LETTER WRITING

Types of Letters
1. Formal Letter
2. Informal Letter also known as Personal Letter

Personal Letters
Social Function : Personal Letters are letters that are written to people we know such as friends, parents,
siblings, and cousins. Letters are not only written to inform but to strengthen the bond between two people
writing to each other.

Linguistic Features
Sentence  Accuracy of grammar is important
Structure  Complete sentences are expected
 Slang can be used
 Use the contraction such as “I’ll, I’m, we’ll”
 Use personal pronouns such as, “I”, we, you
 Use active voice
Style  Language used may be personal like first and second person pronouns
 Be warm
 Use the person’s name you are writing to
 Very sentence length
 Write in a natural, conversational style
 Let your personality shine through in your writing

Structure of Personal Letter

Date : Date when the letter is written ( top left )
Address : Place where you are writing ( top right )
Salutation and name : Greeting and the person’s name you are writing to
Introduction : The opening of the letter usually starts with how are you or refers to
previous letter
Body : The main part of the letter. It includes what you want to write to the other person
Closure : The part indicates the letter is going to end
Complimentary close : Short expression like “love you “ , sincerely yours, love
Signature : Signature or initials of the writer
Postscript P.S : after thught in a letter, you begin with P.S and end it with your initials

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Some useful expressions for letter writing
Gratitude
- I'm just writing to thank you for ....
- It was very kind of you to ....
- Thanks very much for ....
- I am very grateful for ....
Giving advice
- Well, I thought about it and if I were you, I would ....
- Have you thought about ?
- In your last letter you said you weren't sure what course of action to take, I suggest ....
- I think you shouldn't ....
- In your last letter you asked me about ...., I think ....
Delivering good news
- I'm sure you will be happy to hear that ....
- I am sure that you'll be interested to know that ....
- By the way, did you know that ?
- OMG!! You'll never guess what happened!
- I am totally ecstatic to hear about ....
- I was happy beyond limits to read that ....
Delivering bad news
- I'm sorry but I have to tell you that ....
- Bad news, I'm afraid, but no way to avoid it, so here it goes ....
- I'm extremely sorry to hear that ....
- It was heart wrenching to read about ....
Asking for help
- I wonder if you could help me.
- I hope it's not too much to ask but ....
- I wonder if I could ask you a favor. Could you ?
Apologizing
- I would like to apologize for ....
- I'm so sorry that ....
- Words are not enough to erase the pain I have given you but I want to say how sorry I am ....

Examples of expressions used in personal letters

“Dear”, “Dearest”, “sweetheart”, “darling”, “My dear”, “My love”, etc.
Salutations
Salutations depend on how well you know the person you are writing to.
“Yours”, “with love”, “sincerely yours”, “all the love”, “all the best”,
Closing “affectionately”, “much love”, “best wishes”
How are you?
Hope this letter finds you ....
Thank you for your last letter. It was so good to hear
Starting the letter from you. Sorry for answering late.
I'm sorry I should have written earlier ....
Haven't heard from you in a while so I thought ....

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 I am sorry to inform you that ....

I am looking forward to seeing you soon.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. My best wishes for the
coming test.
See you.
Conclusion
I will write soon.
I will have to stop now.
I am waiting for a quick reply. Looking forward to seeing you
again. Bye.

Example of a personal letter

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Fill in the blank with the word provided in the box below!

Unfortunately Drama
Palembang, March 07, 2017 See you. Impossible
My best friend, Reply Think
Indah Kurniawati Split up Greetings
In Bandar Lampung Exercise Healthy

…..........................(1) of friendship,
Hi, how are you? I wish you are in ….......................... (2) and happy condition. Are you still planting roses? I’d love to
meet you, you know that? You definitively become more beautiful, huh? Or maybe fatter? I really miss you.
Indah, my good friend, ever since we …...........................(3) a lot has happened here. Our city is growing very
rapidly. The building that was used to be the stage and drama ….......................... (4) was already flat with the
ground. Now it appears super big buildings ….......................... (5) the place is just for shopping! It seems
….......................... (6) to art, especially for the …...........................(7) performances.
I …...........................(8) that is all I can writer for you now. Do not forget to …...........................(9). I’m waiting for you!
Give my Regards to your Mom and dad. Thank you Indah …...........................(10) in u the upcoming holidays.

Your friend,
Melisa Anggraini

Read the following letter and then answer the questions!

22, Green street

Preston
Lancashire,
Pr5 4BB
20 July 2012

Dear Peter,
My name is Andy and I am 19 years old. I live in Preston with my mum, dad, and brother. We have 2 cats. They are
called Bubble and Squeak. Do you have any pets? Bubble likes to hunt. He is always bringing home birds and mice!
My favorite hobby is music. I play the piano and violin. I also like reading and films.

I hope you will write to me soon.

Andy

Questions:
1. Who is the writer of the text above?
2. When was the letter written?
3. How old is Andy?
4. What are names of Andy’s cat?
5. What is Andy’s hobby?

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 CAUSE & EFFECT
A. TEXT STRUCTURE OF CAUSE & EFFECT
1. Cause
A cause is why it happened

2. Effect
The effect is what happens.

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 B. LANGUAGE FEAUTURE

 To find a cause , ask , why did happen?

 To find an effect, ask, what happened
 Example : It rained, so I got wet.

A Led To B Cause Led to Effect

• Because
• As Conjunctions
• since
• The reason for
• On account of
• Bring about
• Give rise to
• Created by
• Contributed to
• Led to
• Due to
• Because of Transitions
• For this reason
• Unless

• Then
• Finally
• Hence
• For this reason
• Therefore
• Outcome
• So Conjunctions
• Consequently
• As result Transitions
• Therefore
• In order to

Summary Up
Cause and effect relationships

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Cause is the reason why something happened. The thing that happened is effect. Cause and effect connect the
events. One cause can have effects.

For example :
Cause : You shake a can of coke
Effect : when you open the coke, it bursts out. Your T-shirt is wet and stained with coke.

In order, to establish a cause-effect relationship, three criteria must be met :

1. The cause has to occur before the effect
2. Whenever the cause happens, the effect must also occur.
3. The strength of the cause also determines the strength of the effect.
4. There are no other factors that can explain the relationship between the cause and effect

Example of cause & effect relationship

Sentences Cause and Effect Relationship

Sumatran tiger are almost extinct because people Cause – People killed to many of them
to killed many of them Effect – Sumatran Tigers almost became extinct
Haze is because massive forest burning Cause- Massive forest burning
Effect – haze
Since they are in love, they forgive each other’s Cause- They are in love
mistake Effect – They forgives each other mistakes
Early man learnt to grow food and as a result, Cause- early man to go food
their lives become easier. Effect- their lives became easier

Let’s take a look at the sentence structure of cause and effect.

a. Due to, because of, owing to and thanks to are followed by a noun
Due to
Because of
Owing to + Noun
Thanks to

b. Because, since, as for are followed by a verb

Because
Since
As + Noun
As a result

1. I love living in Australia ______________ the weather.

a. because
b. since
c. as
d. because of

2. The increase in the number of cars on the road has resulted ________ more and more traffic jams.
a. in

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 b. to
c. at
d. for

3. “He got to work really, really late ‘cos he missed his train”. Which cause and effect word is ‘cos short for?
a. due to
b. because
c. as
d. since

4. Keith lost his job due ________ cutbacks in the department.

a. for
b. at
c. to
d. by

5. The increase in tropical storms in recent year has been __________ global warming.
a. put up with
b. put down to
c. set down to
d. put to

6. Which one is NOT correct? “He didn’t turn up for the exam. __________, he failed the course.”
a. As a result
b. Consequently
c. As a consequence
d. As a reason

Meaning Through Music