formal letter by eguriase s. m. okaka

WRITING: MORE ON FORMAL LETTER

BY EGURIASE S. M. OKAKA Remember that a formal letter is an official letter or business letter. It is a letter written to someone in his/ her official post. The method of writing this type of letter is purely different from that of the inform letter. Let us consider some examples of formal letters. Examples of formal letters: • Letters to heads of school / institutions – headmasters / headmistresses, principals, vice-chancellors. • Letters to political office holders – presidents, vice-president, ministers, Inspector-General of Police. • Letters to heads of companies, managers, marketing managers. • Business letters such as letters for business transaction. • Letters of applications for jobs. Features of a former letter: a) Address of the receiver and at the top right-hand side of the letter. b) Designation and address of the recipient at the left-hand of the letter, below the date. c) Salutation: Dear Sir, / Dear Madam. Do not write Dear Ma. That is not acceptable in a formal letter. You can do that in an informal letter because of the familiarity you have with the person you are writing to. d) Title: This should be brief and is written after the salutation. e) Introduction: This is no exchange of pleasantries. Go straight to your main points. f) The body: As in informal letter, your main purpose should be developed and written in paragraphs in the body of the letter. g) Language: The language is formal, I mean purely form. You should be very polite. Do not use slang, contracted forms or exclamation marks. Try to use a mixture of short and long sentences. h) Closure: Close with Yours faithfully, followed by your signature and your full name. Examples of formal and informal words / expression Formal Informal Comprehend Understand Adjust (to) get used to Acknowledge admit / accept To participate in to take part Something in something Sanction to give approval / support Permit to allow Adjust adjust turn down / turn up Hereby by means of Let us study the formal letter below and answer the questions on it. St. Mary’s Anglican School, P. O. BOX 63, Asope, Osanre, Delta State. 10th November, 2022. The Chairman, Osanre Local Government Area, Osanre, Delta State. Dear Sir, The Poor Condition of Roads in Asope As an indigene of Asope, I would like to express my concern about the poor condition of roads in Asope. The roads are very bad and have been causing a lot of problems to our people. The people of Asope are mostly farmers and they need good roads to transport their farm produce to the main town, Osanre, which is about six kilometers away from Asope. Also, the only secondary school in the locality is about three kilometers away from Asope. As a result of the bad roads, students pay high bus fares to and from school. Sometimes there are no buses and they have to walk the long distance. Many students do not go to school some days because of the hardship they encounter on the roads. Furthermore, the roads have dangerous potholes that cause accidents every day. Two days ago, a bus that was heading for the town, fully loaded with plantains, collided with an oncoming commercial bus. The passengers died on the spot. As a result, the town was thrown into mourning. Sir, the people of Asope would be very grateful if you would help us put these roads in order to avoid further hardship and loss of lives. Thanks and God bless. Yours faithfully, Signature------------ Silver Okiku. Exercise • Discuss with your friends the features of a formal letter. • Discuss with your classmates, the transportation problems you have in your area. • Write an outline on transportation problems in your area. Show your work to your teacher and be ready to make the necessary corrections. • Read the formal letter in this page again and also study the features of a formal letter very well. afterwards, write your first draft on the topic below: Write a letter to the chairman of your local government area, complaining about the problems of transportation in your area. Your letter should not be less than 250 words. Show your work to your teacher afterward. Let us consider another example of a formal letter. Read the formal letter below. It is a report to the principal about bullying of a junior student by a senior student in the hostel. Take note of the format and features of formal letters. Also take note that the account of the incident is given in a chronological order. King’s College, Lagos. 16th October, 2022. The Principal, King’s College, Lagos. Dear Sir, A report on a case of bullying I would like to bring to your notice a report on the bullying of a junior student, Ade Olumuyiwa in J S S 2A, by a senior student, Adesina Isaac, on Tuesday, 10 October, 2022. Adesina has been a terror to junior students as he is always out to punish them for just no reason. On this particular day, he threatened Ade and told him to give him two hundred naira or face his wrath. Ade pleaded that he did not have any money at all, but all his pleading fell on a deaf ears. Adesina roughly pushed him down, threatening that he would come back. Ade fell and hit his head on the cement floor. He sustained an injury and was treated at the school clinic. Adesina never felt sorry for what he did; instead he threatened Ade that he would come back to him in the night. With other prefects, I pleaded with him to leave the boy alone he refused. By midnight, Adesina called Ade again and the poor boy told him he still did not have any money as his guardian was keeping all his money for him. Adesina took Ade outside the hostel while everyone was sleeping and made him kneel down for hours in the cold night. Nobody knew what was happening. A security man who was on duty heard someone groan and went in that direction only to find Ade on the ground; his body seem lifeless. He was immediately rushed to the school’s clinic where he is receiving treatment. Sir, all the prefects are already tired of Adesina and his problems and would be happy if something was done urgently to check his excesses. The junior students who are living in fear would then heave a sigh of relief. Yours faithfully, Signature----------- Pius Okafor. (Senior Prefect)