personal letter
7
1.0
- noun
- /ˈpɜrsənl ˈlɛtər/
- Informal
:
carta personal
- In a personal letter to President Bush, he requested that Pollard be pardoned.
- wrote a personal letter
- sent a personal letter
- exchange of personal letters
Examples
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Each student was to write a personal letter in English to someone in America.
Fiction book (1996) -
Begin the school year with a personal letter.
Academic text (2001) -
This must be a personal letter just to me.
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I save all the personal letters I get.
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People don't write many personal letters anymore.
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It was a very personal letter.
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When selecting documents for elementary students, teachers find that personal letters are the most interesting to the students.
Academic text (2002) -
In addition, Pope John Paul II wrote a personal letter to Yeltsin protesting the bill.
Academic text (1997) -
To prepare for the interviews, the college president sent a personal letter informing each potential respondent about the study and the planned procedure.
Academic text (1994) -
After receiving a heartfelt personal letter from her friend, Maria felt a deep sense of connection.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A written message sent to a person or organization, often by mail
14
8.1
A formal letter that gives important information
A short private letter often kept secret
Antonyms
- Formal
1
2.7
A formal letter from one company or person to another about business matters
How Personal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a letter written for private or personal matters' is directly and compositionally derived from 'personal' (relating to an individual's private life) + 'letter' (a written message). This noun + adjective combination follows ordinary English compounding and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Personal letter comes from the clear image of someone writing a private note by hand: personal means about one person's feelings and letter means a written message. So a personal letter is a written message for 'private' or 'non-official' matters between people.