LETTER WRITING is a very useful art for it is, indeed, impossible to conceive of a human being who does not at all Feel the necessity of writing letters to friends, relatives, officers, strangers or businessmen.

KINDS OF LETTERKINDS OF LETTER

Private letters Business letters Official letters

PRIVATE LETTERSPRIVATE LETTERSThese letters are written to

friends, relatives, acquaintances and strangers. The language of such letters is simple, direct, natural and conversational. A humorous touch here and there adds to the interest of the letter……

BUSINESS LETTERS:BUSINESS LETTERS:These letters are written to

shopkeepers, merchants, commercial firms, customer, dealers, manufacturers and commission agents. These are also written to certain officials, who have to deal with the public.

As every officer is too much busy to spend a lot of time in lengthy correspondence. Letter to and from these people therefore are very brief and exact.

OFFICIAL LETTERSOFFICIAL LETTERSThese letters consist of

applications to officers, and correspondence between two officers on official matters. These letters are very formal and to the point.

whatever the kind of a letter, it may generally be divided into six parts:-

1)The heading2)The salutation3)The communication4)The subscription5)The signature6)The superscription

THE HEADING:THE HEADING:It consist of the writer’s complete postal address and the date. It is written at the top right hand corner of the paper. The address is written above, in two or three lines; and the date, just below that; as:

1, jahangir street, islamia park, Lahore.

January 25, 2013.

THE SALUTATIONTHE SALUTATIONIt is a form of

greeting and it depends upon the relation or the degree of intimacy between the writer and the person to whom the letter is written. It therefore, differ from different person’s; as:

FATHERMOTHER

DEAR FATHER, DEAR MOTHER,

UNCLEAUNT

DEAR UNCLE, DEAR AUNT,

THE COMMUNICATIONTHE COMMUNICATIONIt Is the main part of the letter. It begins at a lower level than the salutation; as:

Dear Farhat, Thank you for your kind letter

of…….. It is decidedly the most important of all the parts and is rightly called the body of the letter. It must therefore receive the greatest amount of attention and care. The following points in this connection may be kept in mind:-

Unless the letter is very short, divide it into paragraphs, each dealing with a separate fact or item.

Arrange the paragraphs in their logical order with a view to presenting the facts in the best possible way. This should particularly be the case with business as well as official letters.

Let a private letter be without any formality, but it should not be formless.

Write neatly and mind your punctuation as well as spelling.

THE SUBSCRIPTIONTHE SUBSCRIPTIONIt is rude to end the letter abruptly. Certain forms of polite leave-taking are therefore prescribed to show respect (in official letters), regards (in business letters) and affection (in private letters). It differs with different person’s; as:

RELATION SUBSCRIPTIONPARENTS Yours

Affectionately,Your loving son,

BROTHER AND SISTER

Your loving Brother,

INTIMATE FRIENDS

Yours sincerely,Your own, yours Ever,

Acquaintances Yours truly,

Businessmen Yours faithfully,

Officers Yours obediently,

THE SIGNATURETHE SIGNATURE

It should be written clearly, just below the subscription, so that the reader may know whom to address in reply; as:

Yours affectionately,

HASSAN RAZA.

THE SUPERSCRIPTIONTHE SUPERSCRIPTIONIt is written on the envelope or at

the back of the letter. The first line contains the name etc. of the addressee; the next, his occupation, business or designation (if any); the third, the name (or the number) ; of his house as well as the name of the street; and the last, the name of the town. If, however, the addressee lives in some village, the last line contains the name of the district or the post-office.

Syed Arsalan Raza

EXSERCISEEXSERCISE

How many kinds a letter has?

How many parts are there of a letter?

For intimate friend what type of subscription we use?

(3)

(6)

Yours Sincerely,

EXAMPLE WRITTINGEXAMPLE WRITTING 316,shah raza manzil, Toghi Road,

Quetta. January 05,

2013. My dear Father, My result has just been

announced. I am glad to inform you that I have been declared successful. I stand first in English. I shall get a prize for showing the best result in this subject. It is all due to your prayers granted by Allah.

With love and best wishes your loving son, HASSAN.

Formal LetterFormal LetterHelpful PhrasesHelpful Phrases

Type of Letters

Opening Closing

Complaint  I am a resident of the Gulshan-e- Iqbal and I am writing in to complain about...

I seriously hope that you would look into the complaints that I have raised and remedy the situation as soon as possible.

Thank you.

 Invitation On behalf of the school, we would like to invite you to our Annual Speech and Prize Giving Day to be held on March 15th in the school hall.

We sincerely hope that you will accept our invitation and we look forward to your presence on that day.

Thank you.