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1 Chapter 1 Personal Letter Letters written to Personal letters, also known as friendly or friends and relatives informal letters, have generally five parts. are called personal 1. The Heading letters. They are 2. The Greeting usually written in an 3. The Body informal language. 4. The Complimentary Close (The Subscription) The tone and style 5. The Signature line are usually familiar and intimate, depending upon the level of intimacy you have with the person you are writing to. Here, one should not use formal and elaborate sentences, instead short and loosely connected sentences should be used, that will give the letter a natural look. You may also use conversational idioms and colloquial expressions. Contracted forms like won t, can t, I ll, etc., are also very common in personal letters. A personal letter expresses the personality of the person who writes it. It should be in the way of a friendly talk and the reader should be able to feel the sentiments and feelings as he/she goes through it. Parts of a Personal Letter 1. The Heading The heading contains the address, line by line, with the last line being the date. In using the letter head, the heading is usually printed in the middle. While using pre-addressed stationery, just add the date. The heading of a friendly letter contains the return address followed by the date. If the correspondence is frequent and the recipient knows the writer s address, or if the stationery is imprinted with the return address, the return address may be omitted. (Although, the return address is also a backup, in case the envelope gets damaged) But don t forget to include the date. Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

2 8 Personal Letters For example 129, South West Block, Alwar (Rajasthan) August 24, 20** The date can be written in any of the following ways December 25, 20**, 25th December, 20** 25th Dec, 20**, Dec. 25, 20** 22 February 20** (Most writers skip a line between the address and the date.) 2. The Greeting (The Salutation) In personal letters, the salutation could begin with Dear or My dear or My very dear. Note that My dear expresses more intimacy and affection than Dear. The greeting may be formal, beginning with the word Dear/ My dear and by using the person s given name or relationship, or it may be informal, if appropriate. Formal : Dear Uncle Jimmy, My dear Uncle, Dear Mr Walker, My dear Mr Walker Informal : Hi Joe, Greetings, The greeting in a friendly letter capitalizes the first word and any noun. It might be all right to end the greeting with an exclamation point when writing to someone with whom you are very familiar and the emphasis is appropriate. (Occasionally, very personal greetings may end with an exclamation point for emphasis.) Generally, if there are three words in the greeting, the second one should not be capitalized. We should not use two adjectives together. It is incorrect to write: My dear respected mother. Dearest should not be used for father, mother, wife, and husband, as that implies more than one person. 3. The Body The body of the letter contains the main text. This includes the message you want to convey. Normally, in a friendly letter, the beginning of paragraphs is indented. If not indented, be sure to skip a space between the paragraphs. Skip a line after the greeting and before the close. Skipping a line between paragraphs, especially in typed or printed copy, helps the reader. Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

3 A handbook for Letter Writing 9 4. The Complimentary Close (The subscription) This short expression always contains a few words on a single line. The first letter of the first word of the complimentary close is capital and the first letters of all other words are small. No apostrophe is used in yours. It should be indented to the same column as the heading. Skip one to three spaces for the signature line. Sincerely Yours Truly Yours Your Loving Son Yours Affectionately 5. The Signature Line Type or print your name. The handwritten signature goes above this line, below the close. The signature line and the handwritten signature are indented to the same column as the close. If the writer and the reader are very friendly and if the letter is handwritten in the same script as the signature, the signature line or the last name in the signature line may be omitted. Unless there is great familiarity between the correspondents, the signature should be in blue or black ink. For example: Truly Yours (Signature goes here) Suresh Gupta Postscript If your letter contains a postscript, begin it with P.S. and end it with your initials. Skip a line after the signature line to begin the postscript. Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

4 10 Personal Letters Envelope Format The picture shows how an addressed envelope should look like. The horizontal lines represent lines of address. Follow this format regardless of letter style you use. Postage The postage (stamp or prepaid imprint) goes in the upper right hand corner of the envelope. Do not cover a stamp with adhesive tape. Make sure that the stamp is positioned properly so that its cancellation does not affect the address. Be sure that the envelope is sufficiently stamped as per norms. Always check letters of more than three leaves, letters with inserts, or letters to foreign countries for correct postage. There are few things that annoy a correspondent more, than to pick up and pay for a postage-due letter. Address The name and address of the recipient should be written at the centre of the envelope. Make sure the address begins far enough down on the face of the envelope so that it is not covered by the cancellation of stamp. If you are using envelopes with windows, make sure the address is visible clearly through the window. Addresses on envelopes are normally single-spaced. For example Mrs Anita Bekham, Department of Biology, University of Punjab, Chandigarh(UT) Punctuation Stamped addressed envelop Commas Although the use of commas after the salutation and the complimentary close were mandatory earlier, now no commas are used after the same. Now use of commas is also discouraged while writing addressees of the writer/receiver or while writing the dates. Colons in Special Cases 1. Numerical expressions of time. 5:31 p.m. The colon goes between the hour and minute. If seconds are noted, a colon goes between the minute and second. Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

5 A handbook for Letter Writing We can also use colon with salutations in business letters, e.g., Dear Sir : Dear Ms Hathaway : 3. Colons follow labels that identify important ideas meant to get attention. Warning : To be opened by the authorized personnel only. Capitals in Letters There are two additional rules for capitalizing when writing letters. 1. Capitalize the first word and all nouns in the salutation (the greeting) Dear Sir: My dearest Aunt, 2. Capitalize the first word in the complimentary closing. Sincerely, Truly Yours, With best wishes, How to create an Elegant Personal Letter? The first and foremost requirement of creating a personal letter is to make it personal. A personal letter is designed to form and cement a close rapport/relationship between the writer and the reader and make the reader feel that she/he has an informal and personal relation with the writer. That is why you can t have a template for a personal letter (that you can simply copy). You need to share something about your life that gives the reader a little insight into yourself, your values, your beliefs and, say, your personality. Personal letters are written by a person to her/his family and friends. An elegant personal letter is one that is written as if you speak to the person updating him/her on what s happened with you and expressing interest and concern about what is going on with them. Though there can t be any rule for the length of the letter; yet, try to keep your letter upto a page or a page and a half only. Make your letter interesting and readable so that the reader feels associated with you. Do not draw any conclusions let the reader draw his/her own conclusions. An elegant personal letter is the one that creates a feeling of closeness between the writer and the reader. If possible, use your own personal stationery. If you don t have it, use good quality blank, writing paper. Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

6 12 Personal Letters Some Tips for Personal Letters Personal letters reveal close and informal relationship between the writer and the reader. In many of the books on letter writing, I don t find use of any salutation to the reader. The writer begins the letter simply with... I received your letter on.... OR The postman has just delivered your letter.... I have received your letter just now. OR We received your letter yesterday.... but no mention of Namaste / Jai Shri Krishna, etc., is there. Please note, a letter should be written in such an informal way that the reader feels as if you are sitting before him. If a son writes a letter to his mother whom he calls, Baa, then he should greet her as follows: My dear Baa, My loving Baa, etc. and if you are used to convey Jaikrishna to your mother whenever you meet her or there is a traditional way of saluting the elders in your house, then you must use: My dear Baa, Jaikrishna, If you are writing a letter to your grandmother, whom you call Dadi Maa then you should greet her as: My dear Dadi Maa, Charan Sparsh, Charan Sparsh is a respectful salutation used generally in India. How to begin a personal letter? You can begin a letter with any of the following sentences : (a) I received your letter yesterday and was delighted to know that.. (b) I have just received your letter and noted the contents. (c) I got your letter and was delighted to know that you are coming here on the next Sunday. (d) The courier/the postman has just delivered your letter... (e) Everyone here was delighted to receive your much awaited letter yesterday. (f ) Your mother was filled with joy on receiving your letter yesterday. (g) Your delayed letter has been received by us just now and has removed our anxiety about your well being How to end a personal letter? Closing line You may use any of the following sentences as a closing line. (a) Please do write regularly. (b) Hope to get your reply soon. (c) Take care of your studies and do write every week without fail. (d) Rest is fine. Convey my regards to Mom. (e) I know you are very busy with your studies, yet you can just write a postcard. (f ) I expect you to write regularly in future. Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

7 A handbook for Letter Writing 13 Informal Letter Format (Letters to Family, Friends, Tenants etc.) Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

8 14 Personal Letters Sample Letters a. Letters to Relatives Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

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24 30 Personal Letters * You can use any greetings Dear Daddy or Respected Daddy or My dear Father. Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

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31 A handbook for Letter Writing 37 b. Letters to Friends Get Discount Coupons for your Coaching Institute and FREE Study Material at

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