In today’s age, it might seem like writing aletter is as outdated and impractical as sending a message in a bottle. But informal letters, also known as personal letters, are an impactful and deeply personal way of expressing yourself, whether you’re sending an apology letter, thank-you letter, or love letter. Here’s what you need to know about letter writing.
When Writing a Letter, You Should
Know how to start and end a letter.
Use the appropriate tone and word choice.
Express yourself, but don’t wander off-topic, or you’ll risk boring your reader.
A formal letter is a letter—or correspondence—written for a professional or academic setting. Types of formal letters include:
Cover letter
Inquiry letter
Legal letter
Letter of intent
Reference letter
Resignation letter
As you can see, there are several reasons you may find yourself writing a formal letter. If you don’t know how to write one, don’t panic. Below, we’ll go over the five easy steps of writing a formal letter.
Writing a Formal Letter Is Simple
Write your name, contact information, and date.
Add your recipient’s name and contact information.
A preposition connects a noun or pronoun to other information in a sentence. A few examples of prepositions are about, before, by, for, and with. It’s common (and acceptable) to end a sentence with a preposition in casual speech and writing.
Who are you going to go shopping with?
However, suppose you’re writing in an academic or professional setting, and impeccable grammar is necessary. In that case, you should restructure your sentence so that it doesn’t end with a dangling preposition.
Published on
June 16, 2025
by
Gina Rancaño, BA
Revised on
July 29, 2025
Your and you’re have different definitions, different spellings, but the same pronunciation. In other words, they’re homophones. This is the perfect recipe to cause confusion when trying to write and differentiate these words.
But don’t worry. We’re going to teach you what these two words mean and when to use them correctly so that you’re never in doubt about your spelling abilities ever again.
“Your” vs. “You’re”Your is a possessive adjective, whereas you’re is a contraction of you are.
We’ll be covering the verb “to have” and its different conjugated forms. Plus, we’re also going to provide example sentences to help you better understand this irregular verb.
Quick Summary on Forms of “To Have”
To have is an irregular verb that can be used as a main or auxiliary verb. Its forms are have, has, had, and having.
I have a lot to do tomorrow.
He has to win three games to make it to the finals.
Luis had to arrive at the airport at 3:00 PM.
We’re having a party tomorrow.
Have you ever wondered what type of word have is? Or maybe you’re here because you know it’s a verb, but want to know what type. We’ll be going over this, plus we’re also going to show you the conjugation of to have and example sentences.
You can also try LanguageTool’s Grammar Checker to make sure you’re using verbs like have correctly.
If there’s one thing English is good at, it’s confusing us with words that are pronounced identically but have different meanings.
The homophones weather and whether are just two of countless examples. But we’re going to help you overcome this storm of confusion by clarifying their meanings and usage and providing an easy way to remember the difference.
Weather can function as a noun and a verb, but as a noun, it refers to the “outside conditions of the atmosphere.” Is it rainy, cold, hot, humid, or dry? Those are adjectives that describe the weather.
Whether is a conjunction that is typically used to indicate “doubt or a choice between two possibilities.”
“Rise” and “raise” are two words that are commonly confused. We’ll go over what these words mean, their spellings, and how to use them correctly.
Quick Summary on “Rise” and “Raise”The main difference between the verbs rise and raise is that somebody/something can rise on its own, whereas an outside force is needed to raise somebody/something. In other words, rise is an intransitive verb whereas raise is a transitive verb.
Rise means “to come or go upwards,” “to ascend to a higher level,” or “to increase in the amount or level or something.”
He was rising to the top of the charts at a remarkable pace.
Raise means “to lift or move something to a higher level” or “to increase,” depending on the context.
We need to raisethe prices of our menu items because of inflation.
Published on
June 16, 2025
by
Gina Rancaño, BA
Revised on
July 29, 2025
Figures of speech (also known as figurative language) play an enormous role in helping your readers visualize, understand, and relate to your writing. There are numerous types, ranging from alliteration to zeugma, and everything in between. Figures of speech, and other rhetorical devices, are as important as milk to a baby, a tennis racket is to a tennis player, or the sun is to the Earth. Can you guess what type of figurative language we’ll be discussing today? That’s right. Similes.
A simile is a figure of speech that compares two things by using the words “as” or “like.”
He’s as strong as an ox.
Life is like a rollercoaster.
A simile helps make your writing relatable and easy to understand.
