Types of latter

 There are various kinds of letters like Address Change Letter, Business Letter, Cover Letter, Farewell Letter, Get Well Letter and so on. These different types of letters are different in their subject, occasion and purpose. They have various criteria like format, length, vocabulary, language and other essentials which need to be followed.

The most widely acceptable types of letters are:

Formal Letters

Formal letters are those letters which follow certain styles of writing a letter. They are known as formal letters because they are written in accordance with certain established practices. Such letters are mostly used in working environments like various offices and businesses and have very meagre emotional language. Formal letters are mostly written by officials and businessmen.

Informal Letters

Informal letters are those letters which are written with minimalistic rules, thus the term informal letters. Informal letters are personal correspondences and that is why they do not require as much of a rule observance as compared to the formal letters. Informal letters are mostly written by relatives, friends, peers etc. of the recipient. The purpose of writing informal letters is socialisation and information exchange.

Informal and Formal Letters are further subdivided into various categories which further may have their own subcategories

Formal Letters	Informal Letters
Acceptance Letter	Address Change Letter
Address Change Letter	Announcement Letter
Adjustment Letter	Acknowledgement Letter
Announcement Letter	Cancellation Letter
Acknowledgement Letter	Condolence Letter
Business Letter	Confirmation Letter
Cancellation Letter	Farewell Letter
Complaint Letter	Friendly Letter
Condolence Letter	Holiday Letter
Confirmation Letter	Invitation Letter
Cover Letter Cover Letter for Visa	Love Letter
Inquiry Letter	Thanks Letter
Invitation Letter
Leave Letter Maternity Leave Letter
Persuasive Letter
Petition Letter
Refusal Letter
Request Letter
Reference Letter
Resignation Letter
Resolution Letter
Retirement Letter
Recommendation Letter
Sales Letter
Termination Letter
Thanks Letter

As is evident from the above mentioned, certain letters have been categorised under both informal and formal types of letters. This is because certain letters have informal ingredients even when they are written within the parameters of formal letters. The above categorisation is just to show a division and not to strictly confine a letter to just one category only. Certain letters are strictly formal as they have to follow certain regulations and their use is restricted to just the official environment. And some formal letters when written to express emotions within a working environment use informal language as without using the informal language the letters wouldn't be able to properly express the emotions they want to.