Informal lettersBeginnings

• In an informal letter to a friend it may be appropriate to begin by mentioning a letter which you have recently received, or by making general friendly comments.

Useful language

Many thanks for your letter …It was lovely to hear from you.I was glad to hear that you had a good holiday.I hope you and the family are well.

• Giving advice

Useful languageYou asked me for advice on ….Have you thought about ….It might be a good idea to ….One thing I would suggest is ….

• Endings

It is usual to end letters which expect a reply with a sentence on a separate line. For example:

Looking forward to hearing from you / seeing you.Hope to hear from you soon / see you soon.Write and tell me how you are getting on.Write soon /See you soon.

• Closing salutation

Best wishes and Yours followed by your name on the next line are useful general endings. For close friends you can end with Love

Hope to hear from you soonBest wishesGianni

Formal and informal letters

• BeginningIt was great to hear from you. __I am writing with reference to your letter of 25

May. __Thanks for writing to me. __

Congratulations

Well done! __I would like to offer congratulations on your

recent promotion. __Please allow me to congratulate you on your

recent success. __

Advice / suggestion

Why not try __What about going __It is recommended that you contact __You could visit __I urge you to consider the points I have made.

__If I were you I’d __

Linkers

Moreover, __Then again, __Furthermore, __Better still, __What’s more, __Additionally, __

Endings

Do drop me a line if you have time. __I look forward to hearing from you without

delay. __Hope to hear from you soon. __Keep in touch. __I hope to hear from you at your earliest

convenience. __

• A formal letter/email of complaint about “Fairplay”(fictional band) concert

Nguyen Van AnXxxxxx

Dear Mr Wilden,

I am writing to you to complain about the concert of “Fairplay” that you organised.

There were a series of problems about the concert. First

of all, in my opinion, the ticket price was too high, and it was not worth it, provided the concert was awful.