Formal and Informal Letters Formats with Examples for SBI PO

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Friends, as you know the letters can be broadly classified into two types. Those are 1. Formal Letters (Business Letters) and 2. Informal Letters (Personal Letters). In this post we shall discuss about the format of both the letter types.

Personal / Informal Letter Formats

An informal / personal letter has six parts, besides the address on teh envelope. These six parts are :

1. The address of the sender
2. The date
3. The salutation or greeting
4. The body of the letter (communication)
5. The subscription or complimentary close
6. The signature

Here is the format of a letter

1) The address of the sender

2) Date

3) The salutation

4) The body of the letter

5) The subscription

6) The signature

Now let us discuss these parts one by one

1. The address of the sender : As shown in the format, this is to be written on the top right-hand corner of the page. The punctuation mark (i.e., the comma) is essential at the end of each line. At the end of the last line of the

address, put a full stop.

For example :

Gr8AmbitionZ

South Ambazari Road,

Nagpur - 44 00 22

2. The date : The date is written just below the sender's address :

Example :

Gr8AmbitionZ

South Ambazari Road,

Nagpur - 44 00 22

* 5th June 2014

Put a full stop after writing the date.

There are two important ways of writing the date.

June 5, 2014 and 5th June, 2014.

3. The salutation : This will depend on the relation in which you stand to the person to whom you are writing.

When writing to a friend, address him / her by name : e.g : Dear Shivani

If you are writing to the members of your family, you can write : Dear Dad, Dear Mumma, etc..

The position of the salutation or the greeting is at the left-hand of the first page, on the next line after the date.

4. The body of the letter : This being the most important part of the letter, must be simple and pleasant to read.

The tone of the letter must be personal, you should write as you would speak to the person.

Let us discuss some important aspects of letter-writing :

• To mark the changes of subject matter, divide your letter into paragraphs.
• Say directly and clearly whatever you want to say. Use short and simple sentences.
• Put down your ideas in logical order.
• Write in a clean, neat and tidy writing, (legible) as your correspondent must understand what you want to say.
• Be careful of your punctuation, as incorrect punctuation marks may change the whole meaning of a sentence.

5. The subscription : The subscription or complimentary close must be written below the last words of the letter, and to the right-hand side of the page.

The most common form of closing the letter to both friends and relatives is : (use any of the following)

Yours affectionately,

Ever sincerely,

Yours,

Love,

The common form of closing a letter to friends is :

Yours sincerely,

Your sincere friend,

To parent is :

Your loving son / daughter,

Use a comma after the subscription. Note that there is no apostrophe in yours. [your's]

6. The Signature : This must come below the subscription and more to the right : For example

Yours faithfully,

Note that the first letter of the first word of the address, salutation, body of the letter, subscription and signature must begin with capital.

The address on the envelope though exactly not a part of the letter, is also to be written neatly.

Write it in the centre, towards the lower-half of the envelope. The first must give the name of your correspondent, then begins the address. Write the pin code number. The titles "Mr", "Mrs", and "Miss" are to be used before the names.

Formal or Business Letter Format 

A business letter differs from the personal letter in two ways. Firstly in form, and secondly in the language.

A business letter is written for a specific purpose. It's aim is to transact some particular business. Hence you have to be very precise and to the point in writing a business letter.

A buisiness letter has 7 parts. Those are

1. Sender's address.
2. The date.
3. The inside address.
4. The salutation.
5. The body of the letter.
6. The subscription.
7. The signature.

1. The Sender's address : This part corresponds to the sender's address in a personal letter.

2. The date : It  is to be writetn in the same order as the personal letter; below the sender's address.

3. The inside address : This is an addition. The position of the address is on the left, two or three lines below the line of the date.

Example :

Sender's address,

Date :

To

The Administrator,

Gr8AmbitionZ,

South Ambazari road,

Nagpur - 44 00 22.

4. Salutation : It should be written off the next line after the side address is completed :

The Administrator,

Gr8AmbitionZ,

South Ambazari road,

Nagpur - 44 00 22.

Sir,

Put a comma after Sir, (salutation). If the letter is addressed to a woman, the form is :

Madam,  - (Never write Dear madam)

If you know the person to whom you write the letter, then use,

Dear Mr. Reddy, or Dear Mrs. Sharma,

The title Mr., Mrs., or Miss, is placed before the name only.

5. The body of the letter : This is unlike the personal letter. Make your letter clear, to the point and courteous. Do not write any unnecessary and unwanted details. It must also be complete. All the information that is required

must be given.

6. The subscription : The most common forms are :

Yours faithfully,

Yours truly,

If you have used a personal name in the salutation, the form of the subscription should be :

Yours sincerely,

7. The Signature : In a formal letter, sign your name in full - not just the initials. Below the signature. Write the date. Below it, write the name of the sender into brackets in capital letters. If necessary, write the position of the

sender.

For example,

Yours faithfully,

(Shivani Sharma)

Asstt. Manager,

SBI

Note : As you are not allowed to disclose your name and other details in the exam, you can simply put xxxx or any dummy details of you. Don't write your real name and addresses.

That's all for now friends. You can check complete study materials of SBI PO Descriptive Test from here. Happy Reading :)

Uma Kantha Madala