Formal letter

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo k
• Leerjaar 4

Formal letter 

Goal

At the end of this lesson you know 

-how to write a formal letter

-which language is suitable for a formal letter

-how to structure a formal letter

Check pre-existing knowledge

Dear Sir/Madam,

Your address

recipient's adress

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 end a formal letter?

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

What is the first thing you should start paragraph 1 with?

1. introduction of yourself
2. My name is ...
3. The reason for writing
4. Hello, I want to tell you ...

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.

How do you say 'ik zit op De Lage Waard?'

1. I sit on the Lage Waard.
2. I am on the Lage Waard.
3. I study at the Lage Waard.
4. I go to the Lage Waard.

Informal

Formal

it's

you're

I'm 

it is

you are

I am

Hi 

Dear Sir / Madam

Kind regards, 

Bye

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’.

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

Frequent mistakes

Word Order

Wrong:

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

Correct:

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

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.) 

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!
   

How do you write the date?

1. 29-09-2022
2. 29 September, 2022
3. September 29 2022
4. The 29th of September, 2022

Which words can you use
to link sentences/paragraphs?

Create an ending to a formal letter:
(ik hoop snel van u te horen)

Format 

• Use adverbs and adjectives to make your writing come alive