Qarshi davlat universiteti ingliz filologiyasi fakultetlararo ingliz tili

Formal
– to someone you don’t know or don’t know well. 

Informal
– to a friend. 
It is essential that you are able to identify what type of question you’re required to write. Follow 
this general: 

If the question includes the word ‘friend’, use informal language.

If the question does not include the word ‘friend’, use formal language.
To learn more about formal and informal letters and see two more IELTS letter writing samples, 
click here; 
IELTS Letter Writing
 
The person we are writing to in this question is not a friend so, we must write a formal 
letter. This leads us on to the opening of the letter – the greeting. 
 
The Greeting & Signoff 
The Greeting 
There are two ways you can begin a formal letter. 

Use 
Dear Sir or Madam
if you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to. 

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
Use 
Dear + surname 
if you do know their name, e.g. 
Dear Mr Smith
or 
Dear Mrs 
Jones
. 
It’s quite likely that you would not know the name of someone you were making a job 
application to but if you want to use a surname, just make one up. 
The greeting you use will determine how you sign off your letter. 
The Signoff 
For a formal letter, there are two main options. The correct one will depend on who you are 
addressing: 

Dear Mr Smith (name known) – 
Yours sincerely

Dear Sir/Madam (name unknown) – 
Yours faithfully
You could also use ‘
Kind regards
’. This is formal but friendly and is appropriate for most 
situations. It is particularly useful if you struggle to remember how to spell ‘sincerely’ and 
‘faithfully’. 
Always sign off a formal letter with your full name, e.g. Jacky Spear 
For our sample letter, we will use this greeting and signoff: