By Staff Writer | Last Updated August 4, 2015
A friendly letter consists of five parts: the heading, the greeting, the body of the letter, the closing and the signature, according to English Plus. A friendly letter is also called a personal letter.
The heading contains the address of the person receiving the letter, followed by the date, explains English Plus. Indenting to the middle of the page, the writer capitalizes the street name, the city, the state and the month, puts a comma between the city and the state in the address and inserts a comma between the month and the year in the date. The writer then skips a line before beginning the greeting.
The greeting or salutation can be formal, beginning with “Dear” followed by the letter recipient’s name, according to Studyzone.org, or informal, beginning with “Hi,” for example. If the writer is addressing someone like an aunt or grandparent, he includes the person’s title, for example, “Dear Aunt Jean.” Every word in a greeting is capitalized, and the greeting must end with a comma. At the end of the greeting, the writer skips a line.
English Plus explains that the body of the letter contains the message to the recipient. The beginning of each paragraph is indented. At the end of the body, the writer skips a line before the closing.
The closing consists of a short phrase, according to English Plus. Some examples of a closing include “Best wishes,” “Your friend” or “Love.” The first word of the closing is capitalized. At the end of the closing, the writer puts a comma and skips two or three lines to leave room for his signature. The closing and the signature line are indented to the middle of the page to line up with the heading at the top of the page.
English Plus states that the signature line is where the letter writer signs his name. If the letter is on the more formal side, it is customary for the writer to use blue or black ink for his signature.
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