A Guide on How to Write Date in Formal Letter

Writing a formal letter is never easy. You may wonder how to write date in formal letter.

What is a Formal Letter?

A formal letter is a written or printed communication sent to an individual or institution by a person or company. This letter mainly involves corporate individuals like entrepreneurs whenever they talk about a deal or specific official topic.

Apart from that, letters can classify into two types: informal letters, which means to address acquaintances. On the other hand, formal letters are written to financially or politically high-ranking somebody. In some countries, a person can write both a formal and informal letter in one instance. This kind of letter is called a mixed letter.

Some individuals involved in affairs like businesses and companies use formal letters for corporate purposes. They usually use these letters to communicate correctly and increase their business connections.

Formal letters must follow a precise and professional format. The letter should begin with a mailing address, sender and recipient contact information, the date, and salutation. 

Why is Date Important in Formal Letters?

Why should date be included in a formal letter? When business letters are sent, the date is often used as a legal document to record the date and time of the letter.

Date is usually stated right after the salutation, at the top of the first page of the letter. Formal letter date guidelines are similar to date conventions in a newspaper. More often, date is helpful in documentation: case law, civil records, judicial proceedings, and legal actions such as a lawsuit.

The answer is that when you write a formal letter, you want to make sure you know when it was sent. It also tells how much time has passed since it was delivered, and how long it took to reach the recipient. This is especially important when you’re writing a letter of inquiry, and you want to make sure the recipient can read between the lines.

Writing the date in your formal letter will help your recipient understand when did you write the letter. It helps to increase or decrease the sense of urgency towards the reader, especially if your writing requires immediate or no response.

Although date is an integral part of formal letters, writing it requires formality. Writing the date is not as simple as inscribing the month, day, and year. It has a format, and you should follow that at all times.

There are a number of ways to write the date in English. The English language varies from formal to informal, and British and American English differ.

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

How to Write Date in Formal Letter?

It’s the month before the day, with a comma between the year and the day: May 12, 2022.

How do you write the date in a sentence? When writing a date, a comma is used to distinguish the day from the month, and the date from the year.

When the day and month is a part of a sentence you should always write its date in full. It usually involves giving the month, month, and year.

Please note that the year follows a comma. However, you can use several formats. This can include omitting the year or adding the day of the week. When writing out the date in full, you may use ordinal instead of cardinal numbers.

Whatever date format you use, ensure that you apply it consistently across all dates in your document. You can write dates using English in a variety of ways. Which is why you have to learn to write dates in British and American English.

The dates written as April 13th or April 13 are not incorrect, but are less common in American English.

Next, write the date on which you sent the letter. Align this information to the left or right margin. Months and dates can be spelled out using letters and numbers. In the entire date. Use the month and day, and year numbers in the month. 

For example, you can write the current date as of this writing as May 12th, 2022.

When you write, sign, and send the letter, the information can become an essential record for legal documents, contracts, and agreements. 

To Wrap Up

Correctly using the right date format in your formal letter will help you write excellently. Writing date in formal letter is not difficult if you know some very essential tips and rules. Just remember everything we tackled above.

Pam is an expert grammarian with years of experience teaching English, writing and ESL Grammar courses at the university level. She is enamored with all things language and fascinated with how we use words to shape our world.

Writing a Formal Letter for Leave Application

Looking to write a formal letter for leave application? That’s not surprising. What is a Leave Application? Allowing for a…

May 19, 2022

When to Use a Formal Warning Letter

Are you wondering when to write a formal warning letter? What is a Formal Warning Letter? A warning letter is…

May 19, 2022

Writing a Subject Line in Formal Letters

Writing a subject in a formal letter is not as complex as you imagined. What is the Subject Line in…

May 19, 2022

Writing a Cover Letter for a Report

Are you looking to write a cover letter for formal report? You’re in luck — this article explores the detail.…

May 19, 2022

A Guide to Salutation of a Formal Letter

Salutation of a formal letter can exist in various forms. What Is a Salutation? A salutation is the greeting used…

May 19, 2022

Learn to Cite Formal Letter Enclosure

For people who send business letters on a regular basis, knowing how to cite a formal letter enclosure is essential.…

May 19, 2022