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BUSINESS ENGLISH

WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS

Useful phrases Dear Mr Brown Dear Ms White Dear Sir Dear Sirs Dear Madam Dear Sir or Madam Gentlemen 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 ... I am writing to tell you about ... 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 . . . 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

Salutation

Starting Referring to previous contact

Making a request

to take. We would be happy to ... Would you like us to ... We are quite willing to ... Our company would be pleased to ... We are pleased to announce that ... I am delighted to inform you that ... You will be pleased to learn that ... 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 ... 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. We are sorry for the delay in replying ... I regret any inconvenience caused I would like to apologize for (the delay/the inconvenience) ... Once again, I apologise for any inconvenience. 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 (three) weeks to process your order. We can guarantee delivery before ... Unfortunately these articles are no longer available/are out of stock. Please send us your price list. You will find enclosed our most recent catalogue and price list. Please note that our prices are subject to change without notice. We have pleasure in enclosing a detailed quotation.

Offering help

Giving good news

Giving bad news

Complaining

Apologizing

Orders

Prices

We can make you a firm offer of ... Our terms of payment are as follows :

Referring to payment

Our records show that we have not yet received payment of ... According to our records ... Please send payment as soon as possible. You will receive a credit note for the sum of ... I am enclosing ... Please find enclosed ... You will find enclosed ... 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. We look forward to a successful working relationship in the future We would be (very) pleased to do business with your company. I would be happy to have an opportunity to work with your firm. I look forward to seeing you next week Looking forward to hearing from you " " to receiving your comments I look forward to meeting you on the 15th I would appreciate a reply at your earliest convenience. An early reply would be appreciated. Sincerely, } Yours sincerely, } (for all customers/clients) Sincerely yours, } (for those you already know and/or with whom you already have a working relationship.) Regards,

Enclosing documents

Closing remarks

Referring to future business

Referring to future contact

Ending business letters

WRITING BUSINESS LETTERS

General guidelines

If writing a business letter in English takes you much longer than in your own language, here are a few guidelines that you may find helpful.

Plan before you write. Look up the words you need before you start. Note the points you want to make, and order them into logical paragraphs. Tone Write as you would speak in a business conversation. The tone should be friendly and polite. Names Make sure you check the gender of the addressee (the recipient), as well as the correct spelling of the person's name and title. Use Ms. for women and Mr. for men. You can use Mrs. for a women if you are 100% sure that she is married. Dates To avoid any confusion, write the month instead of using numbers (e.g. January 15th, 2011, or 15 January 2011) Be concise and clear. The easier it is to read a letter, the better. Keep sentences and paragraphs short and simple. Use straightforward vocabulary to avoid any misunderstanding. Ask direct questions. Rewrite any sentence that does not seem perfectly clear. If the recipient is not a native English-speaker, it is preferable to avoid words and expressions that are too technical or complicated. Remember this word order principle : Who - Does - What - How - Where - When (Subject - Verb - Object - Manner - Place - Time) Examples : Mr. Brown will travel by plane to London on Monday, June 5th. A technician will install the equipment in your office on Tuesday morning. I will confirm the transport arrangements as soon as possible. Avoid old-fashioned words Although they are used in legal documents and contracts, words like 'herewith', 'hereby', 'herein', 'aforementioned', etc. are rarely used in letters.

The following style of sentence is preferable : "You will find more information on our products in the enclosed brochure."