Semi-formal letters: asking a neighbour to help with a street party
You can write a semi-formal letter with the right opening, tone and close, and cover all three bullet points.
You've talked to a neighbour a few times at the bus stop. You know her name, and she probably knows your face.
General Training Task 1 can ask for a formal, semi-formal or informal letter, and the relationship in the task decides which. Someone you know a little calls for semi-formal English, and you'll practise it on a letter about a street party.
Warm-up
Who is the reader?
Three letters, three first lines. Only one is written to someone the writer knows a little.
Which letter is to someone the writer knows a little?
How it works
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
You are helping to organise a party in your street for everyone who lives there. You would like one of your neighbours, who you have met a few times, to help.
Write a letter to this neighbour. In your letter
- describe the party you are planning
- explain why you are asking this neighbour for help
- say what you would like them to do
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear ...............,
Write at least 150 words.
The task also tells you that you do not need to write any addresses.
Three kinds of letter
Choose the one that applies to you
To someone whose name you do not know, such as a company's customer service team. Open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully, and leave out contractions. Units 2 and 9 teach formal letters.
To someone you know a little, such as a neighbour or your child's teacher. Open with their title and surname, Dear Mrs Adeyemi, and close with Yours sincerely. The tone is polite and friendly, with contractions such as I'm but no slang.
To a friend or a relative. Use their first name, contractions and everyday phrases, and close with Best wishes or Love. Unit 7 teaches this letter.
Tone is marked under Task Achievement. The band 7 description of a letter asks for a tone that is consistent and appropriate, and band 6 allows minor inconsistencies in tone. So choose the tone once, and keep it to the last line.
Planning the letter
- 1Read the relationship
A neighbour who you have met a few times means semi-formal. The task tells you who the reader is, and often how well you know them.
- 2Choose the opening and the close together
A letter that opens with a name, such as Dear Mrs Adeyemi, closes with Yours sincerely. Yours faithfully goes only with Dear Sir or Madam. Sign with your full name.
- 3Say who you are
Someone you know a little may not remember your name. One sentence on who you are and where you met is enough.
- 4Give each bullet a paragraph
Each bullet gets its own paragraph and at least one real detail: a date, a reason, a clear request.
- 5End with the next step
Ask for a reply by a date, and say how to reach you.
The same request, two tones
I am writing to formally request your assistance with a community event.
I'm writing to ask whether you might be able to help with a party we're planning for the street.
Watch me do one
The situation says a neighbour who you have met a few times. That is someone between a friend and a stranger, so the letter is semi-formal.
For the opening I use her title and surname, Dear Mrs Adeyemi, because that's what I'd call her at the bus stop. That decides the close: Yours sincerely, then my full name.
She may not remember me, so the first paragraph says who I am and where we met.
Bullet one, the party: the date, the times, what will happen and where the money goes. Bullet two, why her: she used to run a bakery.
Bullet three, what I want: some bread or a cake, and an hour of help if she has time. I ask with Would you be willing to, which leaves her free to say no.
Last, one line asking for a reply by a date. That makes five short paragraphs, each with its own job.
A model answer
Dear Mrs Adeyemi, I hope you are keeping well. I'm Marco from number 12, and we talked about your roses at the bus stop the other week. A few of us are organising a street party on Saturday 12 June, from midday until about five. The council has agreed to close the road, so there will be long tables in the street, music and games for the children. Everyone is asked to bring food to share, and a raffle will raise money for new benches in the little park at the end of the road. You mentioned that you used to run a bakery, which is why I thought of you. Most of us can only manage sandwiches, so your baking would make a real difference. Would you be willing to bake a few loaves or a cake for the food table? We would, of course, pay for the ingredients. If you had an hour free in the afternoon, we would also be glad of some help serving. Could you let me know either way by the end of the month? My number is 07700 900318. Yours sincerely, Marco Rossi
- TaskShe may not remember his name, so the letter starts with who he is and where they met.
- TaskBullet one: the party, with a date and times. The rest of the paragraph says what will happen.
- TaskBullet two: why this neighbour. Which points back to the whole clause before it, as in this unit's language lesson.
- VocabularyA polite request that leaves her free to say no. It suits someone you know a little.
- GrammarA second conditional makes the second request gentler.
- CoherenceThe last paragraph gives the next step, with a date.
- TaskThe close for a letter that opens with a name, as Dear Mrs Adeyemi does, then his full name.
Coloured text shows what the examiner is looking for.
Practice with Elita6 questions
Five questions on tone and shape, then a whole letter of your own.
Which kind of letter?
Match each reader to the kind of letter you would write to them.
The first paragraph
You are writing to Mrs Adeyemi, a neighbour you have met a few times. Choose the best first paragraph.
Which opening suits this letter?
The close
The letter opens with Dear Mrs Adeyemi,. Choose the best way to end it.
Which ending fits?
The sentence in the wrong tone
This letter is to a neighbour you know a little. One sentence is in the wrong tone. Choose it.
Which sentence contains the error?
From blunt to polite
Rewrite these two sentences as a polite request to a neighbour you know a little. Keep the meaning.
I want to borrow your folding tables for the party. Bring them round on Saturday morning.
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Write the whole letter
A new situation, the same tone. Take about 20 minutes, the time the exam suggests for Task 1.
The people in your building are starting a vegetable garden on the roof. You would like one of your neighbours, who you know a little, to join. Write a letter to this neighbour. In your letter - explain the plan for the garden - say why you think they would enjoy it - invite them to the first meeting Begin your letter as follows: Dear ...
0 / 150 words
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Words to keep
A party held in a street, often with the road closed to cars. Our street party raised money for new benches.
Stop cars from using a road for a time. The council agreed to close the road for the afternoon.
Collect money for a cause. We are raising money for the little park at the end of the road.
A game in which people buy numbered tickets and the winning tickets get prizes, often to raise money. Every raffle ticket we sell helps to pay for the new benches.
A polite way to ask for help that leaves the reader free to say no. Would you be willing to bake a cake for the food table?
A gentle way to begin a request. I was wondering whether you could lend us two folding tables.
Whatever the answer is. Please let me know either way by Friday.
Before you go
Decide the tone from the relationship in the task. Someone you know a little means semi-formal.
Open with their title and surname, say who you are, and close with Yours sincerely and your full name.
Give each bullet its own paragraph and a real detail.
Ask politely, with Would you be willing to or I was wondering whether, and end with the next step.
Next: That is the end of Unit 12 and of the topic units. Next comes the test week, starting with how to use the last seven days before your test.