Some Important Points To Keep In Mind While Writing Official Letters

• On your official letter your name should appear at the bottom of the letter

• If you start your letter with Dear Sirs, you end it with “Yours faithfully”

• The abbreviation Enc. should appear at the bottom, on the left in the letter.

• Senders address should appear at the top, on the right of the leffer.

• The complimentary close of an

Dos And Dont's About Writing Official Letters - Part 1

Don'ts About Writing Official Letters - Part 2

• Write the date in this form: 23/1/2001 or 1/23/2001. It might cause confusion, e.g. 2/1/2001 Is 2 January 2001 in Britain, but 1 February in USA?

• Write town name in the date

• Start your letter with Dear MS Judith Jameson. You start an informal letter with Dear Judith and a formal letter with Dear MS Jameson, but never mix up both.

• Write an exclamation mark (!) in the

Dos And Dont's About Writing Official Letters

Dos About Writing Official Letters - Part 1

• Write the date in dd/mmm/yyyy format to avoid confusion between dd/mm/yyyy and mm/dd/yyyy formats. Eg. 21 Jan 2012

• Use our ref. and your ref. only if you and the recipient use a letter filing system

• Start your letter with Dear Sir/Madam if you do not know the recipient by name. Or Dear Sirs if you write to an institution. Then close your letter with yours faithfully

• Start your letter with e.g. Dear Mr. Brown or Dear MS Jameson if you know the recipient by name. Then close your letter with yours sincerely

• Preferably use MS when writing to a female recipient unless otherwise stated in the letter you have already received from her

• Write Enc. or Encl. in the bottom left corner of your letter if you want to send something else together with your letter

• Write your letter clearly, politely and concisely