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preliminary note

Every letter is something special and unique. It's difficult to give strict rules how to write a letter.
Nevertheless, there are guidelines how to start and finish a letter. Like in English we have
typical standard experssions and there are clear features which distinguish a formal and informal letter.

I'd like to give some advice how to write an informal (private) letter.
I wrote this discribtion to help people to achieve the "Zertifikat Deutsch" (level: B1).

A word about the use of "du" and "Sie"

As you know, we've got two different forms in German to address people:

du (you)
Sie (you)

We call the use of du "duzen" and the use of Sie "siezen".

Du is used for children, friends, family members, colleagues and people at your age.
Sie is used for people who are older than you and people you are not familiar with.

The use of "Sie" is a sign of respect and if I used "du" for a 70 years old woman I've
never met before it would be rather offending. If you are not sure about the age of your
counterpart use "Sie".

The use of "Sie", however, has become less strict than years before. When I met my colleagues
in our office for the first time and they were apparently at my age I used "du"
even though I'd never met them before. Another example is my table tennis club where everybody is using "du".
It doesn't matter if 8 or 80 years old. We all "duzen" each other.

In the B1-exam you will always write the informal letter to a close friend. So use "du".

example letter

1: Adresse des Absenders und Empfängers (addresser of addressee)

Unlike in formal (business) letters there is no need to put your own address or the address of the receiver
on the top of the letter. It's likely you and the receiver are quite close and you know your addresses.
In Germany it's common to put your own address on the backside of the letter and the receiver's address on the front side.

2: Ort und Datum (location and date)

You start with the place, followed by a comma and the date.
Consider:
We write in German the date in the following order: day | month | year

3: Begrüßung/Anrede (salutation)

Typcial salutations for an informal letter are:

German	English	explanation
Liebe Joy,	Dear Joy	you are quite close to this person and you use "du"
Liebe Joy, lieber Nelson,	Dear Joy, dear Nelson	you are quite close to these 2 people and you use "du"
Liebe Frau Fischer,	Dear Mrs Fischer	you are quite close to this person but you use "Sie"
Liebe Familie Puhlmann,	Dear family Puhlmann	you are quite close to this whole family
Hallo Doreen *,	Hello Doreen	you write a friend or person at your age and you use "du"
Hi Doreen *,	Hi Doreen	you write a friend or person at your age and you use "du"
Hallo Frau Fischer *,	Hello Mrs Fischer	you write a close person older than you and you use "Sie"

* If I write an e-mail to a friend or person at my age I almost always use "hallo" or "hi".
I hardly use "liebe | lieber". It's getting a bit old-fashioned. In the the exam, however, you should
use "liebe | lieber" to satisfy the examiner.

Consider:
The salutation ends with a comma.

4: Einleitungssatz (introduction)

Typcial introductions for an informal letter are:

German	use
vielen Dank für deinen Brief. Ich habe mich sehr darüber gefreut.	standard introducution to answer a letter
wie geht es dir? Mir geht es (nicht so) super, da ...	standard introducution to write a letter
es freut mich sehr zu hören, dass ...	introducution to speak immediately about an important event
entschuldige, dass ich erst jetzt auch deinen Brief antworte, aber ich war in letzter Zeit sehr beschäftigt.	standard introducution to answer a letter (belated answer)
ich wollte dir schon lange schreiben, aber leider ist mir immer etwas dazwischen gekommen.	standard introducution to answer a letter (belated answer)
vielen Dank für die Bilder (das Buch \| die CD ...), die du mir geschickt hast.	introducution to say thank you for a present

Consider:
The introductions starts with a small letter!

5: Hauptteil (main part)

There are no strict rules for the main part.
In the B1-exam you will get 3 or 4 points you have to cover.

My suggestion:

make at first some short keynotes to every points to make clear what you want to say
It's absolutly ok if you do it in your language.
bring the 3-4 points in a logical order
write 1 - 2 sentences about every point.
structure your text: use e.g. for every point one paragraph
It makes it much easier to read the text.

6: Abschlusssatz (closing)

Typcial closings for an informal letter are:

German	use
Ich hoffe bald wieder etwas von dir zu hören.	standard closing (with request for an answer)
Ich würde mich freuen, bald wieder von dir zu hören.	standard closing (with request for an answer)
Bitte antworte mir bald!	standard closing (with request for an answer)
Ich warte auf deine Antwort.	standard closing (with request for an answer)
Melde dich doch mal!	standard closing (with request for an answer)
Bitte grüß Kristine ganz lieb von mir.	standard closing (with greetings)
Bitte grüß deine ganze Familie von mir.	standard closing (with greetings)
Ich freue mich sehr darauf, dich wieder zu sehen.	standard closing (with looking forward to meeting)

7: Grüße (greetings)

Typcial greetings for an informal letter are:

German	English	explanation
Liebe Grüße	Love	you are quite close to this person and you use "du"
Viele Grüße	Regards / Cheers	standard greetings which always fit
Gruß	Regards / Cheers	standard greetings for a friend you are not so close
Herzliche Grüße	Best regards	standard greetings for a good friend
Deine Cathy	Yours Cathy	instead of greeting + sign you can summarise it in this form

Consider:
The greeting starts with a capital letter and ends without comma.

8: Unterschrift (sign)

Don't forget to put your name at the end.

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