INFORMAL LETTER (Question 2): the skeleton, the three differences from a formal letter, and a complete worked example.

THE SKELETON

1. SENDER’S ADDRESS — top left.
2. DATE.
3. SALUTATION — "Dear Thamma,", "My dear Ravi,".
4. BODY — three or four short paragraphs.
5. CLOSE — "With love," / "Yours affectionately," / "Lots of love,".
6. NAME — first name only.

THE THREE DIFFERENCES FROM A FORMAL LETTER — getting these wrong loses both format marks outright NO receiver’s address. NO subject line. NEVER "Yours faithfully" or "Yours sincerely".

MARKS DIVISION (10 marks) — as for the formal letter: format about 2, content about 4, expression and tone about 2, accuracy about 2. Length about 120-150 words.

TONE IS ASSESSED. An informal letter should sound like one: particular, affectionate, a little conversational. Generic phrasing ("you have always been a great inspiration to me") reads as a template and scores lower than one concrete memory.

WORKED MODEL

14, Lake View Road Kolkata 700029

12 March 2025

Dear Thamma,

I have been meaning to write this letter since the day I got home, and I am only sorry it has taken me three weeks.

Thank you for teaching me to make your tomato chutney. I know you thought I was humouring you when I asked, and I know you noticed that I burnt the first batch and blamed the gas. But I have made it four times since, and on Sunday Ma tasted it and went very quiet and said it was almost yours.

I am going to keep making it. I have written the whole method out in the back of my chemistry notebook, which Baba says is where it belongs, and I have promised my friends a jar each after the boards. When I go to college I intend to take the recipe with me, so that something of home travels too.

It matters to me more than the chutney does. You learnt it from your mother in a kitchen I have never seen, and now I have it. Nothing else I own has come that far.

Do take care of your knee, and please do not climb on the stool to reach the top shelf. Ask someone.

With much love, Ria

WHY THIS MODEL SCORES

It is SPECIFIC. The burnt first batch, the chemistry notebook, the knee, the stool. One concrete detail is worth a paragraph of general affection, and specificity is what the expression mark rewards. It answers every part of the question in its own paragraph — thank her, how I will use it, why it matters. Content marks are counted against the tasks in the question, so give each one visible space. It ends with a personal remark rather than a formula, which is what a real letter does.

A USEFUL HABIT: before writing, number the tasks in the question in the margin (1 thank, 2 how, 3 why) and tick them off as each paragraph is done. Most lost content marks in letters are simply tasks the candidate forgot to answer.