Guidelines to write an informal letter

1. Informal letters are written to friends & relatives.
2. The format:

Click on the above picture to enlarge.

3.  The language used is simple and friendly.
  • You can use contractions such as can’t, I’m, won’t, you’re and so on.
  • For examination, do not use slang like, “Hey, Wassup.” , “gonna” , “kinda”, “wanna”

4. The format of writing an informal letter is explained in the following table:

Format
Explanation
Address
·        The writer’s address is written at the top right-hand corner
·        For example:
25, Jalan Tebing 8/8,
Seksyen 8,
40000 Shah Alam,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Date
·        Written below the address.
For example: 6 June 2011

Greeting
·        Written on the left-hand side of the letter.
Begin with:
Ø  Dear........,
For example: Dear Amin, Dear Latifah,

Ø  Dearest…….., or My dear…., (for close friends & family)
For example: Dearest father, My dear Uncle Syed, Dearest Siti,

Opening
(1st paragraph)
You may begin your letter by:
·        Asking about the person’s health. For example:
Ø  How are you? I hope that you’re in the pink.
Ø  How’s your family getting on?
Ø  I’m fine and I hope you’re fine too.
Ø  I hope that you’re as fit as a fiddle.

·        Asking what the reader had been up to?
Ø  How’s the weather at your place?  Not too hot I hope.  
Ø  Did you get to visit your grandparents? 
Ø  Did you go on your trip to Paris as you had hoped?  They say Paris is a beautiful city.

·        Expressing happiness: For example:
Ø  I received your letter on…
Ø  I’m happy to receive your letter…
Ø  Thank you for your letter which I received…..
Ø  I’m so glad to hear…..
Ø  I’m glad to learn that….

·        Expressing sorrow:
Ø  I’m sorry to hear that…..

·        Expressing apology:
Ø  I’d like to say sorry for…
Ø  I’m sorry for not writing….

Content
(Several paragraphs)
·        In the 2nd paragraph, mention your main reason for writing the letter. You may use the following phrase:
Ø  In your last letter, you wanted me to describe / advice…..
Ø  I’m writing this letter to….

Closing
(Last paragraph)
Inform the reader that you are ending the letter. You may use the following phrases:
Ø  I’ll write again soon.
Ø  Do write to me soon.
Ø  Well, that’s about all for now.
Ø  Please give/send my regards to…
Ø  Please convey my warm regards to….
Ø  Let me pen off here.
Ø  Take care of yourself.
Ø  Hope to hear from you soon.
Ø  I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Ø  Hope to receive a reply from you.
Ø  Bye / Goodbye.

Signing off
If you are writing to your parents, you can sign off using:
Ø  Your loving daughter,
Ø  Yours lovingly,
Ø  Yours affectionately

If you are writing to friends or relatives, you can sign off using:
Ø  Your friend,
Ø  Yours sincerely,
Ø  Your niece / nephew,
Signature
Sign your name at the bottom of the letter in the right-hand corner.
For example:
Nuurunnuha


Download this topic by clicking at this link : Guidelines - Writing an Informal Letter

Comments

  1. Would like to know whether the current format of informal letter got some changes?

    the writer's address is written in top left-hand corner & the date as well. Signature also at the left hand side? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Anonymous, thanks for asking. As far as I'm concerned, there are no changes to the informal letter format. However, I'll double-check :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Quoting from Pn Rahmah Sayuti (www.engoasis.blogspot.com):

    "different countries have got a different style of writing an informal letter. it's rather difficult to say which is standard but for educational purposes, the textbooks will be our source of reference. to my knowledge, for school purposes, there hasn't been any change."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Teacher Nuha for your reply that somehow clear my doubt about that. Just that some Form 3 students were taught by their school's teacher that informal letter got that new format. I really hope there will be a formal announcement by the JPN if there are such changes. If it's not, it will cause confusion to students. Thanks again Teacher Nuha.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My pleasure. If there are any changes to the format, I'll update on my blog :)

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  6. Hi Nuha, great blog you have here. Very useful and I can see that you have put in a lot of time and effort to make this blog informative. Kudos for such an excellent work! Just a gentle reminder though -'Yours faithfully' is never used in informal letters, only formal. Instead, you could use 'Yours sincerely' in place of 'Yours faithfully'. Other than that, you've got an amazing site here! Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Miss Dee,
    First of all, thanks for the flattering comments which motivate me to keep on posting on my blog. Secondly, thanks for highlighting the "Yours faithfully" part.. will take it out from the post a.s.a.p. It's great to meet an English teacher & share our views :)

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  8. Teacher Nuha , for summary , how if i did not use my own words ? I mean like copying the whole text , will my marks deducted ? And if i use my own words means that i can score higher ??

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Anonymous,

    If you selectively copy the points from the text, no marks will be deducted. I always encourage my students to copy the points exactly from the text to avoid spelling or sentence errors. Use the correct sequence connectors like next, then, moreover, etc to get at least 3 marks for your language. If you want to use your own words, make sure the meaning of the sentence does not change from the original sentence.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Cikgu Nuha. Awesome blog! I would like to double check if contractions are really allowed in informal letters? To my knowledge, for Malaysian exams, contractions are not allowed.

    Thank you for your time.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Anonymous February 20, 2013 at 1:42 PM , thanks for your comment. Contractions are allowed only in informal letters & dialogues.

    Dear Julia Robert, thanks for sharing the link to your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Teacher Nuha, can you give me advices on how to improve my writing for PMR? Thank you :)

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  13. Great work done right up there!!!

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  14. I really think i can get A,thanks to your help :) great work and thanks again

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  15. hi, i would like to know if we need to write our name in bracket after signing? thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi, there is no need to write our name in brackets after signing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. can u not? I love your blog so much. I'm 16 years old. Well i think my english is damn weak. Would u like to be my tutor? I would love to hear if you wanted to :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dear Anonymous 12:02, if you need help for English, you may pose your questions here or email them to nuhazyun@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. For closing lines is it correct to write ?
    Looking forward to see you .

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear Anonymous 3:35 AM,

    For exam sake, write in a complete sentence:
    I'm looking forward to seeing you.

    "looking forward to" is a phrasal verb.
    That's why we need to write "looking forward to seeing...." NOT "...to see..."

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks for the info. Really helped me a lot. Keep on helping people in their english education. You might give a huge impact on students as well as the english educators of today.😊😁😆

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  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  23. this fomat gives me some bettter idea

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  24. Thank, Nuha ma'am. The letter helped me in my exam

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  25. Thank, Nuha ma'am. The letter helped me in my exam

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  26. how many words that I have to write?please answer..thank you!

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  27. For writing the date do we have to put a comma in between? Will the correct format be 5th August,2016 or 5th August 2016

    ReplyDelete
  28. hi teacher can teacher pls send me a sample malaysian food email for friend pls teacher it is emergency

    ReplyDelete
  29. im lavanya who ask for the email

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  30. This would help me so much. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Pls write an informal letter ...
    need one not this nonsense . no offense Teacher Nuha

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thanks teacher nuha ,this will help me

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  33. thank you teacher nuha this format of yours helped me to score 94% in my english . THANK YOU !

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  34. thank you so much it helped a lot

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  35. Hi...Your tips helped me a lot...My teacher was amazed looking at my informal letter..My letter was the best in my class...Thank You very much!!

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  37. this things just fucking not a useless

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  38. Much valuable details shared by you. I am inclined toward your blog for any future information. Thank you for sharing this valuable details here with us.
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  39. Thank You...I'm From Butt Industry... apa salahnya makan petai

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  40. ravi pundak ravi pundak maule... ewah:D

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  41. danish punda danish punda mavale
    danish fadli

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  42. I think this format will help me in my exam

    ReplyDelete
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