The personal letter is a kind of informal letter written for the purpose of personal information exchange between two individuals. Personal letters are written between family, friends and close business acquaintances.
A personal letter or a friendly letter is written to friends, family, colleagues or acquaintances. It is a meaningful way of communicating.
Personal letters can vary by two categories i.e. informal or formal. An informal personal letter is typically addressed to someone you know personally or to your loved one. Whereas a formal personal letter is written to someone you don’t know or have never met or to someone who is at a high position.
These types of letters can have five portions; heading, salutation, body, complimentary closing, & signature. You may add a postscript if you wish to.
Personal Letter Format
Now let’s give you a brief detail of these five sections of a personal letter format:
#1 Heading
A letter will typically begin with a heading which comprises of the address line by line & the date. The sender’s address is written on the upper right-hand side of the letter. The address can be of two or more lines. You must capitalize the proper nouns.
Once you’ve written the address, in the last line add the date on which you’re composing the letter. You can add the date in the format you prefer (for example, “14. 04. 2020” or “April 14th, 2020”)
In case you’re using stationery that is already addressed just include the date. You may skip the address if you’re writing to someone very close to you.
#2 Salutation or Greeting
The greeting comes after the heading. You must leave a couple of lines after the heading & then add the greeting. It is always written on the left side corner & ended with a comma.
The greeting for a formal personal letter usually starts with “Dear” while a greeting for an informal personal letter can begin with “Hey” or “Greetings”. Informal greetings may even end with an exclamation mark.
#3 Body
Leaving a line after the greeting comes to the body or the main content of the letter. The body is where you convey the purpose of the letter. It can have one or more paragraphs.
It is important to remember that the starting of every paragraph is to be indented.
#4 Closing
After the body, leave a line or two to write the complimentary closing. It is written on the lower right-hand side indented with the heading. The first letter of the closing starts with a capital letter, for example, “Yours truly”. Some other examples typically used are “Yours lovingly” or “With love”. The complimentary closing ends with a comma.
#5 Signature
This means to write your name in the next line of the closing in the same line as the heading. In case it’s an informal letter you can skip your name & just write the closing with a full stop instead.
Post-Script (P.S.)
Skipping a line, you can add a postscript to your personal letter if you want. Postscript is an additional message added at the end of the letter.
Personal Letter Template Download (Word File)
Sender’s Name:
Sender’s Address:
Date:
Recipient Name:
Address | City, ST Zip Code
Insert text in this body of your personal letter and explain what you wish to say. Insert text in this body of your informal letter and explain what you wish to say. Insert text in this body of your informal letter and explain what you wish to say. Insert text in this body of your informal letter and explain what you wish to say. Insert text in this body of your informal letter and explain what you wish to say.
Insert text in this body of your informal letter and explain what you wish to say.
Kind Regards,
Sender’s Name.