complaints known in a polite way without using insults or derogatory language to demean the person reading the letter.

After you have made your complaint(s) known, you can wrap up the letter by demanding action and then ending it with the form of resolution you hope comes about after they read it.

• I suggest that you replace the item .

• I therefore suggest that I be given a full refund .

• I would be grateful if my money was refunded .

• I would be grateful if you could give me a full refund .

• I look forward to hearing from you .

• I look forward to receiving a full refund .

• I look forward to receiving a replacement .

• I look forward to receiving your explanation .

Beyond just your complaints, formal letters are also great ways to make suggestions to people you know on how they could improve or become better in some way, shape, or form. You can describe possibilities, options, and opportunities that they did not know existed.

• I am writing to suggest ...

• I am writing to arrange ...

• I am writing to offer suggestions ...

• I am writing make arrangements ...

When it comes to making these suggestions, the beginning of your sentences should look formally like these options:

• My first suggestion is ...

• First of all, I suggest ...

• I would like to suggest ...

• Another possibility is ...

• A further possibility is ...

• I further suggest ...

• I would further suggest ...

• Secondly ,

Giving suggestions in a letter also means not forcing anybody to act or do anything they would not want to do so part of your language used should offer a choice that they must decide upon themselves. Here is how that might look in your letter’s formal language:

• Would you therefore mind choosing between ….?

• Either……or

• You might choose either ……. Or

Requesting information is another big reason why people choose to write in-depth letters so they can be made aware of a person, place, or situation that they do not know much about but would like to find out more. In terms of the English language, there are numerous ways to express your reason for writing a formal letter in this case:

• I am writing to receive further information about….

• I am writing to inquire about…

• I am writing to receive more detailed information about…

• I am writing to receive further details about…

Further on in the letter, you will ask for the details or pieces of information and there are likely to be more than one of them. In these cases, you have to phrase your sentences to the point but in a polite manner so as to get that information over to you without causing any hard feelings or distrust.

• The first thing I would like to know is…

• First of all, I would like to know…

• I wonder if you would mind telling me first of all ….?

• Could you also tell me….?

• Could you also inform me ….?

• Would you also mind informing me ….?

• Would you also mind telling me ….?

• Do you know ….?

• I would also like to know if…

• I would also like to know whether…

• I hope you might also let me know about…

In this particular kind of letter, you really do have to thank the person for their work in helping you get the information you requested. It probably takes a lot of work on their part so it would be nice of you to show thanks in terms of your language used towards the end of this particular letter.

• I would like to thank you in advance for this information.

• Thanking you in advance for this information.

• Thanking you in advance…

Often times, you will be writing these letters to give out information that will be necessary for business, work, or for school. There are a few ways to address the reasons you are writing to give out this information such as:

• I am writing to inform you about…

• I am writing to provide you with information about…

• I am writing to let you know that…

Next, you will want to lay out your main point and supporting points regarding the information you are giving out that would help the reader out and inform them of what they need to know.

• The first thing I would like to inform you of is..

• The first thing I would like to tell you is..

• The first thing I wish to inform you of is..

• I would like to begin by informing you of…

• I would also like to let you know that…

• I would also like to inform you that…

• You might also find the following information useful:

• It might also be useful for you to know that…

• Another piece of information that might be useful is…

When you end a formal kind of informative letter, you should conclude with asking if they need anything else or if there are any other questions that they may have regarding the information given.

• If you require further information, please do not hesitate to let me know.

• If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to ask…

• I will willingly provide further information on request…

• I am at your disposal should you require further information…

• I am at your disposal should you need further assistance…

• Please do not hesitate to ask should you require further information…

Lastly, you will want to write a formal letter from time to time regarding requesting or asking for permission to do something, go somewhere, or start a new project. To start off your reason for writing a permission kind of letter, it should look something like this:

• I am writing to ask permission for…

• I am writing to ask permission to…

• I am writing to request permission to…

• I am writing to request permission for…

• I am writing to ask if I might…

Your permission or request letter might come with more than one enclosed in the letter so make sure you let the reader know that there is only one request or more than one request and what are these requests specifically.

• Firstly, I wonder if you would…

• First of all, I wonder whether you would mind…

• The first request I would like you to consider is…

• I would be grateful if you would also consider doing…

• I wonder if it might be possible for me to…

• I would also like to request permission for…

• I would also like to request permission to…

Make sure you thank the reader for their permission or for granting your request(s) ahead of time and upon reading the letter. Hopefully, they will grant you permission after you give them formal reasons and good explanations as to why your requests are necessary. Here are the examples:

• Many thanks for kindly considering my requests

• Thank you for considering my requests

Writing formal letters is clearly an underrated skill as it has gone out of practice, but people will really appreciate it if you are able to do it for them especially for a family member or a friend. You can practice your penmanship, handwriting, and your overall writing knowledge. It is clear that with enough practice, your vocabulary and your grammar will also improve, and it will benefit you in the long run. Whether it is a letter to a work colleague about a project, a letter to your girlfriend or your boyfriend about a wedding plan, or a letter to a friend about your next semester classes, these are all formal letter examples that you can use these sentence examples to get started.

Once you have formal letters down, you can move on to more informal topics, which are much easier and much faster to master. However, becoming an expert in writing formal letters about formal topics will put you ahead in your English language learning and give you great writing practice that will stay with you as a student into the future. It will also make you a more compassionate and understanding person to communicate by letter instead of by a short e-mail, or an even shorter text message.