The letter is a written communication .
A letter is a piece of paper that carries a written message and is usually placed inside an envelope to protect its contents . Letters (a term from the Latin charta ) are sent by one individual to another with the intention of transmitting a message.
For example: "My mother told me that she sent me a letter from Spain but I haven't received anything yet," "I'm going to send a letter to my uncle who lives in the United States to tell him the good news," "I just read the harsh letter." that the father sent his son's murderer .
A mode of communication
The person who sends the letter is known as the sender or issuer , while the person who receives it is called the recipient or receiver . The usual thing is to include the recipient's information and postal address on the front of the envelope, while the sender's information appears on the back. In this way, the postal service can identify and deliver letters more easily.
There are several parts that any document of this type must have to be considered as such. Thus, for example, it must have a header that includes a series of basic data ( date , place, name and address); all the best; the corresponding exposition of the matter about which the letter deals; the farewell and finally the signature of the person who writes and sends said letter.
When a person decides to leave their job, they can communicate this through a resignation letter.
Letter types
Among the various types of existing letters ( personal , business ...), a first distinction can differentiate between a formal letter (structured and precise) and an informal letter (which offers more freedoms).
A cover letter that you send to a company to offer yourself as a potential employee, for example, must be formal. A love letter , on the other hand, leaves room for emotions and contemplates other kinds of codes.
A person whose life was saved in a hospital can send a thank you letter to the doctors and nurses. Anyone who quarrels with a family member and then regrets something they said can ask for forgiveness through an apology letter .
A pastoral letter , on the other hand, is a speech or interpellation that the religious authority makes to communicate it to its faithful. This document incorporates, among other things, a series of principles and actions that the prelate considers that believers must comply.
An open letter is not confidential, but is a note created so that its content is public (through publication in a newspaper, for example).
The email
With the development of new technologies and digital communications, the notion of a letter expanded to include email and other types of communications. The essence, in any case, is the same: send a message to another recipient, although in this case it is possible to include multimedia files (videos, audios, etc.).
Of course, there are many differences between handwriting a letter and creating text for an email. When correspondence occurs through a manuscript , good handwriting is needed so that the content is understandable. That doesn't happen with an email. The handwritten letter, or even printed, must be placed in a mailbox or taken to a post office so that it goes to its destination; An email, on the other hand, is sent and received instantly.
Other issues, on the contrary, remain in both formats. When writing, taking care of spelling , grammar and punctuation is important both in a paper letter and in an email.
The letter as a playing card
Card is also the piece that is part of a deck . In this case, letter is synonymous with playing card .
«To play the trick, three cards must be dealt per hand», "I like card games" and "I won because I got the best cards" son expresiones que muestran este uso de la noción.
Other uses of the term
In the same way, we cannot ignore what is known as Magna Carta . This is the expression with which the fundamental code that governs a State is defined; that is, the Constitution that becomes the superior norm of the legal system of a nation. Thus, for example, in Spain the aforementioned Magna Carta is the Constitution that was approved in 1978 .
And that without ignoring the existence of what is called carte blanche . A term that refers to the fact that an authority has complete freedom to proceed with the operations and actions it deems appropriate.
Restaurants and bars, finally, present their list of foods and drinks available in a publication known as a carte or menu : «Can I have a menu, please? I would like to choose a dessert" , "The menu does not show the prices of the dishes" , "The restaurant located next to the museum has included tacos and burritos in its menu" .