RSSSpanish For Newbies: Writing Letters And E-mails
Aug 23
Spanish Comments Off
You might find that you need to write a letter or an e-mail in the new language even though you are starting to learn Spanish. Perhaps you want to write a note to reserve a room for your upcoming trip in Venezuela or you may probably want write an e-mail to a newfound pal in Buenos Aires.But regardless of your motivations for writing in Spanish, e-mail and letter writing – in all languages – have a tendency to be somewhat fixed. This means that should successfully be able to get started writing letters to almost everyone in Spanish once you master the most frequent letter-writing formulas in Spanish. Here are a handful of guidelines and the most frequent methods to write a correspondence in Spanish:
Dates
A formal or business letter puts the date in the right-hand corner. In Spanish, dates are written with the day first then the month followed by the year, with the preposition “de” used in between both spaces. Therefore July 1, 2010 is written as 1 de julio de 2010. Keep in mind that Months of the year, just like days of the week and the names of languages, are not capitalized.
E-mails and casual letters, as in English, are not typically dated.
Opening
You can start with casual greetings in casual letters. The following are some examples:
Hola = Hello
Hola a todos = Hello everyone
Querido Antonio = Dear Antonio
Querida Marta = Dear Marta
Queridos Pablo y Victoria = Dear Pablo and Victoria
Queridos Señores Bueno = Dear Mr. and Mrs. Bueno
You could possibly begin with the following words in formal mails:
Estimado Señor Martínez = Dear Mr. Martínez
Estimado Señor = Dear Sir
Estimada Señora Espinosa = Dear Ms. Espinosa
Estimada Señora = Dear Madam
Or for very formal letters:
Muy Señor Mío = Dear Sir
Muy Señora Mía = Dear Madam
Muy Señores Míos = Dear Sirs
Body
As you would expect, the body of the letter is where things get more free form.. This is the part where you express the reason for sending the letter. You can say what it is you wish to say on this section of the letter. However, some universal termns you may find handy for writing informal e-mails and letters are:
Adjunto = I am attaching (in an e-mail) / I am enclosing (in a letter)
Gracias por = Thank you for
Nos vemos pronto. = We’ll see each other soon.
Common expressions in formal communications include:
Quería reservar = I would like to reserve
El motivo de esta carta es = The reason for this letter is
Nos complace comunicarle = We are pleased to inform you
Nos complace comunicarles = (If writing to more than one person) We are pleased to inform you
Estamos agradecidos por su interés en = We appreciate your interest in
Estoy agradecido por su interés en = (If you as the speaker are a man) I appreciate your interest in
Estoy agradecida por su interés en = (If you are a woman) I appreciate your interest in
Close
The general method for ending a letter or an e-mail in Spanish is with a loving or a respectful ending that is followed by your name. Expressions similar to “Un saludo”, “Un beso”, or “Un abrazo” are often used to end informal letters. The phrase “Un cordial saludo” is the most common way to end a business or formal letter .} Other words like “Cordialmente” ,“Sinceramente” or “Le saluda atentamente” can be used as an alternative.
To know more about learning spanish online, you can visit Easy Online Spanish Lessons
