Chapter 5 - Letter-writing

This article will help you to learn about the important skill of essay-writing in the Class 11 NCERT Solutions English Hornbill – Letter Writing. It will help you to understand the art of writing an essay and important techniques to be used. To find answers to questions related to this chapter, you can download Letter Writing Class 11 English Solutions PDF.

Significance of Letter Writing Class 11 English Solutions

Class 11 NCERT Solutions English Hornbill – Letter Writing is meticulously planned to give you the best tricks to learn the art of letter writing. It helps you to solve the questions in letter writing with much ease and precision. With constant practice, you will be able to get a hold on this skill which will, in turn, help you in the examination.

Letter-Writing is an essential channel of communication between people who are geographically distant from one another. In earlier times, when the telephone and email were not available, the only means of communication between people was through letters. It is a skill that has to be developed. In general, there are two types of letters: formal, that are written to convey official business and information and informal, which are personal letters to communicate with friends and family.

Formal letters are sent out when we need to write to various public bodies or agencies for our requirements in civic life. For example, we might have to ask for a certificate or to inform a change in our address. A letter is usually one in a series of exchanges between two people or parties.

Formal Letters 

Let us now examine some of the steps in writing formal letters.

1. (i) Introducing oneself if it is the first time you are writing

      (ii) Referring to an earlier letter if you are responding to it.

2. Stating the purpose of the letter

3. (i) Stating action/information required from the addressee

   (ii) Explaining action taken/supplying information

4. (i) Urging action to be taken

   (ii) Offering assistance in future

This is the basic structure of a letter. It has to be modified according to the purpose for which it is written, and the person to whom it is addressed.

When you write a letter, you should keep in mind the following points.

1. Purpose

2. Person to whom it is addressed

3. The tone you should adopt

4. Completeness of the message

5. Action required

6. Conciseness of expression

 A letter also has a typical format:

1. Name and address of the sender – Companies have printed letterheads with the name of the company printed on them. A letterhead may also carry the name and designation of persons in responsible positions.

2. Name and address of the addressee

3. Date

4. Mode of address or salutation Salutation is the mode of addressing a person.

  (i) Dear Sir/Madam (when you are writing to a total stranger whom you do not know at all).

  (ii) Dear Mr/Ms/Dr/Professor + Surname as in Dear Dr Sinha, (when it is a formal relationship with the addressee and the writer does not know him or her personally).

 (iii) Dear Sujata (when the writer knows the addressee personally, and the two share a semi-formal relationship).

5. Reference to previous correspondence, if any. Most official letters carry a subject line just above the salutation. This is for quick reference to the subject.

6. Content of letter – The content of the letter begins on the next line and is arranged in two or three paragraphs.

7. Complimentary close and signature – Letters usually end politely with the following phrases: Thank you, With regards, With best wishes, Hope to see you soon, Hope to receive an early reply etc. The complimentary close is followed by ‘Yours sincerely/ Yours truly’, and the writer’s signature in the next line.

Informal Letters 

These are the letters written to friends, relatives and any associate with whom we share a friendly and close relationship. These letters do not have any prescribed format. These can be written according to one’s style and convenience. The general structure followed in any informal letter is writing the name of the sender and the name of the person addressed to, the body of the letter and then closing salutations. The greetings and salutations can be based on the kind of relationship you share.

Letter writing is an essential skill. Despite the prevalence of emails and text messages, everyone has to write letters at some point. Letters of complaint, job applications, thank you letters, letters requesting changes or making suggestions etc. Encouraging children to write letters from schooldays will improve their communication, social and writing skills, and teach them about writing and structuring letters.

In NCERT Class 11 Letter Writing chapter, you will learn about types of letters and the format for every kind of letter. You will also learn to structure the letters accordingly. In your examination, letter writing is an important question and also considered to be scoring. If you write the format correctly, you will score well in this section. In this chapter, you will practice letter writing in different formats depending on the types of letter.

To know more on Class 11 NCERT Solutions English Hornbill – Letter Writing, refer to NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill PDF.

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