Introduction

A letter is a communication method that can be handwritten or printed. Letters used to be the primary mode of communication even two decades back when cell phones were not accessible and phone calls were so expensive. While Important government notices are still communicated through letters, the private cooperate worlds have moved on to email as a primary mode of communication for important matters. The use of letters for personal communication is virtually non-existent nowadays.

Types of Letters:-

All letters can be broadly divided into two types they are informal and formal letters.

A. Informal letters

Informal letters are usually written to people with who one has a personal connection and the subject, or matter to be communicated is of informal or personal nature. Informal letters are the same as personal letters. Usually, these letters are sent to friends, family, acquaintances, or close relatives. There need not be any specific reason for writing these letters. The motive of casual letter writing is to assemble a personal history. No rules or formal procedures are followed in such letters.

B. Formal letters

Formal letters are written for a variety of purposes like job offer letters, business communication, banking letters etcetera. Formal letters have a particular formality and a structured format. Such letters are concise, promptly address the issue at hand, and maintain a strictly professional tone. Formal letters are succinct and direct. A few most common examples of this kind are

Academic Recommendation Letters.
Character Reference Letters.
Personal Recommendation Letters.
Professional Letters.
Professional Recommendation Letters.
Recommendation Letters for Employment.
Reference Letters.

Writing Format Letters:-

Different letters have different formats. A broad structure can be is described below

Informal letters

Address

Date

Salutation

the letter's body

Name and signature of the sender

Address: In informal letters, it's crucial to provide the sender's address. The recipient's address is written on the envelope having the letter because informal letters are private conversations addressed to friends or people who are close.

Date: written in the standard for day/month /year.

Salutation: In casual correspondence, the salutation can be Dear/Dearest/Hi/Hello followed by the recipient's first name or nickname.

Body: Informal letters' bodies are often lengthy and in-depth, comprising a variety of thoughts, impressions, experiences, suggestions, news, etc.

Signature and name: Similar to official letters, the sender's name and signature are included.

Formal letters

Sender’s address

Date

Receivers address

Subject

Salutation

Body of letters

Closing words

Senders name

Signature

Designation

Sender’s address:

One of the most crucial details, also known as the return address, is the sender's address. It is the sender's postal address. Here is where the sender's address and contact information are listed.

Date:

The date on which the letter is written is just after the sender's address. Candidates may use any of the following date formats when composing a letter in the exam: DD/MM/YY OR MM/DD/YY.

Receiver’s address:

Here is written the appropriate address or the address of the mail recipient. Such letters must begin with the receivers' name and designation, and then list the organization's name, the entire address, the country, and the country's pin code.

Subject:

The goal of the letter is highlighted in the subject line. The formal letter's subject line should be very short and must begin with the term "Subject." The recipient should be able quickly to determine the letter's purpose by reading the subject line.

Salutation:

This is the traditional way to address the recipient of a letter. If the recipient's name is known, the salutation begins with "Dear," then moves on to Mr., Mrs., Miss, etc. Dear Sir or Dear Madam might be used to address the receiver if neither their name nor their gender is known.

Body of letter:

The most crucial section of every letter is the body. It explains the reason behind the writing of letter. The writer should state their points in concise, logical paragraphs in official letters. Normally, a letter's body is comprised of three paragraphs:

Introducing paragraph
Main body
Concluding paragraph

Closing words:

Ornamental words like “yours sincerely”,” yours honestly”,“ yours faithfully” etc.

Senders name:

The sender's name is written after the closing words.

Signature:

The signature of the sender is written or initials or a digital copy of the signature is placed in case of digitally formatted letters.

Conclusions:-

With advancements in communication technologies like cell phones, e-mail, video calling through the internet etcetera letters are already becoming a nostalgic memory of the past. The proof of this can be seen from the fact that the Indian postal services have stopped the services of telegrams for communication. In other parts of the world too, the whole system of postal services has seen a sharp decline in postal traffic. The reasons for this are quite obvious. Letters take much longer to get from sender to receiver and are more likely to be lost or damaged in transit.