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Year 4 English — A letter to a friend

Lay out a short friendly letter and choose the greeting, the news and the closing that belong in it.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

Here is the shape of a friendly letter with nothing written in it yet. Each block is one of the five parts, and finding out which is which is the point.

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  1. 1. The date
  2. 2. The greeting
  3. 3. The body, where your news goes
  4. 4. The closing
  5. 5. Your name

Notice how much of the page the body takes. The other four parts are one line each — the letter is the news, and the rest is just the frame around it.

  1. 1.A friendly letter begins "Dear Meera" on its own line. Which punctuation mark goes straight after the name?

  2. 2.Put the parts of a friendly letter in the order they appear on the page, from top to bottom.

    • The date
    • Sameer
    • Your news and your questions
    • Your friend,
    • Dear Anya,

  3. 3.Sort each line by where it belongs in a friendly letter.

    Groups: The greeting · The closing

    • Dear Nani,
    • Dear Ravi,
    • Yours affectionately,
    • Your friend,
    • With love,
    • Dear Sameer,

  4. 4.Where does your own name go in a friendly letter?

    • a) under the closing, at the end
    • b) at the very top
    • c) straight after the greeting
    • d) in the middle of the news

  5. 5.Which closing would you use in a letter to your cousin?

    • a) Yours truly, the undersigned,
    • b) Yours faithfully,
    • c) With love,
    • d) Respectfully submitted,

  6. 6.Which sentence belongs in the body of a letter to a friend?

    • a) Please find the details listed below.
    • b) We went to the river on Sunday and caught two fish.
    • c) Kindly acknowledge receipt of this letter.
    • d) I enclose the completed application form.

  7. 7.Pair each part of a letter with the job it does.

    • the date
    • the greeting
    • the body
    • the closing
    • signs off just before your name
    • carries your news
    • says when you wrote it
    • names the person you are writing to

  8. 8.Sort each line by the kind of letter it belongs in.

    Groups: A letter to a friend · A letter to someone you do not know

    • Your friend,
    • Dear Sir,
    • Guess what happened at the ground yesterday!
    • I am writing to request a copy of the form.
    • Dear Ravi,
    • Yours sincerely,

Answer key — Year 4 English — A letter to a friend

  1. 1. comma
  2. 2. 1. The date 2. Dear Anya, 3. Your news and your questions 4. Your friend, 5. Sameer
  3. 3. Dear Ravi, → The greeting; Your friend, → The closing; Dear Nani, → The greeting; With love, → The closing; Dear Sameer, → The greeting; Yours affectionately, → The closing
  4. 4. a) under the closing, at the end
  5. 5. c) With love,
  6. 6. b) We went to the river on Sunday and caught two fish.
  7. 7. the date → says when you wrote it; the greeting → names the person you are writing to; the body → carries your news; the closing → signs off just before your name
  8. 8. Dear Ravi, → A letter to a friend; Dear Sir, → A letter to someone you do not know; Guess what happened at the ground yesterday! → A letter to a friend; I am writing to request a copy of the form. → A letter to someone you do not know; Your friend, → A letter to a friend; Yours sincerely, → A letter to someone you do not know