COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN ENGLISH

WHAT IS LETTER?

• Letters are a form of verbal and written communication, which contains information or message, send by one party to another, to convey the message.
• It is sent by one party to another, to provide certain important information.

TYPES OF LETTERS

• There are two types of letters, i.e. formal letters and informal letters.

DEFINITION OF FORMAL LETTERS

• A formal letter is any letter written in the professional language, with a prescribed format for a formal purpose, i.e. it can be a recommendation letter, enquiry letter, complaint letter, cover letter and so on.
• All business letters are formal, but vice versa is not possible. Such letters are used for a reasons like a formal invitation, proposal, reference, making a complaint or inquiry, applying for a job.

EXAMPLE OF FORMAL LETTER

10 September 2022

DEFINITION OF INFORMAL LETTERS

• An informal letter is a letter written to someone, we know fairly well, The letter can be used for some reasons like conveying messages, news, giving advice, congratulate recipient, request information, asking questions, etc.
• It is a personal letter, written to whom you are familiar with, like friends, siblings, parents or any other closed one. There is no specific format prescribed for writing this letter.

EXAMPLE OF INFORMAL LETTER

10 September 2022

FORMAL LETTERS AND INFORMAL LETTERS

• The formal letter is written for business or professional purposes with a specific objective in mind. It uses simple language, that can be easy to read and interpret.
• On the contrary, informal letters are written to friends and relative for personal communication and uses a casual or an emotional tone. The article excerpt presents you all the important differences between formal and informal letters in a detailed manner.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOTH

• Formal letters are usually written in a the third person, however, for business letters, first person is used. On the contrary, informal letters are written in first, second and third person.
• Formal letters are written for official or professional communication. On the other hand, informal letters are used for casual or personal communication.
• There is a manner prescribed for writing formal letters. As opposed to informal communication, which does not follow any format.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOTH

• Formal letters are used for writing letters to business i.e. partners, suppliers, customers, clients, etc., college or institute, employer, professionals, etc. As against this, we use informal letters for writing letters to friends, relatives, acquaintance, etc.
• While writing formal letters, we use passive voice. Conversely, an active and imperative voice is used.
• The sentences we use at the time of writing a formal letter are, long and complex. Unlike an informal letter, where we use short and simple sentences which are simple sentences, which are easy to interpret.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOTH

• The size of a formal letter should be concise; that does not include the informal letter can be concise or large.
• Formal letters do not include contraction like (didn’t, can’t) and abbreviations rather it uses full forms. As compared to informal letters, which makes use of contraction, abbreviation, idioms, phrasal verbs and even slang and colloquial terms.

KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOTH

CONCLUSION

• So, before start writing letter, first of all, you should identify, Who is your recipient? If you are having a professional relationship with the recipient, then you should go for a formal letter, whereas if the recipient is someone very close to you or you know the recipient well, then the informal letter is the right choice for you.