How to write informal letters or emails

Salutation or Greeting
 Start with Dear followed by the first name of the person to whom
you are writing. In emails, you can also start with Hi (and the
person's name). Dear Ben, or Hi Ben,
(Don't forget to use only the first name of the person you are
writing to and not Dear Mr John, which is never used, or Dear Mr
John Brown, which sounds too formal.)
 Informal letters sometimes have a comma after the person's name,
and the letter starts on the line below. The important thing is to be
consistent with the style that you choose to use (so if you use a
comma after the person's name at the start of the letter, use a
comma after the closing statement at the end).

Body
Openings

When writing an informal letter, you are usually replying to another letter.
You would normally start with a greeting, then acknowledge the letter
to which you are replying. It is often a good idea to acknowledge some
key information given in the original letter too. You can also make a
comment on your own reply.

Useful phrases for the opening

 How are you? / How have the family been? / I hope you are well.
 Thank you / Many thanks for your (recent/last) letter / postcard.
 It was good / nice / great to hear from you again.
 I was so surprised to hear that...
 I’m sorry I haven’t written / haven't been in touch for such a long
time.
 It’s ages since I’ve heard from you. I hope you're well / you and your
family are well.
 How are things? / How are you? / How’s it going?

Other useful phrases

Referring to news

 Great news about … Glad to hear that … Sorry to hear about …

Giving news
  Listen, did I tell you about …? You’ll never believe what …
 Oh, and another thing … This is just to let you know that …
 I thought you might be interested to hear about / know that …
 By the way, have you heard about / did you know that …?

Apologies

 I’m writing to apologise for missing your party but I’m afraid I was
with flu.
 I’m really sorry that I forgot to send you a birthday card but I was
busy with my new job.

Invitations

 I’m / We’re having a party on Friday 19th and I / we hope you’ll be

able to come.
 Would you like to come / go to see ‘Room With a View’ with me at
the weekend?
 I was wondering if you’d like to go to the theatre / come on holiday
with us.
 Could you let me / us know if you can come / you’d like to join us?
 Thank you very much for your invitation. I’d love to come.
 Thank you for asking / inviting me to … but I’m afraid I won’t be
able to …

Requests

 I’m writing to ask for your help / you (if you could do me) a favour.
 I wonder if / I was wondering if you could help me / do me a favour.
 I hope you don’t mind me asking but could you (possibly) …?
 I’d be very / really / terribly grateful if you could …

Thank you / Congratulations / Good Luck

 I’m writing to thank you for your hospitality / the wonderful present.
 It was so kind of you to invite me to stay with you.
 I really appreciated all your help / advice.

 Congratulations on passing your exams / your excellent exam

results!
 I wish you good luck / Good luck in / with your exams / your driving
test / your interview.

 Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do well / pass.

 Do be on time, won’t you, and don’t forget to …

Making suggestions and recommendations

  Why don’t you …? / Maybe you could …? / How about …?
 You can’t leave New York without (...doing sth)
 I’m sure you will enjoy (...doing sth). If you like, we can …
 Do visit ... / Don’t forget to ...

Closing
The end of your letter is as important as the beginning. There are some
standard ways of finishing an informal letter or email.

 Give a reason why you're ending the letter: Anyway, I must go and
get on with my work! / I guess it's time I got on with that studying
I've been avoiding.
 Send greetings and/or make reference for future contact: Give my
love / regards to... / Say hello to... / Anyway, don't forget to let me
know the dates of the party. / I'll try and phone you at the weekend
to check the times. / We must try and meet up soon. / I can't wait to
hear from you / Look forward to seeing you again / Hope to hear
from you soon / See you soon / Write soon
 Closing statement such as Love, Lots of love, All the best, Take
care, Best wishes, should be written on a new line. If you used a
comma after the opening greeting, use a comma here too.
 Signing off: Your first name then follows on another new line.

TASK
You have received this email from your English-speaking friend, Jean.

I hear you organised a surprise birthday party for your mother. I'd love to
hear about it. What kind of party did you organise? Who did you invite?
How did it go? Do tell me.
Love,
Jean

Informal email/letter - Model answer

Open with an informal greeting
Hi Jean,

Start your reply by referring to the sender's email/letter.

Good to hear from you again. I hope you're still enjoying your job.

Give reason for replying

I'm glad you asked me about the party I planned for my mother's birthday.
Well, I have to say it was a fantastic success. I told my mother we were
taking her out for a quiet meal at a local restaurant with just the family,
but in fact I'd(1) hired a large room in a hotel and invited all her old
friends!(2)

Start a new paragraph as the topic has changed slightly.

Use an informal linking word/phrase
Anyway, I picked my mother up and told her I'd changed my mind. We
were going to have a meal in a hotel. You should have seen her face
when she walked into the room and everyone cheered! She just couldn't
believe it and burst into tear(3). Then the party got going and it didn't finish
until four in the morning. We were absolutely exhausted, but my mother
had had a wonderful time.

When you close, make an excuse to finish.

Must dash now - I've got to go to college. Hope to hear from you (4)
.

Make sure you finish with an informal phrase

Love,

Tania

(1) Use contractions

(2) Use some exclamation marks (but not too many) to express emotion.
(3) Use a range of appropriate vocabulary and informal expressions
(4) Short sentences are acceptable

TASK

You have received this email from an English-speaking boy called Simon.

Hello,
I would like to get to know someone from your country and a friend has told me that you would like to
practise your English. Perhaps we could email each other. Could you tell me a bit about yourself and
your family? Could you suggest how we might meet sometime in the future?
Thanks,
Simon

Write your email in 140-190 words in an appropriate style.

Informal email/letter Model answer

Hello Simon,
I'm glad you're interested in my country. As your friend said, I'd like us to
email each other to help me improve your English.

Let me start by telling you a bit about myself and my family. My name's
Ivo and I live in Kutna Hora, which is about 45 minutes from Prague by
car. I used to work for a medical company but now I'm learning to be a
salesperson. In the future I want a job where I can travel for my work.
I've already been to a few places in Europe but I've never been to an
English-speaking country.

I live at home with my parents, which is convenient, as I don't have to do

much housework and my meals are cooked for me. My younger brother is
studying at university. Although he is four years younger than me, we get
on quite well. We both enjoy snowboarding and music.

What about you? Have you ever been to the Czech Republic? It would be
great if you could come over one day and we could fix up a meeting. Why
don't you let me know your plans?

Anyway, I must go and get on with my work! Looking forward to hearing

from you soon.

Best wishes,

Ivo
How to write formal letters or emails
123 Anywhere Place London
SW1 6DP
 1 July, 2014

Mr John Smith XYZ Partnership 10

Utopia Drive London

SW1 1AE
Dear Mr Smith:

My former colleague Joan Brown informed me that you are seeking to hire an office
manager. I worked with Ms Brown at Acme and have 10 years of experience as an
administrative assistant. I have long admired XYZ Partnership and would be
honoured to work for your company.

As you can see from my CV, I have performed many administrative duties in my
previous positions at Acme and Ajax. At Ajax, I facilitated the company's transition
from handwritten to digital records. That work paved the way for my move to
Acme, where I assisted the director of innovation in tracking the development of
new products. I helped introduce the company's workflow management system,
which enabled Acme to cut the average development time of its software upgrades
from 18 weeks to 12 weeks.

I would be pleased to speak with you to discuss the details of the office manager
position. Thank you for your consideration of my application.

Best regards,

Jane Clark