Official/ Formal letter
There are different kinds of formal letters, e.g. a letter of application, a letter to the editor of
a newspaper, a letter of complaint, etc.
While the letters may set different requirements for the writer, the following are applicable
to all of them:
Style
 The formal letters must be written in direct, simple English. The writer must
keep in mind that the intended audience should understand what is
communicated for the results/ response to be positive.
The letter should be …
 clear and straightforward – the recipient must not be left wondering at what
you are trying to communicate;
 concise and to the point; and
 logical.
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Structure
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All letters should have an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
There must be two addresses, the writer’s and the recipient’s;
A formal salutation – Dear Sir, Dear Mrs Bukov, etc. - follows the
recipient’s address;
A title or subject line follows the salutation. This is a one-line summary of
the letter and should be underlined;
The language register must be formal;
The conclusion must also be formal – Yours faithfully – followed by
the writer’s surname and initials.
Issues to avoid
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Slang and colloquial language;
Contractions, abbreviations and acronyms;
Unsubstantiated accusations, threats that cannot be carried out, emotional
language, sarcasm, clichés, etc.
Formal Letter of complaint
Your
address and
date
No
punctuation
The Manager (Position)
Sam’s Supermarket (Company’s name)
258 Violet Avenue
Johannesburg
Address
2000
Recipient’s
Address
No
punctuation
28 Rose Street
Johannesburg
2000
14 February 2019
Sir/Madam
Customer Service Complaint (topic sentence: briefly indicate the purpose of your letter, must be
a phrase)
Introduction
Introduce yourself and briefly state the reason for your letter.
e.g. “I hope this letter reaches you in the best of health. My name is Sabeeha and I have recently
visited your supermarket. Regretfully, my experience was unsatisfactory as majority of your
goods were out of stock…)
Body
Give a detailed explanation of the purpose of your letter. Write each idea of your body in a
new paragraph.
Conclusion
Thank the recipient for reading your letter. Apologise for causing an inconvenience and state that
you will be looking forward to their response.
Yours Faithfully
No punctuation
Sabeeha (signature)
Ms S. Bhamjee –Name in print
28 Rose Street
Johannesburg
2200
30 November 2019
The Manager
Sam’s Supermarket
258 Violet Avenue
Johannesburg
2000
Sir/Madam
Poor quality of fresh produce
I hope this letter finds you in the best of health. My name is Megan and I have
recently visited your supermarket. Regretfully, my experience was unsatisfactory this
is because on the morning of Monday 20 November, I purchased a variety of fresh
fruit and vegetables from your store in Bayside. As the Items that I purchased were
already packed, it was only when I opened each container that I became aware
of the poor quality of each Item.
The salad ingredients were unable to be used, as the tomatoes were already turning,
soft and the Inside leaves of the lettuce were dry and brown. The fruit was also a
disappointment, as the bananas were over-ripe and the apples were dry and floury.
I did not return the unsatisfactory purchases to your store last week, as I live some
distance away and have a busy schedule. I appreciate the fact that your store is
always clean and well stocked, but you do need to ensure that your produce is
always fresh.
I hope that in future you will remove fruit and vegetables which are of a poor
standard and offer your customers produce of quality.
Yours faithfully
Megan Mooney
Ms M. Mooney
Activity:
1. Write a formal letter of complaint about buying a laptop from Incredible
Connection that is not working.
N.B. Your Letter must be the following length: 160-180 words.
Your address
Letter to the
editor
The Editor
Daily Dispatch
258 Violet Avenue
Johannesburg
2000
and date
No
punctuation
Recipient’s
Address
No
punctuation
28 Rose Street
Johannesburg
2000
14 February 2019
Address
Sir/Madam
Response to editorial published on 20-01-19 (topic sentence: briefly indicate the purpose of
your letter, must be a phrase)
Introduction
Introduce yourself and briefly state the reason for your letter.
Body
Give a detailed explanation of the purpose of your letter. Write each idea of your body in a
new paragraph.
Conclusion
Thank the recipient for reading your letter. Apologise for causing an inconvenience and state that
you will be looking forward to their response.
Yours Faithfully
No punctuation
Sabeeha (signature)
Ms S. Bhamjee –Name in print
28 Rose Street
Johannesburg
2000
14 February 2019
The Editor
The Daily Sun
258 Violet Avenue
Johannesburg
2000
Dear Sir/Madam
Cartoon about abuse of women distasteful
I was deeply shocked by the cartoon on page 4 of your
newspaper on Sunday, 11 November. The cartoon was headed
'House of Cardboard' and showed a group of women
attempting to hide in a house that was quite obviously too
weak to protect them.
South Africa has a terrible reputation as a country where women are at risk of
being hurt by brutes who do not respect them and who take advantage of the
fact that they are physically stronger than most women. This is a problem that
our government Is trying to address. It is a very serious matter and one which
should not be treated as a joke by newspapers such as your own.
I encourage my teenage children to read the newspaper and
to keep up to date with what is happening in the world. Young
people need positive influences and should be directed in
ways that will help them to grow up into caring. moral adults.
cartoons such as the one published in your newspaper can
have only a negative influence.
I trust that you will be more careful in the future regarding what you select for
publication of your newspaper.
Yours faithfully
Sameer Mayet
Mr S. Mayet
Activity
1.
a. Either write a letter to the editor
complaining about a racist article you
read in the Sunday Times.
b. Or
write a letter of complaint to the
manager of local supermarket
regarding a food item that you
bought.