My dear Father / My dear Friend / My Dear Sister etc.

Note that My Dear is more intimate and affectionate than Dear.
In letters to friends, the salutation should be:

Dear Peter / My dear Peter

If you are writing to an older person, you should address him as Dear Mr

Peter or Dear Ms Alice.

In letters to strangers, the salutation should be Dear Sir or Dear Madam.
Avoid phrases like ‘Honored Sir’ and ‘Respected Sir’. Native English speakers don’t use expressions like these.

After the opening salutation, Americans may put a colon or a comma. In British English, a comma is more common.

Subscription
There is no apostrophe in yours, either before or after the s.
Write

Yours sincerely (NOT Your’s sincerely)

Before the leave-taking phrase most people write an expression like With kind regards, With every good wish or Hoping to hear from you soon.

Informal letters may finish, for example, Yours, See you or Love. Note that Love is not usually used by one man to another.

Letters which begin Dear Sir or Dear Madam usually finish Yours faithfully. Formal letters which begin with the person’s name usually finish Yours sincerely. In American English, Yours faithfully is not used.

In a personal letter we can touch on many subjects just like we do during casual conversations. We may also discuss these subjects in any order we like. Note that the use of colloquial expressions which would be totally out of place in a formal letter is also permissible in personal letters. But this does not mean that personal letters should be written in a careless and slovenly manner. In fact, it must be remembered that however friendly your tone may be, we are all bound by the rules of spelling, grammar and punctuation. Note that grammatical and spelling errors will instantly get you stamped as uneducated.

Forms of address

In friendly letters to friends and relatives, the proper form of address is the name (without title) of the person to whom you are writing. You may prefix the name by such qualifying terms as Dear, My Dear, Dearest etc.

Examples are:

My dear Mummy

Dear Charles

Dearest sister

The forms of subscription are varied. In letters to close friends and relatives you may write: ‘Yours affectionately’, ‘Your affectionate son/daughter/sister/brother’, ‘Your loving son/friend’ etc. In informal letters written to your superiors or teachers, you may use subscriptions such as ‘Sincerely’ or ‘Truly’.

Before the subscription some people use expressions such as ‘regards’, ‘kind regards’ or ‘with best wishes’.

Not that ‘sincerely’ should not be used in letters which begin with the formal Dear Sir, after which the proper form of subscription is ‘faithfully’ or ‘truly’.

Divide the letter into neat paragraphs. Each paragraph should be an expansion of a single idea. If the letter is too short, you don’t have to divide it into paragraphs.

Write in a simple language. Use short sentences. Be clear about what you want to say and say it as directly as possible.

Before you start writing think out what you want to say. Put down your thoughts in a logical manner. While it is possible to add postscripts at the end of the letter, they are usually a sign of slovenly thinking.

Write legibly. Remember that your correspondent has to read what you write. Do not give him/her unnecessary trouble by writing illegibly.

Use proper punctuation. Put your commas and full stops in their proper places. Remember that incorrect punctuation may alter the whole meaning of a sentence.

The subscription or leave-taking
A letter must not end abruptly, simply with the writer’s name. This would look rude. So certain forms of polite leave-taking are prescribed. Examples are: Yours sincerely, Yours truly, etc.

Letters which begin Dear Sir or Dear Madam usually finish Yours faithfully. Formal letters which begin with the person’s name usually finish Yours sincerely. Informal letters may finish, for example, Yours or Love. Note that Love is not usually written by one man to another.

It is also common to put a closing formula before Yours… Common examples are: With best wishes and With kind regards.

Note that the first word of the subscription must begin with a capital letter.

Example: Sincerely yours

Signature
The signature or name of the writer should be put below the subscription. Sign with your first name or full name, but do not write any title (Mr/Miss/Dr/etc) before your name.

Example:

Yours sincerely
John Mathews

Addressing the envelope
On the envelope write the full address of the person to whom the letter is written to. While writing the address, put the first name before the surname. It is also common to write a title (Mr/Miss) before the name.

Americans usually put commas at the ends of lines in addresses; full stops may be used at the ends of addresses.
After the opening salutation, Americans may put a colon or a comma.

Note that Yours faithfully is not used in American usage. Common endings are Sincerely, Sincerely yours or Yours truly, followed by a comma.

There are several different kinds of letters. For examples, there are personal letters and business letters. The form of each letter is determined by its kind. For example, personal letters are written in a friendly tone. Business letters, on the other hand, are written in a formal style.

Parts of a letter

There are six important parts to all letters. They are:

1.    Heading
2.    Salutation
3.    Body of the letter
4.    Subscription or leave taking
5.    Signature
6.    Superscription on the envelope

Heading
The heading usually consists of two elements – the writer’s address and the date. The purpose of the heading is to inform the reader where the letter was written and when.

The heading should give the full postal address of the writer to which the reader may reply. The heading is usually given in the top right-hand corner of the first page. The date is given below the heading. Don’t put your name with the address. The address and the date may alternatively go on the left.

The date may be written in any of the following formats:

18 October 2003
18th October 2003
October 18, 2003

The date may also be written entirely in figures.

12-10-2003
12.10.2003
12/10/2003

Notes

All-figure dates are interpreted differently in British and American English. For example, 12.10.2003 means 12th October 2003 to British people. To an American it means 10th December 2003. Americans put the month before the day.

Salutation or greeting
The form of greeting depends upon the relationship between the writer and the reader of the letter.

In letters written to family members and close friends, the greeting could be –
Dear Father, My Dear Mother, Dear Uncle, Dear John etc.

In business letters the greeting should be Dear Sir/Dear Madam/Dear Sirs etc.

Note that here the use of the term dear does not imply any special affection. It is a merely a polite expression.

Put the salutation at the left-hand corner of the page. It should be put at a lower level than the heading.

‘I shall be obliged if you will send me …’
‘Please dispatch the —– at your earliest convenience’

There are also certain phrases of business jargon that should be avoided.

Examples are: ‘Dispatch the same at once’.

Expressions of this kind are commonly used in business letters, but note that they are not good English. In many cases it is also possible to convey the meaning in simple, everyday English.

Avoid abbreviations as far as possible.
For instance, write advertisement, and not advt. Write examination, and not exam.

Also avoid the tendency to omit the subjects I and we.
Write ‘We have received’ instead of ‘Have received’

Directions for shipping (by rail, air, post etc.) should be given. Also clearly state the manner in which the payment will be made.

While ordering goods, give clear and exact descriptions of the articles in the letter. It is also a good idea to provide an itemized list of the articles wanted with the quality and quantity clearly specified.

In replying to business letters always quote the number of reference if there is any and the date of the letter you are answering. For example, ‘In reply to your letter no. 304/p, dated January 5th, 1010, I would like to say’