•Letters are messages. There are different kinds of letters. They are; 
       •1.Friendly Letters:
       •They are written to friends, relatives and acquaintances. 
       •Their style is conversational style. 
       •The language of such letters is simple, direct and natural. 
       •Humorous touch also adds to the interest of the letter. 
       •They have no strict rules of style and grammar.
       •2.Business Letters:
       •Written to shopkeepers, merchants, commercial firms, customers, 
        dealers and manufacturers.
       • They are terse, clear and to the point. Businessmen have no time 
        to read long, rambling and confused letters. 
       •All business letters are considered formal in style. Abbreviation 
        should be avoided as much as possible.
       •3.Social Letters:
       •Social Letters include invitation and replies, letters of 
        congratulation, thank you notes and letters of condolence. 
       •They are more formalin style.
       •They may be hand written or typed. Depending upon the relation-
        ship of the sender and recipient. 
       •They are shorter than personal letters because they are intended 
        for specific purpose. 
      The Form & Style of Business 
      Letter
      •In a business letter form and style are as important as the 
       contents. 
      •There are different parts of business letters. 
      •They are broadly divided into: 
      •Essential Parts.
      •Optional parts.
            ESSENTIAL PARTS
            •There are SIX essential parts of letters.
            •1) The Heading:
            •It shows where the letter comes from. It consists of the name and full address of 
              the firm and the date. It shows the readers where to reply.
            •    The position of the heading is at the top right hand corner of the first page of 
              the letter. The date is written two spaces below the address. The date should be 
              written in full. There are different formats of writing dates; they are:
            •10-03-2005 {British Style}  03/10/2005 {American Style}
            •   th
              10  of March, 2005      {American Style}  March 10, 2005  {American Style}
            •Some companies use printed sheets on which the letterhead is printed at the top 
              center of the letter. It includes all the information like address, telephone numbers 
              of branch offices etc.