Mastering Formal and Informal Writing: Letters, Essays, Reports, and Reviews

Formal Letter Writing

Greetings and Opening: Dear Sir, I'm writing in response to your request.

Body: Giving information and details: To begin with... Another important aspect...

Closing Remarks and Signing Off: In conclusion... I strongly believe... Yours faithfully, Javier

For and Against Essay Structure

Opening: Introduce topic... It is often said that... The question proposed is an interesting one because... It is a well-known fact that...

Body: Presents topic for both sides with supporting details... On the one hand... On the other hand...

Closing: Sums up the topic and presents the writer's opinion: Taking all these aspects into account, I believe that the plan, while well-intentioned, is unrealistic and totally unnecessary. In my view...

Formal and Informal Letter Writing

Greeting: Hi... Dear...

Opening: A friendly opening with reference to the sender's earlier email and the reason... What a surprise to hear from you! Thanks for your email, sorry I haven’t written sooner.

Body: May answer friend's question from previous email: You wanted to know... So don’t forget... So you might want to... So that will be totally fine... As for your question about... Of course you can... However...

Closing Remarks: Hope this helps, if you have more questions, let me know... Looking forward to seeing you.

Greetings: All the best... Best wishes, Javier

Report Writing

Introduction: States the purpose of the report: The purpose of this report is to examine the current situation of... to describe it and evaluate it, finally making some recommendations for possible improvements.

Body: Three different paragraphs: General description: To start with, let's describe the aspect proposed.

Evaluation: Overall, the … has proved extremely successful.

Problems: There are two main problems. Firstly and secondly... It might be worthwhile to consider...

Recommendations: In conclusion, there are a variety of ways to solve the above problems and avoid or increase. One recommendation is to... As for (another problem)... It is highly recommended to...

Review Writing

Opening: Describe the product and what’s offered... Has recently opened – according to their website and their flyers distributed – it offers a wide range of products.

Body: Describe more information about the product, mention its strong and weak points and describe what the author likes and doesn’t: While (something) was somewhat disappointing, we particularly enjoyed... Another aspect I would like to talk about is... Unfortunately, none of these merits can overcome the fact that...

Closing: Gives the writer's overall opinion and recommendation: To sum up, despite some reservations, I can wholeheartedly recommend... to anyone interested in... Or on the other hand, in conclusion, I would definitely not recommend...