If you suddenly decided to write a letter to your German-speaking acquaintance, but don’t know exactly how to do this, not because you don’t know German, but simply because you are not aware of the special rules for writing letters, then you should read with this article. So how do you learn to write letters in German?
How to write letters in German on different topics
First you need to understand what character your letter will have. Typically, there are two types of letters: personal and official. When writing personal letters, they use a conversational style in which abbreviations, emotionality of narration, personal details and intimate conversations are allowed. Personal letters are usually written to acquaintances, friends, loved ones, relatives, and so on, so you can write on any topic.
With official letters a little different. They are obviously written in an official business style of speech, that is, the submitted information is concise, unemotional, without the use of vernaculars and abbreviations and unnecessary personal information. Such letters are written to employers as an application for employment, to a school or institute, to a court, to the police, and so on. Official letters are usually written in a strictly defined pattern.
Sample: how to write a letter in German on a personal topic
Since the example of how to write a letter in German on an official topic cannot be the same for all situations and is usually set by the organization you are contacting, it is best to talk in detail about personal letters. You can find an example of a letter written on a personal topic to a pen-friend from Germany:
Ivan Ivanov Tom Herz
Straße Sovetskaya 51 Straße Schwarzheit 13
Belgorod 89518 Heidenheim
Russia Deutschland
Hallo, liebe Tom!
Danke schön für deine letzte Brief, es war so interessant! Entschuldigung, ich habe nicht so lange geantwortet.
Ich habe so viel Nachrichten. Meine Schulzeit beendet und ich bin kein Schuljunge mehr. Meine Note sind gut und ich will betritt die Universität. Es ist so aufregend!
Und wie geht es dir? Wie ist Lernen? Ist die Gesundheit deiner Mutter besser? Ich warte ungeduldig auf die Antwort, schreibe mich.
Aufviedersehen,
Ivan.
Rules for writing a letter
Let's look at an example of a personal letter in more detail. It must begin with indicating the addresses of both the sender and the recipient. First you need to write your exact address (note that it is indicated in a special way, first you need to write the name and surname, then the street name and house number, city and only at the end of the country), which must be written separately from the text of the letter, at the top and with hyphenation in the column - all should get four lines.
After, according to tradition, there is a conversion, and here everything is not so strict. The one you are addressing can be called dear, beloved, respected, or simply giving a name - the main thing is to put a comma at the end of the address and transfer the text to the next line.
Further, in order to comply with the norms and rules of etiquette, a few words should be said about how you were happy to receive the last letter, or apologies for the fact that you were a little late in answering. Then you can proceed to the main part.
The main body and end of the letter
You can start the main part with answers to your interlocutor’s questions in the last letter, and then write about yourself. Here you can no longer restrain yourself and talk about everything that is interesting and interesting to your friend. For example, if you are not personally acquainted with your foreign pen-friend in person, then he will probably be interested in learning more about the details of life, life, study or work in your country.
And you, in turn, will also ask your pen-friend about where he lives, studies or works - for this, the next part of the letter is assigned, which must already be separated from the main part. It is considered uncivilized to tell only about yourself and forget to ask about who receives the letter. Then, as in the beginning, you need to say a few mandatory words like “waiting for your answer” or “say hello to friends”, then put a comma, move your name to the next line and put a period.
Before sending, check your letter for correct construction and grammatical correctness, since writing a letter in German is a rather difficult task, and you probably do not want your friend to read it.