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. AnonymousJanuary 28, 2012 at 10:58 AM

    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. Teacher NuhaJanuary 28, 2012 at 11:35 AM

    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. Teacher NuhaJanuary 28, 2012 at 8:12 PM

    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. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2012 at 11:18 PM

    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. Teacher NuhaJanuary 30, 2012 at 10:27 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  6. COMMUNITY AFFAIRSAugust 4, 2012 at 3:18 PM

    NICE ONE..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Teacher NuhaAugust 31, 2012 at 11:21 AM

    Thanks COMMUNITY AFFAIRS.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Miss DeeSeptember 5, 2012 at 10:27 AM

    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
  9. Teacher NuhaSeptember 5, 2012 at 7:56 PM

    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 :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2012 at 2:42 PM

    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
  11. Teacher NuhaSeptember 16, 2012 at 7:20 PM

    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
  12. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2013 at 1:42 PM

    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
  13. Teacher NuhaApril 9, 2013 at 4:20 PM

    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
  14. LuqmanJune 26, 2013 at 10:30 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousAugust 1, 2013 at 7:00 PM

    Great work done right up there!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. UnknownOctober 23, 2013 at 12:32 AM

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

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousMarch 25, 2014 at 11:31 AM

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

    ReplyDelete
  18. Teacher NuhaMarch 25, 2014 at 11:45 AM

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

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousMay 14, 2014 at 12:02 AM

    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
  20. Teacher NuhaMay 14, 2014 at 5:36 AM

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

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousAugust 6, 2014 at 3:35 AM

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

    ReplyDelete
  22. Teacher NuhaAugust 8, 2014 at 11:28 AM

    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
  23. ArimaChezhianSeptember 22, 2015 at 6:52 PM

    he he he

    ReplyDelete
  24. Asyraf14September 27, 2015 at 12:27 PM

    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.😊😁😆

    ReplyDelete
  25. Asyraf14September 27, 2015 at 12:27 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Ainin SofiyaOctober 4, 2015 at 8:26 PM

    this fomat gives me some bettter idea

    ReplyDelete
  27. AryamanDecember 22, 2015 at 9:35 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  28. AryamanDecember 22, 2015 at 10:08 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  29. UnknownMay 18, 2016 at 9:14 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  30. UnknownAugust 5, 2016 at 10:46 PM

    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
  31. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2017 at 9:49 AM

    good

    ReplyDelete
  32. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2017 at 5:54 PM

    hi

    ReplyDelete
  33. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2017 at 5:56 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  34. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2017 at 5:58 PM

    im lavanya who ask for the email

    ReplyDelete
  35. AnonymousFebruary 5, 2017 at 6:36 PM

    This would help me so much. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  36. AnonymousMarch 9, 2017 at 9:51 PM

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

    ReplyDelete
  37. UNKNOWNMay 17, 2017 at 6:39 AM

    Thanks teacher nuha ,this will help me

    ReplyDelete
  38. AnonymousMay 17, 2017 at 6:45 AM

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

    ReplyDelete
  39. AnonymousMay 18, 2017 at 11:57 AM

    thank you so much it helped a lot

    ReplyDelete
  40. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2018 at 6:31 PM

    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!!

    ReplyDelete
  41. genius786March 18, 2018 at 9:03 PM

    Formal and Informal English Letters Writing is part of English Paper.

    ReplyDelete
  42. ASBSMarch 21, 2018 at 11:11 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  43. AnonymousApril 30, 2018 at 10:36 AM

    this things just fucking not a useless

    ReplyDelete
  44. EngvartaJuly 3, 2018 at 3:19 PM

    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.
    English Practice App | English Learning App

    ReplyDelete
  45. john buttSeptember 24, 2018 at 2:50 PM

    Thank You...I'm From Butt Industry... apa salahnya makan petai

    ReplyDelete
  46. Ravi PundakSeptember 24, 2018 at 2:56 PM

    ravi pundak ravi pundak maule... ewah:D

    ReplyDelete
  47. john fuckSeptember 25, 2018 at 5:28 PM

    danish punda danish punda mavale
    danish fadli

    ReplyDelete
  48. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2019 at 8:42 PM

    I think this format will help me in my exam

    ReplyDelete
  49. Mike RogersMay 14, 2020 at 9:24 PM

    I work in Guruji Educational is a Brand deal in online Education through different apps, prepared for the purpose of documenting professional development in the Education field such as
    Logical Reasoning
    English Grammar
    English Stories
    SSC CGL 2020
    Learn English
    PreSchool Learning
    and follow our blogs @
    english grammar in hindi
    Education Blogs
    Suman Dhawa
    Guruji Educational

    ReplyDelete
  50. raj biswasDecember 10, 2021 at 6:27 PM

    Short Bedtime English Stories is a free app that gathers a lot of free english stories collection, and the interface design is simple. After opening, you can select the storybook you want to read, quickly scan at least more than 30 categories, and there are Short Stories ,
    Animal Stories, Classic Stories, Bedtime Stories, Kid Stories,

    ReplyDelete
  51. AnonymousOctober 30, 2024 at 12:47 PM

    I appreciate you providing this useful article. I found the information to be extremely helpful and learned a lot. Read this article if you haven't already Geometry Dash. This game is entertaining, but it's also frustrating! I adore the feeling of achievement I get after I finish a level. Your patience will be put to the test, but Geometry Dash is worth it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Mr Kilmer Form 5 SPM – Sample Answers

-
Please refer to: 1.       Dear Mr Kilmer – Important Event Notes 2.       Dear Mr Kilmer – Exam Practices Question 1 (SPM 2007) ‘It is important to have a person you look up to in your life.’ From the novel that you have read, write about one character that you look up to. Give reasons why you choose him/her. Sample answer Event The novel that I read was ‘Dear Mr Kilmer’ by Anne Schraff. One character that I looked up to was Richard. There were three reasons why I looked up to Richard. Firstly, he loved animals. This was shown when Richard purposely missed shooting a buck. Richard thought that hunting was not important. Richard could not kill animals. Gus, Richard’s elder brother, was upset with Richard because Richard purposely misfired. Richard’s father, Pa, was also disappointed with Richard. Pa asked Richard why he purposely missed shooting the buck. Richard told Pa that he had no right to kill it. Richard told Pa that he fel
Read more

Poem - The Dead Crow by A. Samad Said

-
Image
The author The Dead Crow is a poem written by Dato' A. Samad Said , whose real name is Abdul Samad Muhammad Said. Dato' A. Samad Said A. Samad Said was the first Malay author to successfully unite craft with art in his writing. The literary excellence of his work is a product of his consciousness in craftsmanship. He pioneered a new style of writing, simultaneously continuing the idealism of the Generation of the Fifties and renewing its approach to literature. Born in Malacca in 1935, A. Samad Said is great Malaysian writer and has been honoured with the title of Sasterawan Negara (National Laureate). He has worked as a writer and journalist and now devotes himself completely to writing. The English translation of his novel, Salina (1975), achieved international recognition. A. Samad Said was awarded national recognition as a Literary Pioneer in 1976 and received the Anugerah Sastera Negara (National Literary Award) in 1985. The Poem The
Read more