You have probably already received a letter and now you would like to send one yourself. Perhaps you encounter the topic of “writing letters” at school and ask yourself: What do I actually have to consider?
Whether you want to write a personal letter or a formal letter , we have the right guide for you here . Learn in just 5 steps how to write your letter quickly and easily.
For example, you can send letters for a birthday or as part of a pen pal. These are personal letters .
But you can also send letters if, for example, you want to cancel a subscription or want to apply for something . Then you write formal letters .
Although there are these two types of letters, the basic structure is the same. The two forms differ mainly in terms of content and the language used when writing.
Writing a letter: The structure in 5 steps
You can now easily complete the following steps. Get a piece of paper and a pen and let’s get started with your letter!
#1 The letterhead
First you start with the so-called letterhead, i.e. the upper part of your letter.
Personal letter:
For your personal letter, all you need here is the place from which you are writing your letter and today’s date. Now write the two pieces of information right-aligned on your piece of paper. This is what it could look like,
Formal letter:
If you write a formal letter, you need information about the sender (you) and your recipient in addition to the place and date. Write this left-aligned at the top of your letter.
These are the sender details that are required:
- First and last name
- address
- phone number
- E-mail address
With your recipient, you provide the information you have. On the right you can see what the letterhead could look like for a formal letter.
#2 The subject line / salutation
And that brings you to the second step: the subject line and/or the salutation.
Personal letter:
Here you simply address the recipient of your letter. Exactly how you do this is up to you. For example, you could write:
- Hello…
- Rather…
- Hi…
Formal Letter:
In a formal letter, you start with a subject line first. In this you write as a headline, so to speak, what your letter is about. Below that follows the salutation. If you know the person’s name, write it down. If you don’t know who is reading your letter, you can simply write “Dear Sir or Madam”. So here are the options:
- Dear…,…
- Ladies and gentlemen,…
#3 The text of the letter
Next comes the actual text of the letter, i.e. the message that you want to convey to the recipient.
Personal letter:
The structure in a personal letter is as follows:
- deal with the recipient first
- share news about you
- ask for an answer
- send greetings
Formal letter:
Here you formulate your request politely and factually. It’s a good idea to ask for an acknowledgment so you know your letter has arrived and is being processed.
#4 The end of the letter
Finally, you add a greeting and your name or your signature to your letter. By the way, the salutation is without a comma or other punctuation marks.
Personal letter:
You could write this here, for example, as a greeting:
- Best wishes
- See you soon
- Your
And then you just add your signature.
Formal letter:
In a formal letter, the end of the letter is basically similar, you just use a more polite greeting. For example:
- Kind regards
- Sincerely
And then your signature follows again.
#5 The Envelope
You have now finished writing your letter. However, so that your message can also be sent and delivered to your recipient, you must now do the following things:
- Take an envelope, fold your letter and put it inside
- Seal the envelope
- Stick a stamp on the top right of the front of the envelope → for a standard letter you need an 80 cent stamp (as of April 2021)
- Write the recipient’s address on the front page, center right
- Now write your address on the envelope – either on the top left of the front or on the back
Personal letter checklist
Here are all the points that you need to consider when writing a personal letter in a checklist for you:
- The place and date are at the top right and are separated by a comma ☐
- You address your recipient directly ☐
- You make reference to the recipient and/or the letter you are replying to ☐
- You tell about news that you have ☐
- You prompt the recipient to respond ☐
- You send greetings or wishes ☐
- You end the letter with a greeting and then WITHOUT a comma ☐
- …with your signature ☐
- The envelope is correctly labeled and stamped ☐
Formal letter checklist
Here you can check again whether you have thought of everything in your formal letter:
- The place and date are at the top right and are separated by a comma ☐
- Your details are at the top left and below that are those of the recipient ☐
- You wrote a subject line that shows what the letter is about ☐
- You addressed the recipient politely ☐
- You formulated your actual request in the text of the letter ☐
- You capitalized the polite pronouns of address (you, you,…) ☐
- You end the letter with a greeting and then WITHOUT a comma ☐
- …with your signature ☐
- The envelope is correctly labeled and stamped ☐
Template for writing a letter
Here you can download a template for a personal letter and one for a formal letter:
What’s the best way to wright letter?
You start by addressing the recipient politely. Then you put a comma and start with the actual content of your letter.
For example, in a more personal letter, you could write:
- Hello…
- Rather…
- Hi…
A formal letter begins with:
- Dear…,…
- Ladies and gentlemen,…
This is followed by the text of the letter with the actual request.
What is Personal Letter?
In a personal letter, you write a message to a private person that you usually (well) know. For example to family and friends.
How do you end personal letter?
With a greeting and your signature.
For example, you could write:
- Best wishes
- See you soon
- Your
Which titles belong in the salutation?
If the recipient of your letter has an academic title (e.g. a doctorate or a professor’s title), then this should definitely be included in the salutation.
How to write a letter to the office?
If you want to send a letter to an office or authority, enter the name of the authority or institution instead of the recipient’s name. If you know a personal contact person or the responsible department, you can note this directly below. Then comes the address.
Here, too, the procedure is the same as for a formal letter.
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