UNIT X

DEAR STUDENTS: PARTS AND KINDS

OF FORMAL LETTER

The goal of this course is to measurably build on student’s

academic English language skills by engaging them in listening,
reading, writing, and grammar learning activities that are
relevant to real-world encounters in university and professional
workplace environment.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TARGET OUTCOMES

 What are the parts of a

formal letter?  Familiarize the essence
 How do we use each kind of formal letter
of formal letter,  Identify the kinds of
effectively?
formal letter
 How to use properly each
part of the formal letter?  Understand the basic
structure in writing a
 What are the benefits of
using the formal letter in a formal letter
real-life situation?  Exhibit understanding
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in writing by
 UN.-..OCKIN--. WO.-.DS
Unlock the hidden words by putting the correct transcription of each number which
corresponds to the symbols in the Morse code. Number 1. is done for you.

MORSE CODE CHART

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 What is a formal letter?

It is a type of letter that usually used in a professional setting which uses a professional language
with a prescribed format for a formal purpose. More often, formal letter is used in transactions
particularly, in business fields and when talking with a professional client/personnel in a work field.

EXAMPLE FORMAT FOR A FORMAL LETTER

EXAMPLE OF A FORMAL LETTER

Norhville 4A , Lambakin
Marilao, Philippines 3019
June 12, 2020

Arlene Gabona
Tongco St. Maysan
Valenzuela, Philippines 1440

Dear Ms. Arlene Gabona,

I really appreciate your understanding and support regarding the changes we are making to the module
of the subject, English for Academic and Professional Purposes.

I feel that these changes will greatly contribute to the development of our current project, and facilitate
the organization of those in the plans.

Thank you for trusting my capabilities. Rest assured that you will be satisfied with the results of my
hard work and perseverance. Thank you, ma‘am!

Best regards,
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Jerwin Sonon
PARTS OF A FORMAL LETTER

Sender’s Address
• it is the part of the letter wherein the sender will write his or her name and its company
or organization’s name.
Date
• the date line is used to indicate the date of the letter was written. Note, if you are about
to write a letter in a company internationally, make sure to write the accepted date line
format that they have. Always write the month first before the date (e.g. June 5, 2020).

Name/designation’s Addressee
• the part of the letter wherein the sender will indicate the name of the person who will
receive the letter. It is always the best to write the specific individual at the firm,
company, or organization to which you are writing.
Recipient’s Address
• in this part you are about to indicate the addressee’s company or institution address.
Salutation
• it is where the sender will give his/her greeting to the addressee. Usually, you may
greet them with a “dear” the state the first name of the addressee (if you personally
know the addressee) or use their title in the company or general term to address them
(e.g. Dear Sir/Ma’am, Dear Director, etc.).
Subject
• it refers to the main purpose of writing the letter. Most of the time the subject is a one
sentence overview of the entire content of your letter. The subject of the letter must be
specific and concise.

Body
• the part of a letter wherein the sender will explain one by one the intention in writing
the said letter. The details about the concern topic and what are the other information
that the addressee needs to know.

Closing
• it is where the sender is about to end the content of the letter. It usually includes
closing remarks such as “Thank you”, “Have a nice day” and such.
Signature Name of the sender
• the second to the last part of the letter, wherein the sender will indicate his/her name
as the signatory of the letter he/she has made.

Designation of the sender

• the last part of the letter which indicate the position of the sender in his or her
department, company, institution, or organization.

To address the person involve in your letter, you may use Mr., Ms., or Mrs., especially if you know exactly the
name of the recipient. If you are addressing a woman and you are uncertain how to address her, you may use “Miss”
or use her title in the company such as “Dr.”, “Engr.”, etc. If you are not sure about the name of the recipient of the
letter you may address him or her to its title or position in the company or organization. (e.g. The Vice President, The
Director, The Department Head, The Head Consultant). 78
 THINGS TO CONSIDER IN WRITING A FORMAL LETTER

Here are some of the things that you may to consider in when you are about to
write your own formal letter.

Alignment- in writing a formal letter the standardized format will be left-justify.

But putting indentions at the first word of every paragraph in the body of the letter
is accepted.

Font style and size- the prescribed or commonly used font style in writing a formal
letter is Times New Roman for the reason that it is more formal to look and use,
and the prescribed font size is 12. Even though, other font style such as Arial and
Calibri are also acceptable to use.

Punctuation- Markings such as colon, semi-colon, comma, and period are the
commonly used punctuations in writing a formal letter. Colon and semi-colon are
used after the salutation or greeting part of your letter and before indicating the
subject of the letter, while comma and period are used in almost every part of the
letter, from the address, down to the body and up to the signatory part of the letter
these two markings are indeed useful. Proper punctuation is a must especially if it is
a written form of communication. So be mindful in using different kinds of
punctuatioms.

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 WALANG GANON, MARS!

DIRECTIONS: Read each statement carefully. Write SA TRUE! if the underlined

words/phrases are true. Write WALANG GANON MARS! if the statement is incorrect, and
change the word/s that make/s the statement incorrect. (2 points each)

____________1. Formal letters are type of communicative process wherein, the sender
used common and personal language to deliver the intention of sending a letter.

____________2. In writing a formal letter the sender must know the parts of it. A formal
letter consists of 10 parts.

____________3. Salutation is where the sender addresses his/her client or recipient.

The part of the letter where he/she may greet the addressee in a very formal manner by
means of using “Dear” or “Good day”.

___________4. Designation of the Addressee refers to the position or status of the

recipient in the company, organization, or institution where he/she belongs.

__________5. The standardized format in writing a formal letter is what we called

blocked or left-justified format.

__________6. In writing the date letter when the sender finished it, must be written with
the day, month, and the year it has been done.

__________7. The body of the letter is responsible in giving the reason why the sender
is intended to write the letter. In giving the necessary information, the sender must
vaguely write his/her reason for writing, mislead its recipient about the topic being
mentioned, and do not specify important information that will help the addressee to fully
understand the situation.

_________ 8. Times New Roman font style is the commonly accepted font to use when
writing a formal letter. Due to the reason that it gives a formal look in the content and
feature of the letter itself.
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_________ 9. Closing part is responsible for giving signal to its recipient that the content
of the letter is about to end.

_________ 10. Address of the Recipient’s company, institution, or organization can be

usually found at the header part of the letter.

DREAM COLLEGE UNIVERSITY

Assuming that you want to take an admission test in your dream local or foreign
college university, write an INTENT LETTER considering the parts and kinds of
formal writing. Letters shall be uploaded to our Official Facebook Group

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 REFERENCES

Doyle, A. (2019). Different Types of Letters with Examples. Retrieved from

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/types-of-letters-with-samples-2062558

Just letter templates.com (2020). Types of Formal Letters. Retrieved from

https://justlettertemplates.com/types-of-formal-letter.html

Nvtc.ee (2020). Rules in Writing Formal Letters. Retrieved from http://www.nvtc.ee/e-

oppe/Varkki/layout/rules_for_writing_formal_letters.html

Wickford, H. (2018). 10 types of Business Letters. Retrieved from https://work.chron.com/10-

types- business-letters-9438.html

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