Letter Writing

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Formal Letter Writing

Tips & Tricks

PTA T6

You are going to write either...

- a formal letter of application

- a formal letter of complaint

- a formal letter asking for information

Your own address:

Street Name + Number

Postal Code + City

Country

EXAMPLE

Parallelweg 56

6231 CJ Meerssen

the Netherlands

Layout

Recipient's Address

(Organisation)

Recipient's name

Number + Street Name

City 

Postal Code 

Country

EXAMPLE

(Organisation) 

Harry Potter

4 Privet Drive

London 

WC2N 5DU 

United Kingdom

Lay-out

Date

Day Month, Year

EXAMPLE: 7 September, 2020

7 September 2020

Write down your own address for the purpose of a formal letter.

You write a letter to James Bond, who works for MI6. Write his information down. Make up the address.

Salutations & Closings: Option A

Condition: No specific name is known

Salutation: Dear Sir/Madam,

Closing: Yours faithfully,

Signature

Your First & Last Name

Salutations & Closings: Option B

Condition: Name recipient is known

Salutation: Dear Mr Brown, / Dear Ms Brown, / Dear Mrs Brown,

Closing: Yours sincerely,

Signature

Your First and last name

Create a salutation and closing for the letter to James Bond.

Which closing do you use if you do not know the recipient's name?

1. Kind regards,
2. Greetings,
3. Yours faithfully,
4. Regards,

DOs

1. Write full sentences in proper English.
2. Use signal words/linking words, wherever necessary
3. Use a paragraph for each part of the assignment ( as signified by indentation/blank line)
4. Use formal and polite language
5. At the end, check your work.

Don'ts

1. Forget about the lay-out rules
2.  Use the first translation you find in a dictionary without checking whether it fits the context
3. Forget content elements (-2 points, in case of full paragraph: + average number of mistakes)
4. No swearing / popular language / spoken language
5. Literal translation of Dutch sentence structures

Frequent mistakes

Capital Letters:

i is wrong, it is always “I” (ik)

Days of the week, months, languages, countries : Monday, Tuesday, August, October, the Netherlands, Dutch

Frequent mistakes

Word Order

basis: wie-doet-wat-waar-wanneer

Wrong: Bepaling - ww - Onderwerp 

In my opinion is it great to live in New York.

Right: Bepaling – Onderwerp – ww

In my opinion it is great to live in New York

Frequent mistakes

Confusing Couples

There – they’re – their  

Your – you’re 

It’s – its 

Two – to - too 

I do not know where ... going

1. there
2. their
3. they are

I am sure it is autumn because the tree lost all ... leaves.

1. its
2. it's
3. it is
4. it

I do not get it. ... going to have to explain it to me.

1. your
2. your'e
3. you are

I love you ...

1. to
2. two
3. too
4. 2

You have written a formal letter, write an appropriate closing sentence to your letter.

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
say sorry

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
think about

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
get

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
It's about

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
Okay/OK

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
plus / also

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
a lot of

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
really, very

Give a formal alternative for this informal word:
kids

You are finished

Study your reader 'Letter Writing' to prepare for your writing test!