Informal Letter or Email-Tips/Sample questions and answers

An informal letter or email is usually between people who know each other fairly well. In addition to giving news, they are often used to request information, congratulate people, give advice and ask questions. There are a lot of similarities between informal letters and conversation. Informal letters ask a lot of questions, show interest and enthusiasm, and imagine a lot of shared information.

NOTE

In many exam questions, you will be told what to include in your reply. Make sure that your reply answers any questions that you were asked in the task and takes into account any additional information that you have been told to mention. It is important that you include these in order to get a good grade.

Tips

Salutation or Greeting

• Start with Dear followed by the first name of the person to whom you are writing. In emails, you can also start with Hi (and the person’s name). Dear Ben,  or  Hi Ben,
  (Don’t forget to use only the first name of the person you are writing to and not Dear Mr John, which is never used, or Dear Mr John Brown, which sounds too formal.)
• Informal letters sometimes have a comma after the person’s name, and the letter starts on the line below. The important thing is to be consistent with the style that you choose to use (so if you use a comma after the person’s name at the start of the letter, use a comma after the closing statement at the end).

Openings

When writing an informal letter, you are usually replying to another letter. You would normally start with a greeting, then acknowledge the letter to which you are replying. It is often a good idea to acknowledge some key information given in the original letter too. You can also make a comment on your own reply.

Useful phrases for the opening

• How are you? / How have the family been? / I hope you are well.
• Thank you / Many thanks for your (recent/last) letter / postcard.
• It was good / nice / great to hear from you again.
• I was so surprised to hear that…
• I’m sorry I haven’t written / haven’t been in touch for such a long time.
• It’s ages since I’ve heard from you. I hope you’re well / you and your family are well.
• How are things? / How are you? / How’s it going?

Other useful phrases:

Referring to news

• Great news about … Glad to hear that … Sorry to hear about …

Giving news

• Listen, did I tell you about …? You’ll never believe what …
• Oh, and another thing … This is just to let you know that …
• I thought you might be interested to hear about / know that …
• By the way, have you heard about / did you know that …?

Apologies

• I’m writing to apologise for missing your party but I’m afraid I was with flu.
• I’m really sorry that I forgot to send you a birthday card but I was busy with my new job.

Invitations

• I’m / We’re having a party on Friday 19th and I / we hope you’ll be able to come.
• Would you like to come / go to see ‘Room With a View’ with me at the weekend?
• I was wondering if you’d like to go to the theatre / come on holiday with us.
• Could you let me / us know if you can come / you’d like to join us?
• Thank you very much for your invitation. I’d love to come.
• Thank you for asking / inviting me to … but I’m afraid I won’t be able to …

Requests

• I’m writing to ask for your help / you (if you could do me) a favour.
• I wonder if / I was wondering if you could help me / do me a favour.
• I hope you don’t mind me asking but could you (possibly) …?
• I’d be very / really / terribly grateful if you could …

Thank you / Congratulations / Good Luck

• I’m writing to thank you for your hospitality / the wonderful present.
• It was so kind of you to invite me to stay with you.
• I really appreciated all your help / advice.

• Congratulations on passing your exams / your excellent exam results!
• I wish you good luck / Good luck in / with your exams / your driving test / your interview.

• Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do well / pass.
• Do be on time, won’t you, and don’t forget to …

Making suggestions and recommendations

• Why don’t you …? / Maybe you could …? / How about …?
• You can’t leave New York without (…doing sth)
• I’m sure you will enjoy (…doing sth). If you like, we can …
• Do visit … / Don’t forget to …

Closings

The end of your letter is as important as the beginning. There are some standard ways of finishing an informal letter or email.

• Give a reason why you’re ending the letter: Anyway, I must go and get on with my work! / I guess it’s time I got on with that studying I’ve been avoiding.
• Send greetings and/or make reference for future contact: Give my love / regards to… / Say hello to… / Anyway, don’t forget to let me know the dates of the party. / I’ll try and phone you at the weekend to check the times. / We must try and meet up soon. / I can’t wait to hear from you / Look forward to seeing you again / Hope to hear from you soon / See you soon / Write soon
• Closing statement such as Love, Lots of love, All the best, Take care, Best wishes, should be written on a new line. If you used a comma after the opening greeting, use a comma here too.
• Signing off: Your first name then follows on another new line.