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Chapter 1
Personal Letter
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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.
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Parts of a Personal Letter
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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.
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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.)
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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P.S. and end it with your initials. Skip a line after
the signature line to begin the postscript.
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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.
Stamped addressed envelop
Postage
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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.
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Address
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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)
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Punctuation
Commas
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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.
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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.
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A handbook for
Letter Writing
11
2. 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
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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,
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How to create an Elegant Personal Letter?
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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.
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12
Personal Letters
Some Tips for Personal Letters
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How to begin a personal letter?
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(d)
(e)
can begin a letter with any of the following sentences :
I received your letter yesterday and was delighted to know that..
I have just received your letter and noted the contents.
I got your letter and was delighted to know that you are coming here
on the next Sunday.
The courier/the postman has just delivered your letter.....
Everyone here was delighted to receive your much awaited letter
yesterday.
Your mother was filled with joy on receiving your letter yesterday.
Your delayed letter has been received by us just now and has
removed our anxiety about your well being
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(b)
(c)
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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.
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How to end a personal letter?
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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.
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A handbook for
Letter Writing
13
Informal Letter Format
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(Letters to Family, Friends, Tenants etc.)
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14
Personal Letters
Sample Letters
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a. Letters to Relatives
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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* You can use any greetings Dear Daddy or Respected Daddy or My
dear Father.
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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A handbook for
Letter Writing
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b. Letters to Friends
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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Personal Letters
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Letter Writing
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A handbook for
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