1. LETTER-WRITING
VWO PERIOD A -- ED 15%

2. Formal vs informal register
American vs rest of ESW lay-out
Nature of letter / target readership

3. 1. 2. 3.
( 4. ) 5. 8. 9.
( 10. )

4. Addresser
Addressee
Date
Subject
Salutation
Body of Paragraphs (incl. Closing Line
Valediction
Name + Signature
Enclosures

5. 1. Addresser No (given and last) name Street name before house number
Post codes (Dutch, British, American, other)
Country abbreviations

6. 2. Addressee House number before street name No commas
Name (company)
House number before street name
No commas
Post codes (British, American, other)
Country abbreviations

7. Example addresses
The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC United States of America / USA
Buckingham Palace London SW1A 1AA United Kingdom / UK

8. Attention / Attn.: The White House Attn.: Mr. President
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
United States of America / USA
Apple Inc. Attn.: Mr Tim Cook 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA United States of America / USA

9. Attention / Attn.: / c/o
Penguin Books Ltd. Attn.: Staff Manager or c/o Staff Manager 80 Strand London WC2R 0RL England / UK / Great Britain

10. 3. Date Avoid numbers-only Name of month capitalised/not abbreviated
No place name
9 September 2013

11. 4. Subject line Only in formal letters Subject content is underlined
Optional
Only in formal letters
Subject content is underlined
Subject: Your advertisement dated 28 August 2013 last

12. 5. Salutation Addressee (function) is known? Dear John, Dear Mr Smith,
Dear Mr J. Smith,
Dear John Smith,
Dear Professor John Smith,
Dear Professor J. Smith Esq.,
Dear Staff Manager,

13. 5. Salutation Addressee is unknown? USA Gentlemen: UK Dear Sir/Madam,
Rest ESW Dear Sir/Madam,

14. Titles Mrs = Mevrouw (getrouwd) Miss = Juffrouw (ongetrouwd)
Mr = Meneer
Mrs = Mevrouw (getrouwd)
Miss = Juffrouw (ongetrouwd)
Ms = Mevrouw (huwelijkse staat onbelangrijk)

15. 6. Body of Paragraphs (BoP)
Alinea voor elke (deel)opdracht
Regels overslaan tussen alinea’s
Niet inspringen!
Liever niet de eerste alinea met I (ik) beginnen.
Wordcount is alleen de BoP incl. de Closing Line

16. 7. Closing Line “I look forward to hearing from you,”
“I hope with this letter I have given you enough information,”
“I hope you will take my complaint/suggestion into consideration,”
“I would very much appreciate your quick reply,”
etc.

17. 8. Valediction Addressee is known? “Yours Sincerely,”
Addressee is unknown?
“Yours Faithfully,”

18. 9. Name and Signature

19. 10. Enclosures Optional Esp. in letters of application
For added information (CV, photos, etc.)
Encl.: (then list items you enclosed)

20. Beware:
Do not contract verbs, so I am instead of I’m, and cannot instead of can’t
Write numbers in letters when 1-10, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc. (so nine, but also 12, three thousand, but also 3,001)
English formal letters are very polite. Always make sure you use the right tone of voice for the purpose of your letter, even when complaining.

21. The Test Monday 11 November 2013 To be studied: This PPT
Your letters + my remarks
Idiom chapters 1-5

22. Letter Writing Timetable:
First and foremost: LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES!
Grammatical mistakes: study the rule & practise
Lay-out mistakes: study this PPT
Spelling mistakes: study your vocab
Style mistakes: use the prefixed sentences in your TB