Writing letters is a great way to practice a new language. If you are looking for a pen pal to improve your writing skills in Italian, you can search on Google or another search engine. If you are a student, you could ask your teachers for suggestions.

Like in English, Italian has a formal and informal structure for letters, according to the recipient. The structure for informal letters:

• Place and date (to the right)
• Opening and recipient name
• Introduction
• Body of the letter
• Closing
• Signature
• P.S. (Latin for Post Scriptum) indicates content after the signature.

A formal letter has a slightly more complex structure and contains further elements:

• Sender’s name and address (to the left)
• Place and date (to the right one line below the previous line)
• Recipient’s name and address (to the right)
• Subject of the letter
• Opening
• Introduction
• Body of the letter
• Closing
• Signature

After learning about the structure, let’s look at some expressions you can use for writing your letters.

Informal Openings:

Caro= Dear (to one male)

Cara= Dear (to one female)

Cari= Dear (to more than one male or to males and females)

Care= Dear (to more than one female)

Informal Closings:

Un Abbraccio= a hug

Un bacio= a kiss

Baci=kisses

Un forte abbraccio= a big hug

Formal Openings:

Egregio= Dear (to a male)

Gentile = Dear (to a female)

Spettabile=Dear (to companies and enterprises)

Formal Closings:

Distinti Saluti= Yours faithfully

Cordiali Saluti=Yours sincerely

Now let’s take pen and paper and start writing letters in Italian.

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