Formal Writing 2022 - Language & Writing Style

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

SE Skill Test - Writing a formal letter 

- 50 Minuten 

- Woordenboek Ned. - Eng. toegestaan

- Gebruik nooit de achterkant van je papier

- Maak je brief eerst in klad en schrijf dan netjes over

- Denk aan de conventies, leer die uit je hoofd

- Zorg dat je alle onderdelen in je brief hebt verwerkt

- Hou de tijd en aantal woorden (10% meer of minder is geen probleem) in de gaten. 

Check pre-existing knowledge

Dear Sir/Madam,

Your name and address

recipient's address

The date

Introduce yourself + reason of writing

Explanation of the situation

Conclusion

Closing sentence

Your name

signature

1

   2

  3

  4

   5

   6

   7

  8

   9

   10

What is the correct opening greeting if you DO NOT know who will read your letter?

How do you say; 'Ik ben goed in..'

How do you say; 'Ik schrijf naar U omdat ik graag wil solliciteren naar.....'

How do you say; 'Ik werk al twee jaar bij COOP nu'

How do you say;
'Ik ben zestien jaar en ben net geslaagd voor mijn middelbaarschool examen.'

How do you say;
'Ik zit in de vierde klas van middelbaaronderwijs.'

How do you end a formal letter?

1. Greetings,
2. Yours sincerely,
3. Sincerely,
4. Yours faithfully,

How can we start paragraph 1?

1. Hello!
2. I'm ...
3. My name is ...
4. Good day

How do you say 'ik zit op de Winkler Prins (WP)'

1. I sit on the WP
2. I am on the WP
3. I am at the WP
4. I go to the WP

Which one is correct?

1. I am a fourteen-year-old boy/girl
2. I am a boy/girl and I am fourteen
3. I am a fourteen years old boy/girl
4. I am 14 and a boy/girl

Which one is correct

1. The reason I write you is...
2. The reason I am writing you is...
3. The reason i am writing you is
4. The reason i write you is...

Mind the following

In a formal letter all words MUST be written in full

So do not use:  isn’t, it’s of won’t, but:

is not, it is en will not. Gonna and wanna  are a definite NO GO!

For names of magazines or newspapers, use quotation marks. The ‘Telegraaf’.

DOs

1. Make it neat.
2. Use signal words and the appropriate tenses, wherever necessary
3. Use paragraphs ( and use blank lines to clearly separate them)
4. Use a difficult grammar item every now and then (passive, relative clauses)
5. At the end, check your work!
   

Don'ts

1.  DON'T forget about the lay-out
2.  DON'T use abbreviations / contractions (like I'll, didn't)
3.  DON'T use the first translation you find in a dictionary without checking. 
4. DON'T forget content elements 
5. DON'T use swear words or street language 
6. DON'T use dumb language (gonna, kinda, u, ur, w8, like ... you know, etc.) 

Frequent mistakes

Capital Letters:

When you talk about "ik", "i" is wrong, it is always “I” 

Days of the week, months : Monday, Tuesday, August, October

FORMAL

INFORMAL

Long sentences

Short sentences

Active voice

Passive voice

Email

Application letter

No contractions

Frequent mistakes

Word Order

Wrong:  

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

Right: 

In my opinion it is great to live in New York

• Use adverbs and adjectives to make your writing come alive

Dear Sir/Madam,

 Yours faithfully, 

Jouw adres met daarboven je naam bij sollicitatiebrief

Inhoud formele brief

datum

Adres van de ander

https:

Tekst

True

False

Je gebruikt Dear Sir/Madam, als je de naam niet weet bij een formele brief

Yours sincirely is goed geschreven

Het woord 'love' is een goeie afsluiting voor een informele brief

Je mag afkortingen gebruiken in een informele brief

Most of those heroes have spend half there lifes trying to be ordinary people. (3)

Ones they where traveling threw South America whit some friends when too of them were kidnaped. (6)

Those lady’s were trying to get some potato's, tomato's and loafs of bread for free. (4)

Their are five books about wit here; this one is a lot funnyer then the other once, don’t you think so too? (4)

Write down 3 mistakes from the previous letter

Zakelijke brief Engels

Let op!

Je mag in een formele brief geen afkortingen gebruiken. Dus: 

I'm happy = I am happy

There's = There is

Na elke alinea gebruik je een witregel.