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Writing a letter

Formal letters

Informal letter

Business letters

Occasional letters

Etc.

the difference is in tone

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General Strategy for letter writing

  • Layout
      • Heading, Date, Address, Salutation, Body, Complimentary close, signature
  • Style
  • Tone
  • Paragraphing

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  • The Seven C’s of letter writing
  • The significance/purposes

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Salutation

• Dear Mr. Brown�• Dear Ms. White�• Dear Sir�• Dear Madam�• Dear Sir or Madam�• Gentlemen��

Starting

•  We are writing �- to inform you that ...�- to confirm ...�- to request ...�- to enquire about ...�• I am contacting you for the following reason...�• I recently read/heard about ..... and would like to know ....�• Having seen your advertisement in ..., I would like to ...�• I would be interested in (obtaining / receiving) ...�• I received your address from ----- and would like to ...��

Giving bad news 

• We regret to inform you that ...�• I'm afraid it would not be possible to ...�• Unfortunately we cannot / we are unable to ...�• After careful consideration we have decided (not) to ...��

Complaining 

• I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with ...�• I am writing to complain about ...�• Please note that the goods we ordered on ( date )�       have not yet arrived.�• We regret to inform you that our order n° ----- is now�       considerably overdue.�• I would like to query the transport charges which seem�       unusually high.�

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  • Referring to previous�  contact
  • • Thank you for your letter of March 15.�• Thank you for contacting us.�• In reply to your request, ...�• Thank you for your letter regarding ...�• With reference to our telephone conversation yesterday...�• Further to our meeting last week ...�• It was a pleasure meeting you in London last month.�• I enjoyed having lunch with you last week in Tokyo.�• I would just like to confirm the main points we discussed�       on Tuesday.��
  • Making a request
  • • We would appreciate it if you would ...�• I would be grateful if you could ... �• Could you please send me ... �• Could you possibly tell us / let us have ... �• In addition, I would like to receive ...�• It would be helpful if you could send us ...�• I am interested in (obtaining / receiving) ...�• I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter.�• Please let me know what action you propose to take.��
  • Offering help
  • • Would you like us to ...?�• We would be happy to ...�• We are quite willing to ...�• Our company would be pleased to ...��
      • Giving good news
  • • We are pleased to announce that ...�• I am delighted to inform you that ..�• You will be pleased to learn that ...��

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Referring to future contact

  • I look forward to seeing you next week.
  • Looking forward to hearing from you, ...
  • Looking forward to receiving your comments,
  • I look forward to meeting you on the (date).
  • I would appreciate a reply at your earliest convenience.
  • An early reply would be appreciated.

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Closing remarks

  • If we can be of any further assistance, please let us know.
  • If I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to�contact me.
  • If you require more information ...
  • For further details ...
  • Thank you for taking this into consideration.
  • Thank you for your help.
  • We hope you are happy with this arrangement.
  • We hope you can settle this matter to our satisfaction.

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Orders

  • Thank you for your quotation of ...
  • We are pleased to place an order with your company for..
  • We would like to cancel our order n° .....
  • Please confirm receipt of our order.
  • I am pleased to acknowledge receipt of your order n° .....
  • Your order will be processed as quickly as possible.
  • It will take about (two/three) weeks to process your order.
  • We can guarantee you delivery before ...(date)
  • Unfortunately these articles are no longer available / �are out of stock.

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Apologising

  • We are sorry for the delay in replying to ...
  • I regret any inconvenience caused (by) ...
  • I would like to apologise for the (delay, inconvenience)...
  • Once again, please accept my apologies for ...

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Exercises

  • Write a letter to your superior officer asking him to postpone a meeting.

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Examples

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