# formal letter/correspondence format



## Taalib

Hello all,

I want to springboard off of a recent post to pose a new question.

One of the unfortunate gaps in my Arabic education over the years was that I never learned how to write proper Arabic letters (that is, correspondence, not the script!). When I did have to correspond by letter, it was invariably in English (due to academic or political nature of our relationship); and in any case, letter correspondence was just infrequent since the phone or informal e-mail was easier. Are there certain conventions in writing Arabic letters, either personal or formal, as in French? Are there websites that point out these conventions?

Thanks in advance, everyone. It's an embarassing hole in my knowledge that I'd like to fill. I guess all those years spent memorizing classical conjugations and listening to complex political dialogues left a lot of simple instruments out of the language toolbox!


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## cherine

Hello Taalib, I understand your problem 
I myself never really studied writing letters in Arabic as systematically as I learned it in English.
So, I'll give you what I know, as a general rule, and if you have a specific letter that you'd like to "practice" with it, we can work on it as a translation practice. (You can of course keep the personal stuff, and just post the general lines.)

Here's an example of writing a formal letter in Arabic :


السيد الفاضل/....
سعادة الأستاذ/..... الفاضل (أو المحترم)
سعادة السفير/.....
السيدة الفاضلة/....
............ تحية طيبة وبعد،
.
.
(الرسالة)
.
.
...................................... وتفضلوا بقبول فائق التحية والاحترام​​ 
Those were for official letters.
For personal letters, i.e. between friends and family, you substitute siyaadat... with the simple 3aziizi/3aziizati عزيزي/عزيزتي and you have more freedom in style.

As I said, this is what I know. Maybe others would chime in with better suggestions. And, as I said, translating letters can help.


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## linguist786

وتفضلوا بقبول فائق التحية والاحترام 

Is this like saying "Please accept the assurance of my utmost respect" or something?


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## cherine

Yes, Mohammed, exactly. Literaly : please accept the utmost greeting and respect.
It's the most commonly used greeting in formal letters.

A friendly letter would end with مع تحياتي  or مع خالص تحياتي  .


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## Taalib

Thanks for the tips!  I don't have a specific letter in mind, but I did want to know what the commonly used greetings were, in addition to the structure.  This works nicely, thanks again!


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## MarcB

I would like to add to the already good answers.
I often see as an opening and closing السلام عليكم رحمة الله وبركاته
Some other closings including the one submitted by Linguist and Cherine
business: السيد العزيز فلان , friendly: عزيزي السيد فلان
business:  عناية الأستاذ فلان 
فلان  like Sp fulano/Prt fulão= insert name



نشكر لكم عنايتكم الكريمة بهذه القضية العاجلة 
مع خالص الاحترام 
وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام
وشكراً جزيلاً على اهتمامكم الكريم بهذه القضية​ 
And for friends after an absence وحشتني​


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## Nikola

Hi Guys.
Can someone translate the closing lines? I understand the openings ok. But maybe some people could benefit from the openings too.


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## Taalib

Nikola,

Here are translations of MarcB's closing lines:

نشكر لكم عنايتكم الكريمة بهذه القضية العاجلة 
We thank you (all) for your kind care in this urgent matter

مع خالص الاحترام 
With utmost respect

وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام
(And) please accept my highest respects/esteem

وشكراً جزيلاً على اهتمامكم الكريم بهذه القضية
And thank you very much for your (plural) kind interest in this issue


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## elroy

Another useful phrase:

لمن يهمه الأمر - _to whom it may concern_


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## Nikola

Taalib,
 I appreciate it. by the way what is عناية الأستاذ فلان
al ustadh fulan


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## elroy

The care of Mr. So-and-So.


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## suma

Just a side note

In my experience, Arabic writing/ letter styles tend to be much more formal and "flowery" than present day English style. if you look at letter styles of English writers say 100 years ago it's much more akin to the formal "dressy" style still common in Arabic letters.

anyone agree?


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## miko_zico

I would say yes, it is more like the German style of writing with giving the plural from for one persone in formal writing. However, this is only in the formal letters, but you can find nicer words and smother styles, and even more standard in normal litters among educated people.


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## MarcB

Other phrases I remember are  الاخ الغالي   الاخت الغالية.

Closing تقبل تحياتي وتقديري . Friendly اختك   اخوك .    
Mr.Ayed and Mr. Zooz any other ideas.


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## Mahaodeh

A few usful notes:

1. Make sure to greet the person in the opening of the letter and in the closing.  After the greeting in the opening use أما بعد (traditional) or وبعد (contemporary).

2. If addressing formally, use the plural both in refering to yourself and to others.  Note that it is rude to address someone that ranks above you with the singular.

3. It can be sufficient in the opening greeting to say السلام عليكم ورحمة الله.  However, keep in mind that this may be a nucance sine the reciever, if he wanted to dispose of the letter 3 years later, he/she will have to burn it so it's best to avoid it unless in emails.

Other common terms informally: والسلام ختام.


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## إسكندراني

١٥-٥-٢٠١١ القاهرة 
بسم الله الرحمٰن الرحيم
إلى من (يهمّه\يعنيه) الأمر \ السيّد المحترم (فلان)ـ
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
تحيةٌ طيّبةٌ وبعد
بخصوص كذا وكذا وما يترتّب عليه من تدابير، أردنا إبلاغ حضراتكم بوجوب التنفيذ لاقتراب موعد التسليم.
نشكر لكم جهدكم حتّىٰ الآن ونتمنّىٰ المضيّ قدماً، ونمتنّ بعنايتكم الكريمة لهذه القضية العاجلة - والله الموفّق والمستعان
تفضلوا بقبول فائق التحية والاحترام
[مكتب السكرتارية نيابة عن سيادة سفير مدغشقر]
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والسلام عليكم

This is not based on any kind of professional experience, but what I've noticed and can put together from here.

* Date & Location & Basmala
* Formal Address & Greeting
* Flowery Body
* Respectful Closure
* Signature
* Salaam


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## suma

^That's a very good template Iskandrani.


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## clevermizo

So, I know that using the plural in reference to yourself and the other party is important in formal letters. I'm currently working on a letter to coordinate doing some Arabic independent study at my university (now that I'm finally in an academic environment again). I'm curious about how to make an introduction (I am so-and-so, I am a PhD student in blah-blah-blah, I've been studying Arabic for blah-blah-blah) - would I really refer to myself as نحن? Would I really say نحن طلاب في برنامج الدكتراة كذا وكذا ??


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## rayloom

No need to use نحن when talking on your behalf directly. You'd only use the plural if you're talking on behalf of a group or on behalf of an administrative post you're holding. Also if you're addressing someone who represents only himself, not a certain post, you shouldn't use the plural, unless you want to show some sort of high respect.
But if you're writing to the head of so & so studies in a university, you'd use the plural.


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## clevermizo

Thanks! I wasn't sure whether نحن طلاب هنا sounded weird because I'm used to English or because it really would just sound weird  Apparently it's the latter. Thanks again


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## إسكندراني

Here is a formal letter I stumbled upon.


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## kifaru

How would I write an address, in Arabic, on a letter going to an Arab country. For example I have a friend who lives in Egypt? I know the person's name (Mr. A.H.) and the area he lives (Dokki), his apartment address (72 X St floor 13 Apartment 9), the city he lives in Giza, which is in Giza Governate and the postal code (12311). Below I have written the address the way I think it would be in English.

Mr. A.H.
72 X St floor 13 Apartment 9
Giza, Giza Governate Egypt 12311


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## cherine

You forgot Dokki.
Here's a little correction:
Mr. A.H.
72 X St, floor 13, apartment 9
Dokki, Giza
Egypt
12311


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## kifaru

I was actually hoping you would write it in Arabic. Here's another question. I know Dokki is the neighborhood or area  that is part of Al Handaseen. I know that the city is actually Giza. The state is Muhafazat Giza. So why do I use Dokki, which is a neighborhood, instead of the city an state? Thanks


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## paieye

Mahaodeh said:


> A few usful notes:  3. It can be sufficient in the opening greeting to say السلام عليكم ورحمة الله.  However, keep in mind that this may be a nucance sine the reciever, if he wanted to dispose of the letter 3 years later, he/she will have to burn it ....



Have I missed something ?  Why should that particular greeting oblige  the recipient  to burn the letter  ?


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## cherine

kifaru said:


> I was actually hoping you would write it in Arabic.


It's safer for you, if you're sending from a non-Arabic country, to write the address in English. Otherwise, just make sure to indicate the country's name in English.
As for the address in Arabic, it goes like this:
فلان الفلاني
72 شارع كذا، الدور 13، شقة 9
الدقي، الجيزة
مصر
12311


> Here's another question. I know Dokki is the neighborhood or area  that is part of Al Handaseen. I know that the city is actually Giza. The state is Muhafazat Giza. So why do I use Dokki, which is a neighborhood, instead of the city an state? Thanks


I don't know much about the neighborhoods of Cairo, or Giza, or any other city for that matter  But I think that Dokki and Muhandiseen are 2 different neighborhoods.
Anyway, you must state the neighborhoods, because a city alone is not enough to get your letter delivered, specially with a city as big as Giza. And the governorate is not important because there's no big difference (if any) between the city of Giza and the governorate of Giza.


paieye said:


> Have I missed something ?  Why should that particular greeting oblige  the recipient  to burn the letter  ?


From a religious (and cultural) point of view, you don't just throw in the garbage a paper with God's name on it; you need to burn that paper to avoid "soiling" (?) God's name.
I think the same goes for Hebrew.


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## paieye

My apology, I had not read the greeting to the end.


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## jackelpdw

I just referenced this thread for a letter I was writing, and I wanted to add that Raji Rammuny has an Arabic textbook titled "Business Arabic" that has an intermediate and advanced version with tons and tons of examples of formal letters. Job applications, follow-up letters, requests for information, billing letters... etc.


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## bukhariqa

cherine said:


> Here's an example of writing a formal letter in Arabic :
> 
> 
> السيد الفاضل/....
> سعادة الأستاذ/..... الفاضل (أو المحترم)
> سعادة السفير/.....
> السيدة الفاضلة/....
> ............ تحية طيبة وبعد،
> .
> .
> (الرسالة)
> .
> .
> ...................................... وتفضلوا بقبول فائق التحية والاحترام​


You may add also subject and reference like:

...................الموضوع .: .

بالاشارة الى الموضوع أعلاه, نود افادتكم / نرجوا ابلاغكم ...


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## sandhurst53

In the salutation of a formal letter, what case should words referring to the addressee(s) take?

For example, would one write:
زملائي المحترمين،
or
زملائي المحترمون،

I seem to find more examples of the former (زملائي المحترمين) via Google, though I am unsure if this is due to dialect interference.

If the accusative or genitive is prescriptively preferred, why is that so? Might there be an omitted but understood حرف جر, such as إلى, at the start of the salutation? Or perhaps the case endings are dictated by rules related to النداء and إعراب المنادى?


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## Mahaodeh

I’d say that all three are possible!

As a title, it should be مرفوع, but since you are addressing someone then you would have three possibilities:

1. The historical way was to say إلى فلان, so the writer may have an omitted إلى in mind when writing. But to be realistic, I doubt that many think of this. I’m also not sure if omitting حرف الجرّ is allowed in this case.

2. Addressing someone is basically نداء, it’s obvious that حرف النداء is omitted but the noun in this case should still be منصوب, and accordingly the adjective should also be that. I believe that this is the correct one.

3. To be realistic, I’m fairly confident that most writers don’t really think about the grammar and are more likely to have been affected by their dialects. Having said that, it’s still possible that some might have written المحترمين for the first or second reasons.

I also think that المحترمون would be incorrect as I don’t see this possible. It’s probably hyper-correction.


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