IELTS GT/UKVI Semi-formal letter

                          

     

Semi-formal letter

A semi-formal letter is when you write to someone you know by name and with whom you have a business or professional relationship. So someone you know, but they are not a close friend with you. For example, a teacher, trainer, neighbor, landlord, manager, work colleague etc.

The surname should be used when addressing them. The topic of the letter will be more on the formal side as it is usually focused on a problem to solve.

Common semi-formal letters are invitations, explanations, and informative letters (all the letters can also be personal).

Useful tips:

1 Semi-formal letter is sent to people that we do not know well. They are more polite than an informal letter and are written in a neutral style, not too formal nor too informal.

Structure of Semi-formal letter

Greeting

Dear Mr./Miss/Mrs. (Last name)

Paragraph 1: Short sentence for the purpose of the letter.

Paragraph 2: Discuss the first bullet point

Paragraph 3: Discuss the second bullet point

Paragraph 4: Discuss the third bullet point

Paragraph 5: Final sentence (closing statement)

Sign off

Yours sincerely/ sincerely yours,

Your full name

Sample 1

You are working for a company. You need to take some time off and want to ask your manager about his 

Write a letter to your manager. In your letter

·        Explain why you want to take time off

·        Give details of the amount of time you need

·        Suggest how your work could be covered while you are away.

Dear Mr Jones,

I am writing to request a few days of unpaid leave in March. It is my parents’ wedding anniversary on 22nd March and they are planning to celebrate their special day with their children and grandchildren in a cottage, which they have rented to accommodate all the family.

To participate in this special occasion I would need to be away from work for four days, from Tuesday 19th to Friday 22nd. My schedule for that week is relatively light apart from two meetings with clients. Anna would be able to attend the meetings in my place, as she has dealt with both of these clients in the past. I have no other meetings or any other urgent work that needs to be completed at that time.

I would be very grateful if you could allow me to take these four days off as it is very important to my parents that I attend and I would appreciate it if you could let me know by the end of the week.

Kind regards,

Tom Watson

(177 words)

Sample 2

You recently learned that the best teacher you ever had will be retiring soon. Write a letter to your former teacher. In your letter:

• Explain how you heard about his/her retirement

• Describe what made him/her such a great teacher

• Say how your teacher affected your life

Dear Mr. Sharma,

I am writing to send you good wishes for your upcoming retirement. Recently, I ran across my high school friend, James Smith, He informed me that you are retiring on May after 40years of teaching at our school.

 I want you to know how much your teaching impacted my life. As you may remember, I used to struggle a lot in English before I took your class. To be honest, I still remember dreading in your first class. However, Your excitement in the subject made me excited as well. The way of your story telling has helped me a lot in understanding pronunciation of words in English. I know you saw me struggling while reading it, but you were always encouraging and you helped me learn from my mistakes.

By the end of that school year, I felt confident about English and , to my own surprise, I enjoyed it! I ended up studying engineering in college and got a good job as software engineer. I am consistently required to have daily meeting with US clients. I believe without your amazing classes, I would not have been able to successfully interact with clients in English without any hesitation.

Thank you for all your support and enduring impact you have had on my life.

Yours sincerely,

Suprav Bidari

Sample 3

You need to take some time off from work to go on holiday. Write a letter to your direct manager.

In your letter:

·        Ask for time off and explain why

·        Provide the dates and times for which you will be unavailable to work.

·        Describe what you will do to prepare or make up for your absence.

 Dear Mr. Henry,

I am writing this letter to inform you that I need a holiday to attend the get-together party arranged by the school that I have studied at. 

This get-together party is an important occasion for me since I am going to meet my old friends. The party will be conducted on 18th July and we also planned a trip from 19th July to 21th July. This will be a beautiful opportunity for me to connect with and enjoy good times with my old friends. In this get-together party and trip, about 65 friends of mine including my teachers will be participating. 

I need four days leave from work to attend this function considering the preparation and travelling time. At this time, I don’t have any important commitments and Fernandez agreed to look after my tasks while I am away from the work. He knows how those tasks can be done and after I return, I will work extra hours to cover up my pending tasks, if there is any.

I want to make this time more memorable and this allows me to spend some meaningful time. So, I would be thankful if you let me take time off from work.

Yours sincerely,

Sabi Kuwar

Sample 4

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You have been living in a rental apartment for the past year. Recently a new neighbour moved in and has been making a lot of noise, which disturbs you.

Write a letter to the landlord. In your letter:

·         explain the situation

·         describe why it bothers you

·         suggest a solution

Write at least 150 words.
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Mr ..............., 

 Dear Mr William,

Hope this letter finds you in good health and spirit. I am writing this letter to you in order to bring your attention to an unpleasant issue that I have been facing lately.

I just wanted to let you know that one of your tenants, who has recently moved into apartment 5-D, has been making a lot of noise. Not to mention, the noise becomes louder during the nighttime, especially, when I try to sleep. By the way, it is not only me but other tenants on the same floor who are also complaining about it. And we tried to talk to him politely about the noise issue but the loud music and loud arguments over the phone only keep growing. Anyway, I am sorry to sound like complaining too much, but the noise is bothering me severely since I cannot sleep at night.

Therefore, I would highly appreciate it if you could please ask our new neighbour not to make any noise after 8.00 at night. But, if that does not work, please allow me to move to another apartment which is on a different floor.

Yours sincerely,

Rick Tyson

Sample 5

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You have been living in a rental apartment for the past year. Recently a new neighbour moved in and has been making a lot of noise, which disturbs you.

Write a letter to the landlord. In your letter:

·         explain the situation

·         describe why it bothers you

·         suggest a solution

Write at least 150 words.
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Mr ...............

Dear Ms Shah,

Hope that you and your family are doing well by the grace of Almighty. I am one of your good neighbours, and I am writing this letter to inform you about a graduation party, which I am planning to hold, the next Saturday night.

I fully understand that the party might cause you some inconvenience since I have invited about 50 people to enjoy an outdoor barbeque evening, which might create some noise. Besides, the party may continue till late at night where a few of my friends might even venture to sing along with their guitars while enjoying the night. Of course, we will try to keep the noise and sound as low as we can, but in case if it does trouble you, I would like to apologize to you in advance.

But, on the other hand, instead of just sitting at your home, you could also join our party because if you do, I can certainly guarantee you that we will do everything to make sure that you enjoy our party. In fact, we would feel honoured if you join our party.

Yours sincerely,

Radha Baniya