What Are Parts of Letter? A Simple Student Guide to Friendly and Formal Letters With Examples

If you are asking what are parts of letter writing, here is the quick, student-friendly answer. A friendly letter has five parts: heading, greeting, body, closing and signature. A formal letter adds two more, the recipient’s address and a typed name, so it has seven. Learn the five first, then add the extras when the letter gets serious.

This guide is made for students, new writers and anyone helping a child with homework. I keep the words plain, compare the two kinds of letter side by side, and give you a silly sentence that helps you remember the order. If you need the full, formal business version with spacing rules, our sibling article on the parts of a formal business letter goes deeper.

What are parts of letter writing in simple words?

Think of a letter as a short trip. You say where you are, say hello, tell your news, say goodbye and sign your name. Every part has a job.

Many students ask what are parts of letter writing because their teacher marks each one. The marks are easy once you see the pattern. The top of the page tells the reader who is writing and when. The middle holds your message. The bottom says goodbye in a polite way.

Two kinds of letter show up in school. A friendly (or personal) letter goes to a friend, a cousin or a grandparent. A formal letter goes to a principal, a company or a stranger. The parts are close cousins, but formal letters have stricter rules.

What are the five parts of a friendly letter?

Here is each part in the order it appears on the page.

1. Heading

The heading is your address and the date, written in the top right corner. Students often ask if the address is needed. In school, yes, because teachers want you to practice. Write the street on line one, the city and state on line two and the date on line three.

2. Greeting

The greeting is your hello. Start at the left margin with “Dear” and the name of the person, then add a comma. Example: “Dear Grandpa,”. Notice that the first word and the name begin with capital letters.

3. Body

The body is your message. Write in paragraphs. Start the first line of each paragraph a little to the right (indent), or skip a line between paragraphs. Share news, ask questions and answer the ones you got. Keep each paragraph about one idea.

4. Closing

The closing is a short goodbye phrase. Good choices are “Your friend,” “Love,” “Best wishes,” and “Yours truly,”. Only the first word has a capital letter, and the phrase ends with a comma. It sits on the right side, under the body.

5. Signature

The signature is your name, written by hand under the closing. In a friendly letter, your first name is enough. Write it clearly so the reader knows who sent the letter.

Friendly letter example

Use this as a model. Check each part against the list above.

                              52 Maple Lane
                              Denver, CO 80203
                              May 12, 2026

Dear Grandpa,

Thank you for the book you sent for my birthday.
I finished the first three chapters already. My
favorite character is the pilot.

How is your garden? I hope the tomatoes are doing
well. Mom says we can visit you in July.

                              Your grandson,

                              Leo

See how the heading and the closing sit on the right, while the greeting and body start on the left? That shape is called the friendly letter layout. If your letter is handwritten on lined paper, our article on writing a letter on notebook paper shows margins, pens and folding.

What changes in a formal letter?

A formal letter keeps the same bones, but adds more detail. The reader may not know you, so the letter must show clearly who you are, who it is for, and why you wrote.

• Date moves to its own line and uses the full month, such as “May 12, 2026”.
• Inside address appears after the date. It lists the person’s name, their job title and the organization’s address.
• The greeting uses a title: “Dear Principal Lopez:” with a colon in many schools and offices.
• The closing is more formal: “Sincerely,” or “Respectfully,”.
• A typed name appears under your signature. The signature goes in the blank space between.

The tone changes too. Skip slang, jokes and shortened words such as “can’t” if your teacher asks for formal style. It depends on the school, so follow their instructions. For a deeper look at how signatures work, read where the signature goes on a letter.

Friendly letter or formal letter: side by side

This table puts the two kinds together so you can see the differences at a glance.

Part	Friendly letter	Formal letter
Heading	Your address and date, top right	Your address, then the date on its own line
Inside address	Not used	Recipient’s name, title and address
Greeting	“Dear Grandpa,”	“Dear Ms. Lopez:”
Body	News, questions, chatty tone	Clear purpose, short, polite tone
Closing	“Love,” “Your friend,”	“Sincerely,” “Respectfully,”
Signature	First name by hand	Full name by hand plus typed name
Number of parts	5	7

The layouts, drawn out

Here are the two shapes. Each X shows where a part sits.

FRIENDLY                          FORMAL
                  XXXXXXXX        XXXXXXXXXX (your address)
                  XXXXXXXX        XXXXXXXXXX
                  XXXXXXXX (date) 
                                  XXXXXXXXXX (date)

XXXXXXXXX,  (greeting)            XXXXXXXXXX (inside address)
                                  XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX              XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (body)
                                  XXXXXXXXX:  (greeting)
              XXXXXXXXX,
              XXXX (signature)    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (body)
                                  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

                                  XXXXXXXXX,  (closing)
                                  (signature)
                                  XXXXXXXXXX (typed name)

The friendly shape leans to the right for the heading and closing. The formal shape in the block style lines up everything on the left.

How can you remember the parts?

A silly sentence works better than a list. Use the first letters of the seven formal parts:

Hungry Dogs Always Sniff Big Cheesy Sandwiches

1. Heading
2. Date
3. Address (inside address)
4. Salutation (greeting)
5. Body
6. Closing
7. Signature

For a friendly letter, drop the date line and the address and you have five parts. If you prefer a different sentence, make your own. Sentences you invent yourself are the ones you remember on test day. When students tell me what are parts of letter writing in their own words, they usually learn it faster than when they read it.

What do teachers look for?

Teachers use a checklist. Ask for yours before you start, because it tells you exactly what earns points. Many checklists include:

• All parts present and in the right place
• Capital letters in the greeting, closing and names
• Commas after the greeting and closing (or a colon for formal letters)
• Indented or spaced paragraphs
• Correct spelling and full sentences
• A message that fits the reader

If your assignment says to write about yourself, our guide to how to write a letter introducing yourself has ideas for what to say. For writing help in general, the Grammarly blog and the Purdue Online Writing Lab explain grammar and letter style in clear steps.

A tip for parents and tutors

Do not hand the child a finished model and ask them to copy it. Ask them to find each part in the model and circle it with a coloured pen. Then let them write a new letter to someone real. Children learn what are parts of letter writing much faster when the letter will actually be mailed or read aloud to its receiver.

Practice steps for students

Try this routine the next time you have a letter to write.

1. Decide who the reader is. A friend gets a friendly letter. An adult you do not know gets a formal one.
2. Write the parts as labels on scrap paper in order, so the structure is ready.
3. Fill in the heading and greeting first, because they are easy wins.
4. Write the body in two or three short paragraphs.
5. Add the closing and sign by hand.
6. Read the letter aloud and fix any sentence that sounds odd.
7. Check the page against your teacher’s list.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting the comma after the greeting and closing.
• Capitalizing every word of the closing. Only the first word gets a capital.
• Using a friendly tone in a formal letter. Keep it respectful and short.
• Putting the date in the wrong place. The date goes in the heading or just below it.
• Leaving no room for the signature in a formal letter.
• Mixing up the layouts. Pick one style and stay with it.

Why does letter structure matter outside school?

The habit of using a clear order does not stop when school ends. When our team bids for clients on Upwork, we write short notes to people we have never met. A good one has a greeting, a first line that shows we read the job, a middle that proves we can do it and a polite close. That is the same skeleton as the letters above, just shorter.

That is the idea behind BidStaff. It writes proposals in your own winning tone, learned from your past winning proposals, and attaches the best work sample. You can look at the features to see how. It does not write school letters, resumes or cover letters, so those words stay yours, but the way of thinking carries over. If you freelance or plan to, see how to start freelancing with no experience for a simple first path.

Students who learn structure early find first emails and applications less scary. Even BidStaff, a tool built for proposals, follows the same rule: say the right thing first, in the right order, in a voice that sounds like the writer. For one more example of a first note to a stranger, read what to put on a letter, and when you are ready to send proposals, see the demo.

Frequently asked questions

What are parts of letter in a friendly letter?

There are five: heading, greeting, body, closing and signature.

How many parts does a formal letter have?

Seven in the common school version: heading, date, inside address, greeting, body, closing and signature with a typed name.

What is the difference between a greeting and a salutation?

They are the same thing. “Greeting” is the simpler word, and “salutation” is the formal term.

Where does the date go in a friendly letter?

It sits in the heading, under your address, at the top right.

Do I use a comma or a colon after the greeting?

Use a comma for friendly letters. Use a colon for formal ones, unless your teacher says otherwise.

Should I type or handwrite my letter?

It depends on the assignment. Friendly letters are often handwritten. Formal letters are often typed, but always sign by hand.

Can I skip the heading?

For school work, no, because it is part of the grade. For real mail to a friend, the date alone can be enough.

Are the parts of a letter the same in an email?

Almost. An email has a subject line instead of a heading, a greeting, a body and a sign-off. The date and address are added by the email program, so you do not type them.

Is the body one paragraph or many?

Use as many as you need, usually two or three. Keep each one about a single idea.

Conclusion

Now you know what are parts of letter writing, and you can tell the friendly version from the formal one. Five parts for a friend, seven for a stranger. The silly sentence will carry you through a test, and the side-by-side table will keep you on track while you write.

Your action list:

1. Pick the reader, then pick the friendly or formal layout.
2. Write the part labels first, then fill them in.
3. Learn the memory sentence, or invent your own.
4. Check commas, capitals and the signature before you hand it in.
5. Practice with a real letter to a relative this week.

If you later send proposals as a freelancer, see how BidStaff credits work and start small.

Other related articles

• What are the parts of a letter
• How to write a letter on notebook paper
• Where does the signature go on a letter
• How to write a letter introducing yourself
• How to format a handwritten letter

About the Author

Muhammad Shahzad is the founder of BidStaff and Leadslancer. He runs Upwork accounts for a freelance and agency team, and builds BidStaff around that daily work.