FORMAL LANGUAGE AVOID CONTRACTIONS All verb forms must

FORMAL LANGUAGE

AVOID CONTRACTIONS • All verb forms must be written in full. • Inappropriate: This isn’t what we’d expect from a professional service. • Correct: This is not what we would expect from a professional service.

DO NOT USE ABBREVIATIONS • For example, do not write Info or Information. • Do not abbreviate a college’s name. • Spell out any numbers. • Do not write till for until.

LIMIT THE USE OF ACTIVE VERBS WITH THE FIRST PERSON SINGULAR PRONOUN • Inappropriate: I will send you all the relevant information asap. • Appropriate: All the relevant information will be forwarded to you as soon as possible.

AVOID THE USE OF INFORMAL DEGREE MODIFIERS • Inappropriate: Degree modifiers such as really and so are informal in nature. Avoid them. • Appropriate: Instead, use extremely, highly, entirely etc.

AVOID INFORMAL LANGUAGE • Inappropriate: By the way, “By the way” is informal. • Appropriate: Incidentally, • Inappropriate: I’m not losing any sleep over that. • Appropriate: That does not worry me at all.

DO NOT LEAVE WORDS OUT • Inappropriate: Look forward to hearing from you. • Appropriate: I look forward to hearing from you.

USE A FORMAL GREETING AND SALUTATION • Dear Mrs. Newberry: • Sincerely, • Regards,

DO NOT DEMAND GIVE ENOUGH TIME • One day notice is not acceptable when making a request. • Inappropriate: “I need you to…. ” • Appropriate: “I would appreciate it if…. . ” or “I would be grateful if…”

GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION • Do NOT send an email with spelling and grammatical errors. • Capitalize each sentence. End punctuation should be a period or question mark.

NEW EMAIL ASSIGNMENT Write an email to Mrs. Newberry requesting a letter of recommendation. You should include how the letter of recommendation will be used. It could be for college or a job, . Include any relevant information like your GPA, accomplishments, work experience, volunteer experience, etc. This will be an actual email. Please send to tnewberry@psd 202. org.