INVITATIONS AND REPLIES
Invitations are extended to relatives, friends, acquaintances and clients on a number of social occasions like marriages, births, engagements, deaths, or other public functions. Invitations are of two types:
FORMAL invitations and INFORMAL invitations They can be printed on cards or can be drafted in the form of letters.
FORMAL INVITATIONS
Formal invitations are sent to relatives, friends, acquaintances on special occasions. A simple and elegant card is printed for formal occasions. In such cases, invitations are written in third person. (Ex. Mrs and Mr S. Sundaresan request the pleasure of the company with …). Avoid use of abbreviations for the names of guests, days and dates. The subject matter is written in the centre setting.
Important points to be noted while designing an invitation in the card format.
• Name of the host
• Formal phrase of invitation , for example :‐
o Request the pleasure of your benign presence/company.
o Seek your auspicious presence.
o Solicit your gracious presence on the auspicious occasion.
• The date, time and venue of the event.
• The occasion/reason of the invitation.
• These are written in the third person. In case a VIP is invited as the chief guest the name of the VIP must appear prominently.
• Name of the invitee is not to be included. The addressee’s address is to be written only on the envelope.
• Simple Present Tense is to be used.
• The date of writing is not to be given.
• There is no signature of the host.
• The abbreviation RSVP (French : repondez s’il vous plait ) i.e. ‘please reply’ is written below on the left with name(s), address and phone number of the host(s)
• Put the invitation in a box.
• The font size needs to be varied to show the differences in the lines of the invitation.
• Word limit - 50
Replying to an invitation is essential for two reasons
• to appreciate the host’s kindness in inviting you to the occasion
• to let the host know whether you are attending the function or not in order to enable him/her to make arrangements accordingly.
The layout of a formal reply to an invitation is much the same as the invitation itself.
1. The lines may be written in ordinary prose but the language used is formal.
2. The reply is written in the third person and there is no address or date.
3. You may accept or decline the invitation.
SAMPLE-FORMAL INVITATION(CARD)
Your father, Mr. Raj Kumar Gupta , residing at K‐18 ,13th Cross Street, Malleswaram, Bangalore wants to celebrate the success of your brother Rohith’s clearing the IIT‐JEE Entrance Examination and securing admission in IIT Powai,Mumbai. He wants you to draft a formal invitation for him on his behalf. Draft the invitation for him in not more than 50 words.
SAMPLE 2
Design a formal invitation for your ‘School Annual Sports Day’ to be held in July. Give necessary information. Also accept and refuse the invitation.
Please click on below link to download CBSE Class 12 English Worksheet Set G
