便条是为了临时通知或转告某事而使用的一种简单书信。便条一般写在纸上，不用信封，内容单纯，格式简单。便条包括请假条、留言条、非正式邀请、借条等。一般由日期、称呼、正文、署名四部分组成，具体格式如下：
1．日期
日期要写在便条的右上角。便条的内容大多是在当日或两三天之内要办的事情。因此，不必像书信那样写出年份，只要写出月、日或星期几和上、下午几点钟即可。
2．称呼
称呼应写在第二行，要左起顶格写。由于便条多数是在熟悉的人之间使用，因此称呼较为随便，如：Dear Jim, Meimei, Monitor等。请假条的称呼一定要用尊称；写留言条时，如果双方不是很熟，可以用全名。
3．正文
正文通常要另起一行，用词要通俗易懂，简明扼要。便条的文字一般较为口语化，往往几句话说明情况即可。若是托某人办事或请假，语气应委婉客气。
4．署名
署名要写在正文的右下角。一般写留条人的姓名、姓或名均可。但是请假条、借条的署名要正式些，常在姓名的上一行写上Respectfully yours, Your student, Your friend等，以表示对收条人的尊敬。
worry about, be back, call at, in need of, inconvenience, be happy, receive the note, your service, grateful, delighted, favor, deal with, etc.
1．I shall feel obliged if you will favor me with a call at your earliest convenience.
您若方便，请早日来电，我将不胜感激。
2．Delighted! Will call at 2 p.m. tomorrow. 来条收悉，定于明天下午两点拜访。
3．I shall be very happy to call at your house at 6:30 this evening.
我定于今晚6:30去你家。
4．Upon receiving this note, please come to my office. 见条后，请立即来我办公室。
5．Mr Li stands in urgent need of your service. 李先生急需你的帮助。
6．Your note with an admission ticket enclosed is much appreciated.
留言和一张入场券均已收到，不胜感激。
7．I'm very grateful to you for your kind invitation, and I'm sure to come to your concert. 承蒙邀请观看你的音乐会，我一定按时到场。
8．Please favor me with an early reply. 敬请早复。
9．Hoping that the matter will be dealt with as soon as possible. 希望能及早处理此事。
10．Please give an extension of leave for three days. 请准予续假三天。
11．I came to see you but you happened to be out. 我来拜访您，但您碰巧外出了。
12．Since you're out, I have to leave this note with you.
因为你出去了，所以我只好给你留个便条。
13．I'll expecting you at 3:00 at our school gate. 我三点钟在校门口等你。
14．I'm writing to you to ask for a sick leave. 我向您请病假。
I wonder if you could lend me your Chinese-English dictionary. I will return it three days later. Now I am translating an important Chinese article into English. However, I often meet some Chinese words which I don't know how to say in English. So I have to turn to the Chinese-English dictionary for help from time to time. But mine is lost. I will take good care of your dictionary. I will definitely not damage it. Thank you very much!
我想知道你能否把你的汉英词典借给我用一下，三天后归还。现在我正在把一篇重要的中文文章翻译成英文。但我经常遇到一些不知如何用英语表达的中文词语，所以我必须时不时地查阅汉英词典，但是我的丢了。我会好好爱护你的词典，绝不会损坏它。非常感谢！
假定你是李华，正在英国接受英语培训，住在一户英国人家里。今天你的房东Mrs Wilson不在家，你准备外出，请给Mrs Wilson写一留言条，内容包括：
1．外出购物
2．替房东还书
3. Tracy来信留言：1）咖啡屋（Bolton Coffee）见面取消
2）此事已告知Susan
3）尽快回电
注意：1．词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Mrs Wilson,
I'm going out shopping, and won't be back until about 5:00 p.m. I have taken with me the two books you asked me to return to the City Library. At about 1 o'clock this afternoon, Tracy called, saying that she couldn't meet you at Bolton Coffee tomorrow morning as she has something important to attend to. She felt very sorry about that, but said that you could set some other time for the meeting. She wanted you to call her back as soon as you are home. She has already told Susan about this change.
Li Hua
威尔逊太太：
我要出去购物，大约下午5点才会回来。我带了你让我还到市图书馆的那两本书。大约下午一点钟的时候，特蕾西打来电话说，因为有件重要的事情要处理，所以明天上午她不能跟你在博尔顿咖啡屋见面了。她对此感到很抱歉，并说你可以另行约定时间见面。她想让你一到家就给她电话。她已经告诉了苏珊这件事。
李华