[General] ielts letter writing problems plz guide me

[hunny]

hello teacher, plz guide me in ielts general letter which is task1

like if we asked a letter, write a letter to ur frd or to ur land lord or to ur pen frd or to ur neighbour but their names are not mention then wat we will write in start? dear friend, dear naighbour, dear sir/madam or we will take a assuming name like dear mr smith or dear mrs harry or dear ms nany...

i know there is some difference b/w formal and informal letter
in formal letter we will write last name like jones smith then we will write dear mr smith; and in informal letter we will write 1st name like jones smith is frd then we will write dear mr jones; but if name is not mention in writing to ur frd, to ur neighbour, to ur manager, to ur pen frd then wat will we write in start?

and plzz guide me also here; at the end of letter we write urs sincerely or urs truly or with best regards.. which one is correct in both formal and informal letter. and where the position of this ending sentence i.e urs sincerely etc. at right corner bottom or in center bottom or left corner bottom..??

[csheywood]

Originally Posted by hunny

hello teacher, plz guide me in ielts general letter which is task1

like if we asked a letter, write a letter to ur frd or to ur land lord or to ur pen frd or to ur neighbour but their names are not mention then wat we will write in start? dear friend, dear naighbour, dear sir/madam or we will take a assuming name like dear mr smith or dear mrs harry or dear ms nany...

i know there is some difference b/w formal and informal letter
in formal letter we will write last name like jones smith then we will write dear mr smith; and in informal letter we will write 1st name like jones smith is frd then we will write dear mr jones; but if name is not mention in writing to ur frd, to ur neighbour, to ur manager, to ur pen frd then wat will we write in start?

and plzz guide me also here; at the end of letter we write urs sincerely or urs truly or with best regards.. which one is correct in both formal and informal letter. and where the position of this ending sentence i.e urs sincerely etc. at right corner bottom or in center bottom or left corner bottom..??

Yes, it does seem that there are a lot of rules, but some common sense is behind most of them. Remember that the exam is testing your ability to use the appropriate style of English depending on the situation. In reality, if I don't have a name of a person I would use Dear Sir or Madam, and you should do this in the exam too when you are writing a formal letter. If the situation asks that you write to your neighbour or friend, in other words someone whose name you probably know, then you can assume a name IF IT'S NOT GIVEN to you. In reality this would be the style.

Yours sincerely is used if you don't know the name, yours truly if you do. Best regards (many people use Regards) are for less formal letters eg in the case of the neighbour if you don't know him very well. You write them at the bottom left, before you sign your name below. If it's a more formal situation then write your whole name.

If you have access to any student's manuals, check to see if there is a Writing bank at the back of the books - they are usually quite clear and helpful.

By the way, especially since you are preparing for IELTS, it's a good idea to use 'your', 'please' etc in these forums since there isn't a price on the characters.