Level 6 · Lesson 18

写一封信
Writing a letter

亲爱的小雨：……祝好！安娜，五月十号。

The four parts of a Chinese letter — greeting, body, good wishes, signature and date — and the measure word 封.

听 · Listen

怎么写信？
 安娜 —  李明，我想给我的中国朋友写一封信，可是不知道怎么开始。 
Li Ming, I want to write a letter to my Chinese friend, but I don't know how to start.  
 李明 —  不难。第一行写亲爱的小雨，第二行再开始写你要说的话。 
It's not hard. First line: 亲爱的小雨. Then start what you want to say on the next line.  
 安娜 —  那给王老师写信也可以写亲爱的吗？ 
And when I write to Teacher Wang, can I write 亲爱的 too?  
 李明 —  不可以。亲爱的只能写给家人和很好的朋友。给老师写信，写王老师就好。 
No. 亲爱的 can only go to family and very close friends. Writing to a teacher, just 王老师 is right.  
 安娜 —  我懂了。那最后呢？ 
I see. And at the end?  
 李明 —  最后写祝好，下面写名字和日期。给老师的信可以写此致敬礼，这四个字更客气。 
At the end write 祝好, and below it your name and the date. To a teacher you can write 此致敬礼 — those four characters are more formal.  
 安娜 —  好，我今天晚上就写。她收到信一定会很高兴。 
Good, I'll write it tonight. She'll certainly be happy to get it.  
 李明 —  你写完了给我看看。 
Show it to me when you've finished.  

讲解 · Explanation

亲爱的小雨：……祝好！安娜，五月十号。

A Chinese letter has four parts and a fixed shape on the page. Line one is the person, and it takes a colon — 亲爱的小雨： — never a comma; it sits hard against the left margin. The body begins on the next line, indented two spaces, the way every Chinese paragraph begins. The good wishes come next. Your name goes at the bottom right, and the date on the line below it. Getting the shape right matters as much as the words.

亲爱的妈妈：……祝你身体健康！

Do not translate 亲爱的 as 'Dear'. English 'Dear' is neutral and goes to anyone, including strangers; 亲爱的 is genuinely affectionate and belongs to family, a partner and very close friends. To a teacher, a colleague or an office, write the name alone (王老师：) — that is the ordinary, correct letter opening. 祝 is a verb meaning 'to wish', and it takes a person and then the wish: 祝你身体健康, 祝你生日快乐. On its own at the end, 祝好 covers everything; 此致敬礼 is the formal pair of lines used to a senior.

我给她写了一封信，她昨天收到了。

Letters are counted with 封 — 一封信, 两封信 — and 封 counts nothing else you have met. The writing is 给 + person + 写信, with the person before the verb, exactly as in l04-19. And 收到 is the pattern from l05-05: 收 is the trying, 到 is the arriving, so 收到 means the letter actually reached her. Its negative takes 没, not 不: 我还没收到你的信.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
信	letter	一封信; 写信, 收到信
封	measure word for letters	一封信, 两封信
亲爱的	dear …	family and close friends only
祝	to wish (someone something)	祝好; 祝你身体健康
收到	to receive, to get	收 + 到 result; negative 没收到

练习 · Practice

给王老师写信 You are writing to Teacher Wang. What goes on the first line?

我给妈妈写了一______信。 Which measure word goes with 信?

我昨天______了你的信，谢谢你！ Fill in 'received'.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I wrote my mother a letter.'

信、封、亲爱的、祝、收到 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

写一封很短的信，四行就可以：亲爱的……：我最近很好……祝好！你的名字，日期。

Write four lines to a friend and then read them aloud. Line one, the person with a colon. Line two, two sentences about your week — use 因为……所以…… once. Line three, 祝好 or 祝你身体健康. Line four, your name and today's date, big to small — and a letter writes 日 where speech says 号: 二〇二六年五月十日. Then write the same four lines to a teacher, and change exactly two things: drop 亲爱的, and close with 此致敬礼.