| Interpersonal function is the function of language to exchange information and to establish and maintain relationships between people. Interpersonal function research has caught a lot of attention from many linguists, among whom the most famous one is the founder of systematic-functional grammar---Halliday. He states that interpersonal function can be realized in different ways, but among them, mood and modality systems are the two main devices.Based on the theory of systemic-functional grammar and using English application letters as its researching materials, this paper focuses on exploring how interpersonal meaning is realized by mood and modality. This paper collected 32 English application letters from books and internet and applied both qualitative and quantitative in its data analysis. In this research, an application letter is divided into two parts namely: self-introduction part and closing part, and the distributions of all types of mood and modality are calculated, and then they are presented in tables. After that, the author explained how interpersonal function is realized by mood and modality through concrete examples.The following results are found in this research: First, interpersonal meaning can be realized by the choice of mood. In application letters, the most widely used mood is declarative; Interrogative and imperative mood is rarely used, because application letters is mainly about the applicants'educational background, personality, work experience, which aims to persuade employers to think that you are a suitable candidate, and declaratives are the best way to provide information. Second, interpersonal meaning can also be achieved through modality, low-value and median-value modal operators are the most commonly used to express of interpersonal meaning. It can reflect the careful and polite attitude of the speaker. Third, interpersonal metaphor also plays a supporting role in the expression of people's views and ideas.
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