There are many types of English letters, including general letters, invitation letters, application letters, recommendation letters, etc. But almost all letters are formatted in much the same way. When writing English letters, you should pay attention to the following points:

(1) English letter structure, writing style and requirements

1. Letter structure

The structure of English letters generally consists of the following parts:

1) Envelope. The English envelope is the same as the Chinese one. It consists of three parts, namely the sender's address, the recipient's address and the stamp. It's just that the format of the English envelope is the same as the Chinese one except for the position where the stamp is affixed (the upper right corner of the envelope). The address of the sender and recipient written on the English envelope is very different from the Chinese one. The sender's address should be written in the upper left corner of the envelope, and the recipient's address should be written in the middle right lower corner of the envelope, as follows:

2) Heading, which is the sender's address. and date (top right corner).

3) Name and address inside the letter (inside address), that is, write the name and address of the recipient (upper left corner).

4) Salutation, that is, writing the honorific title of the recipient (usually Dear Mr.…,; Dear Madam Helen,; Dear Miss…,; Dear John,; Dear Professor Smith, etc.) . The title should be written directly below the recipient's address, leaving one or two lines blank. Punctuation after a title can generally only be commas. The structure of the above three parts: letterhead, name and address in the letter is as follows:

Note: If it is between fairly familiar and casual friends, because each other knows each other’s address, the letterhead and address in the letter Often omitted.

5) Body, which is the main content of the letter. Generally, there should be one to two lines of space between the first sentence of the text and the title.

6) Complimentary close, that is, the writer writes something in the lower right (or left) corner of the letter to show that he is polite to the recipient

of humility. Generally, Sincerely,; Sincerely yours,; Yours sincerely,; Friendly

yours,; Truly yours,; Yours truly,; Cordially yours,; Yours cordially, etc.

7) Signature at the end of the letter, that is, hand-signing the letter’s name. If the letter is written on a typewriter or computer, the name of the letter writer should also be typed above the letter writer's signature.

In addition to the above seven parts, sometimes some English letters also include: (1) Enclosure (Enclosure), expressed as Enc., such as "Attached...Proof" should be written as Enc. …Certificate; (2) Postscript, expressed as P.S.; (3) Carbon Copy to..., expressed as c.c., indicating multiple copies to be copied to other relevant persons. These are minor supplementary parts. P.S. is mainly used in personal letters and should be avoided in business letters to avoid giving the impression that the writer is careless. Enc. and c.c. are mostly used in business letters.

2. Writing style

There are generally two styles of English letters: Block Style and Semi-Block Style. The Qitou style is often used in business, official, and some formal letters to show the seriousness, authenticity, and reliability of the content of the letter.

Reliability. The eclectic style is more casual and is mainly used for letters between family, friends, and private individuals. If this is not the first communication between two people and they know each other better, you can omit the addresses of both parties in the letter.

The following are two styles of letters, one-piece and one eclectic.

A: Head-to-head letter style:

(Example 1.)

Note: When writing a letter in a head-to-head letter, there is a gap between the main text and the title. Leave one or two lines empty. The first sentence of each paragraph does not need spaces

, but one or two lines of space are required between paragraphs. There are two possible styles for the end of the letter and the signature. The first type is written on the lower left, which is the most commonly used and the most formal. It can also be written in the lower right corner. This form indicates that the relationship between the writer and the recipient is relatively familiar and casual. Here's another format for a head-to-head letter.

Uniform letter style:

(Example 2.)

B: Eclectic letter style:

Write in an eclectic style For letters, one or two lines should be left between the text and the title. The first word of the first sentence of the first paragraph must be directly below the title Dear. From now on, the beginning of each paragraph must be aligned with the first word of the first paragraph. The polite words and signature at the end of the letter are written on the lower right side.

When writing letters between friends, they generally use an eclectic style, and there is usually no blank line between the title and the text. Please refer to the following letters for specific styles and requirements.

The following is an eclectic letter.

3． Letter writing requirements:

You can generally use a typewriter or computer to write English letters. For more casual letters between friends, you can also use pens, ballpoint pens or even colored pens, but pencils are not suitable. No matter how you write, some important letters must be signed with dark blue or black ink.