Informal Letter Writing: Format, Examples & Tips

What Are Informal Letters?

An informal letter is written to communicate personally with close ones. You can write an informal letter to your friends, family, relatives, or acquaintances. The language used in this type of letter can be casual and personal, yet, respectful. These can be written for various purposes like wishing, congratulating, asking about the receiver’s health, or more. The next section will talk about the informal letter format in detail.

Format of Informal Letter Writing

While writing an informal letter, you don’t have to stick to a strict format. However, there is a general informal letter structure that you must follow:

1. Address

Mention the address of the writer, it starts from the left side of the paper. Make sure it is complete and accurate. If the recipient is in another country, make sure you write your country as well.

2. Date

Next step is to write the date on which you are drafting the letter or the date of posting the letter. This will give the recipient a context on what you are talking about in the letter.

3. Greeting

You can start with an informal greeting in an informal letter. It can be Dear NAME or if you wish to, you can write Mr., Miss., or Mrs. as well. This depends on whom you are writing a letter for.

4. Introduction Paragraph

This is what sets the tone for the entire letter. You can ask the recipient how they are doing and why you wrote this letter. You can also mention you miss them or other personal details.

5. Body of the Letter

This can be of 2 to 4 paragraphs. They can be in a friendly tone if you are writing to someone of your age. However, if the recipient is an elderly person, make sure your tone is respectful and considerate.

6. Conclusion

You can add a concluding paragraph of 3 to 4 lines. This can also summarize the letter and a warm goodbye. Do not forget to request or remind the reader that you are waiting for a reply!

7. Signature

Since, an informal letter does not follow a strict format, you can sign off in any way. You can use any of the following ways:

• Best regards,
• Warm regards,
• Lots of love,
• Kind Regards,

This was all about the informal letter format. Now, you can refer to the types of informal letter with samples.

Also Read: Tenses in English

Types of Informal Letters

This section will talk about several occasions on which you can write an informal letter. Refer to the following sections to learn how to write informal letters with samples:

Thank You Letters

Thank you letters can be written to express gratitude to someone among friends, family, or acquaintances. According to the recipient, the tone of this informal letter can be managed. Here is an informal letter example for better understanding:

Sample Letter

Here are some more topics on which you can write a thank you informal letter:

Topics

1. Write a letter to reply to a congratulations letter from grandmother
2. Write a letter to receiving your Christmas present when away from home
3. Write a letter to a coworker for making your farewell special
4. Write a letter to your neighbour for looking after your pet for a week
5. Write a letter to a friend who gave you a helpful piece of advice

Personal Letters

Personal letters are a type of informal letters that are written to share and exchange experiences with family, friends, or acquaintances. These can be informal in nature. For reference, look at the informal letter example below:

Sample Letter

Write a letter to your friend asking about their recent trip to Germany.

Here are some more topics on which you can write a personal informal letter:

Topics

1. Write a letter to ask your friend to plan a trip to your hometown
2. Write a letter to your relative to share your family’s good news
3. Write a letter to your family asking them for money for your college trip
4. Write a letter to your new friend you met on train to know how they are
5. Write a letter to your cousin to share your exam results with them.

Also Read: Idioms in English

Invitation Letters

Informal invitation letters are sent to family, friends, and relatives to give them the news of an event or a function and invite them. You also have to mention the details of the venue and contact information. Here is a similar informal letter example for better understanding:

Sample Letter

Write a letter to your friends to invite them to the birthday party of your younger sister.

Here are some more topics on which you can write an invitation letter:

Topics

1. Write a letter to invite your relative and their family to your wedding
2. Write a letter to invite your friend to your bachelor’s party
3. Write a letter to invite your friend to your birthday trip
4. Write a letter to invite your distant family to a get-together
5. Write a letter to invite your best friend to a BBQ night over

Also Read: Future Tense

Apology Letters

These letters can be casual in words but have to be solemn in tone. You don’t have to write long apology letters with fancy vocabulary. These need to have a sorry and the reason for it. Here is an informal letter sample for apologizing:

Sample Letter

Write a letter to apologize your distant friend for not being able to reply to their texts for a long time.

Here are some more topics on which you can write an informal letter to apologise:

Topics

1. Write a letter to apologize for damaging your sister’s gift
2. Write a letter for delaying the meeting with friends
3. Write a letter to apologize for missing the distant friend’s birthday
4. Write a letter to apologize for not being able to attend your relative’s wedding.

Also Read: Present Tense

Tips to Write an Informal Letter

Here are some of the tips that you can consider while writing an informal letter:

1. Make sure you don’t make the language too friendly if you are writing to an elderly person.
2. Use daily use English words and make the letters expressive
3. Choose a readable format to write an informal letter
4. Try to keep it concise but don’t forget to express well
5. Proofread at least twice and avoid slang out of courtesy

These were a few expert tips to write an expressive informal letter in English. Letter writing is a great way of conveying your message and ideas. It also improves your English grammar and strengthens your hold on language.

To sum up, you must know how to write informal letter. This helps you communicate with your loved ones in a better way. Moreover, an informal letter must be expressive and friendly according to the recipient. If you are writing to an elder, make sure the language and tone both are respectful.