Formal Informal

Making reference

With reference to your letter, I... I am writing to you about...

In response to your letter, I can confirm... Thanks for your email.

Following our phone conversation, I..... I was sorry to learn from your letter that…

I am writing with reference to your enquiry. It was a pleasure to meet you at / on …

Thank you for your letter of … I am sorry that I missed you when you visited
my office..
I saw your advertisement in the local newspaper
and would like to... It was good to see you once again
at / on..
I am writing in connection with...

We have received your letter of ...enquiring

about ...

Replying to a request

As you requested, I am enclosing a brochure As requested,

about our adventure holidays.
As suggested,
As you suggested, I am sending you my CV.
Here is / Here are
In answer to your enquiry, I am enclosing
information which I hope will be useful to you. As promised,

As promised, I am sending you the...

Establishing context
Your name was given to me by (source) Ewan asked me to write to you about…

My colleague, Ewan Jones, suggested that I Could you give me some information about…
write to you concerning ….
Would you be interested in …
I am the Marketing Manager of a search engine
optimisation company, and I am writing to you
to ask if your company would be interested in
promoting ...

Making reference to something your reader

knows

As you may already know / have heard, the As you probably know…
Production Division is merging with…

Saying thank you

Thank you for your letter in which you Thanks for...

enquired about …

Thank you for your advice regarding…

I am writing to thank you for your

assistance.

Thank you for your letter of ... asking if ...

Informing

It has come to our notice that… Just to let you know…

I am writing to inform you that… A quick note to tell you…

Please be advised that...

I am writing to advise you that…

Good news:

I am pleased to tell you that ...

 Confirming

I am writing to confirm … Just to confirm that…

.
I would like to confirm .... Can you confirm…?
Asking for information or advice
I am writing to enquire about … Can you tell me about…
.
I would be interested to receive further details Please tell me about…
about ....
I’d like some information about…
Please could you give me the necessary
details concerning ...? I’d like your advice about…

I would appreciate your advice on ... Could you tell me if…

We would be grateful if you could Please let us know about…

We would appreciate it if you could give us further details about …

We would like to know about/if ... let us know about/if …

inform us about/if ...

Explaining and clarifying

I am writing to explain … Here’s some information about..

I would like to clarify certain points regarding… Just to clarify…

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify ...

Making a suggestion or giving advice

In response to ..... we may suggest that you You could…

contact ....
You can…
With regard to your enquiry about ... we advise
you to ... Why don’t you..

We would like to advise all our customers to ...

 Closing remarks

I look forward to hearing from you soon. I look forward to seeing you again when I am in …

I look forward to receiving your If ever you are in Vienna, please give me a call.
reply/order/product …
Please give my regards to your family.
I hope that this information will help you. (
...will be of help to you) Please give my best wishes to your assistant. I hope
he has recovered from the flu.

Looking forward to –ing

Referring to a meeting

I look forward to seeing you on … See you on…

I look forward to meeting you on …” Let’s meet up to discuss…

I would be delighted to arrange a meeting Would you be free to meet on…

with you.
Shall we meet up to discuss…

Asking for action

I would be grateful if this matter could be Could you…

resolved…
Please could I have…
I would appreciate further information on …
Please could you give me…
I would be grateful for further advice.
Please send me…
I would be grateful if you could send me...”

Would you please let me know as soon as

possible whether…

I would be grateful if you would…

I was wondering if you could help me.

 Please could you …

We would appreciate it if you could ...

Offering help

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can Let me know if you’d like any other information.
be of further assistance.
Feel free to contact me…
If you would like any more information,
please do not hesitate to contact me on… We would be happy to…

Please feel free to contact me again if I can Do you want me to…

be of further assistance.

Please contact me if you need any further

information.

Please feel free to contact me if you have

any further questions.

Please let me know if you need any further

information.

Apologising, introducing bad news

Please accept our apologies for this Sorry for…

misunderstanding.
Sorry about…
We apologise for our mistake and we would
like to take this opportunity to assure you We’re very sorry that…
that it will not happen again.
We’re sorry to tell you that…
We hope that this misunderstanding has
not caused you too much inconvenience. We are extremely sorry for/that …

I am writing to apologise for… We hope that this has not caused you any
inconvenience.
Please accept my apologies for any
inconvenience.

I regret to tell you that …

I am sorry to have to inform you that …

I am sorry to advise you that …

We regret that …

I thought you might be interested to hear

that ...

We are unable to …

We are not able to …

We have been forced to …

We must apologise for …

At the end of the letter:

Please accept our apologies again.

With apologies once again,

Expressing urgency

As this matter is now urgent, we would Please get back to me asap.

appreciate a prompt reply.
Please reply asap.
We look forward to hearing from you at
your earliest convenience.

Due to the urgency of the situation, I would

appreciate receiving your advice as soon
as possible.

I would be grateful if you could respond as

soon as possible.
without delay

immediately

Making a complaint

Unfortunately, we have not received the

answer to our request and would be
grateful to receive your reply soon.

It is now over three months since we

placed our order and we have still not
received our goods.

I would like to point out that we have

already paid your invoice and must insist
that you deliver immediately.

Warning

Unless ...we will be forced to …

If ...(not) ...we will be forced to …

Unless we hear from you within seven

days, we will be forced to taken legal
action.

Congratulations note
Dear….
I am writing this note to congratulate you on [reason]. It's clear that you have put in
the hard work and dedication to [description of accomplishment].