1、E-mails phrase bank 1 Basics Formal / Neutral Informal Name Dear Mr/Ms/Mrs Dupuis Dear Mary Hi/Hello Mary Mary,. (or no name at all) Previous contact Thank you for your email of . Further to your last email, . I apologize for not getting in contact with you before now. Thanks for your email. Re your
2、 email, . Sorry I havent written for ages, but Ive been really busy. Reason for writing I am writing in connection with . I am writing with regard to . In reply to your email, here are . Your name was given to me by . We would like to point out that . Just a short note about . Im writing about . Her
3、es the . you wanted. I got your name from . Please note that . Giving information Im writing to let you know that . We are able to confirm that . I am delighted to tell you that . We regret to inform you that . Just a note to say . We can confirm that . Good news! Unfortunately, . Attachments Please
4、 find attached my report. Im sending you . as a pdf file. Ive attached . Here is the . you wanted. Asking for information Could you give me some information about . I would like to know . Im interested in receiving/finding out . Can you tell me a little more about . Id like to know . Please send me
5、. Requests Id be grateful if you could . I wonder if you could . Do you think I could have . ? Thank you in advance for your help in this matter. Please could you . Could you .? Can I have .? Id appreciate your help on this. Promising action I will . Ill investigate the matter. I will contact you ag
6、ain shortly. Ill . Ill look into it. Ill get back to you soon. Offering help Would you like me to .? If you wish, I would be happy to . Let me know whether you would like me to . Do you want me to .? Shall I .? Let me know if youd like me to . Final comments Thank you for your help. Do not hesitate
7、to contact us again if you require any further information. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. My direct line is . Thanks again for . Let me know if you need anything else. Just give me a call if you have any questions. My number is . Close Im looking forward to . (+ ing) Give
8、 my regards to . Best wishes Regards Looking forward to . (+ ing) Best wishes to Speak to/see you soon. Bye (for now)/All the best E-mails phrase bank 2 Negotiating a project Asking for information What are your usual charges (fees/rates) for .? Can you give me some more information about .? Request
9、s Do you think you could .? Would you be able to .? Emphasizing a main point My main concern at this stage is . The main thing for me is . Asking for a suggestion How do you think we should deal with this? What do you think is the best way forward? Making a suggestion Why dont you .? What about if w
10、e .? Negotiating: being firm I understand what youre saying about . (but . ) I can see what youre saying, but . Negotiating: being flexible We would be prepared to . (if .) I am willing to . (if .) Negotiating: agreeing Okay, Im happy with that for now. Thats fine. Next steps Ill be in touch again s
11、oon with more details. Lets talk next week and see how things are going. Closing I look forward to working with you. Im sorry that we couldnt use your services this time, but I hope there will be another opportunity. Checking understanding Technical problems Did you get my last message sent on .? So
12、rry, you forgot to attach the file. Can you send it again? I got your email, but I cant open the attachment. Did you mean to send this? I dont want to open it in case its got a virus. Asking for clarification Im not sure what you meant by .? could you clarify? Which . do you mean? I dont understand
13、this point. Can you explain in a little more detail? Are you sure about that? Giving clarification Sorry, what I meant was ., not . I thought ., but I may be wrong. Ill check and get back to you. The correct information is given below. Please amend your records accordingly. Sorry, forget my last ema
14、il. Youre right. Close I hope this clarifies the situation. Get back to me if theres anything else. E-mails phrase bank 3 Arrangements Meetings Formal / Neutral Informal Reason for writing Im writing to arrange a time for our meeting. What time would be convenient for you? Just a quick note to arran
15、ge a time to meet. When would suit you? Suggesting time/place Could we meet on (day) in the (morning) at (time)? How about (day) at (time)? Are you free sometime next week? Saying when you are/ are not free I would be able to attend the meeting on Thursday morning. Im out of the office until 2pm. An
16、y time after that would be fine. Im afraid I cant manage next Monday. Im free Thursday am. I wont be around until after lunch. Any time after hat is okay. Sorry, cant make it next Monday. Confirming Id like to confirm . Thats fine. I will call/email you tomorrow to confirm the details. Thursday is g
17、ood for me. That should be okay. Ill get back to you if theres a problem. Changing arrangements This is to let you know that I will not be able to attend the next meeting next Thursday. I wonder if we could move it to .? I apologize for any inconvenience caused. Re our meeting next week, Im afraid I
18、 cant make Thursday. How about . instead? Sorry for the inconvenience. Close I look forward to meeting you in Brussels. Let me know if you need to change the arrangements. See you in Brussels. Give me a call if anything changes. Invitations Formal / Neutral Informal Inviting We would be very pleased
19、 if you could come to . I would like to invite you to . / attend our . Please let me know if you will be able to attend. Im writing to invite you to . Would you like to come to .? Please let me know if you can make it. Prepare Before the meeting it would be useful if you could prepare . It would be
20、helpful if you could bring . Please prepare . before the meeting. Please bring to the meeting . Accepting Thank you for your kind invitation. The date you suggest is fine. I would be delighted to attend the meeting. I am sure it will be very useful. Thanks a lot for the invitation. The dates fine fo
21、r me. Id love to come to the meeting. It sounds like a great idea. Refusing Thank you for your kind invitation. Unfortunately, I have another appointment on that day. Please accept my apologies. I hope we will have the opportunity to meet on another occasion in the near future. I am sure that the me
22、eting will be a great success. Thanks a lot for your kind invitation. Unfortunately, I have something else in my schedule on that day. I hope we can meet up soon. Good luck with the meeting! E-mails phrase bank 4 Writing Styles Formal / Neutral Informal Example phrases Thank you for your email recei
23、ved 12 Feb. With regard/reference to . I would be grateful if you could . We regret to advise you that . Please accept our apologies for . I was wondering if you could . We note that you have not . We would like to remind you that . It is necessary for me to . It is possible that I will . Would you
24、like me to .? However, ./In addition, . / Therefore, . If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to meeting you next week Thanks for the email. Re . Please could you . Im sorry to tell you that . Im sorry for . Could you .? You havent . Dont forget
25、that . I need to . I might . Shall I .? But, . / Also, . / So, . If youd like more details, let me know. See you next week. Latin / Anglo-Saxon origin Assistance / due to / enquire / inform / information / obtain / occupation / possess / provide / repair / request / requirements / verify Help / beca
26、use of / ask / tell / facts / get / job / have / give / fix / ask for / needs / check (prove) Direct / Indirect Direct Indirect: polite / diplomatic Requests Can you .? Please could you . Could you .? I was wondering if you could . Asking for permission Can I .? Could I .? Is it all right if .? I wo
27、nder if I could .? Offering help Can I .? Shall I .? Would you like me to ? Do you need any help with .? Making a suggestion What about . (+ing)? Shall we .? Why dont we .? Perhaps we should .? Softening a strong comment There is a problem. That will be very expensive. We cant do that . That gives u
28、s very little time. It will be better to ask Heidi. I disagree. Im afraid there is a small problem. It seems there is a slight problem. That might be quite expensive. Wont that be a bit expensive? Im not sure we can do that. Actually, that doesnt give us much time. Wouldnt it be better to ask Heidi?
29、 I can see what youre saying, but . Dont you think that .? To be honest, I think it might be better to . E-mails phrase bank 5 Commercial Request for information (customer) Saying how you got the contact We met last Thursday on your stand at the Munich Trade Fair. I am emailing you off your website,
30、 which I found through Google. Giving reason for writing We are a manufacturer / supplier / provider of . We are interested in . We are a Turkish company exporting to the EU, and we need . General requests We would be grateful for some information about . Please send us information about your produc
31、t range and prices. Specific requests In particular, we would like to know . Please send full details of your prices, discounts, terms of payment and delivery times. Could you also say whether there is any minimum order. Close An early reply would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to an early r
32、eply, and am sure that there is a market for your products here in Hungary. Giving information (supplier) Thanks Thank you for your email of 4 June inquiring about . Giving factual information We can quote a price of . CIF / FOB Istanbul. We can delivery by . (date) / within . (period of time) The g
33、oods will be shipped 3 days from receipt of a firm order. We can offer a discount of . on orders over . . We require payment by bank transfer / letter of credit. Our normal procedure is to . Our normal terms for first-time customers are . We can supply the items you require directly from stock. Sayi
34、ng what you are attaching I am attaching a document that gives full details of . I am attaching our current catalogue and price list as a pdf file. Highlighting one or two key points You will see that . You will note that our line of is on special offer. Answering specific questions You will also no
35、te that . Our experience in this field includes . We dispatch the goods within 24 hours of a firm order, and for first-time customers our minimum order is $ 1,000. I am afraid that model is no longer available. However, . Close We feel sure that . May I suggest that I call you at your convenience to
36、 discuss the matter further? If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. My direct line is. E-mails phrase bank 6 Making an order (customer) Open Thank you for your recent email, and we accept your quotation. Our completed order form is attached, and we give full bank
37、details below. Close Please acknowledge receipt of this order. Confirming an order (supplier) Open Your order has been received. We can confirm that your goods have been shipped. You can track shipping details on our website. Due to exceptional demand these items are temporarily out of stock. We hop
38、e to be able to ship your order within . days and will keep you fully informed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Close We are confident that the goods will meet your expectations. Should there be any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, either by email or phone Asking f
39、or payment (supplier) First reminder open We are writing concerning a payment of $12,600 for invoice number KJ678 which is now overdue. A copy of the invoice is attached. According to our records, the sum of $4,500 is still outstanding on your account First reminder action Please send a bank transfe
40、r to settle the account, or an explanation of why the balance is still outstanding. If you have already dealt with this matter, please disregard this email. We could appreciate your cooperation in resolving this matter as soon as possible. Second/third reminder open On (date) I wrote to you regardin
41、g your companys unpaid account , amounting to $4,500. May we please remind you that this amount is still outstanding. I wish to draw your attention to my previous emails of (dates) about the overdue payment on your account. We are very concerned that the matter has not yet receive your attention. Se
42、cond/third reminder action We need a bank transfer in full settlement without further delay. Clearly, this situation cannot be allowed to continue, and we must ask you to take immediate action to settle your account. If you have any queries on this mater, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank
43、you for your cooperation. Final demand open Following my emails of (dates) I must inform you that we have still not received payment for the outstanding sum of $4,500. I wrote to you on (dates) regarding the balance of $12,600 on your account. I attach copies of both emails. This sum is now two mont
44、hs overdue. We are very concerned that the matter has not yet received your attention. Final demand action Unless we receive payment within seven days, we shall have no alternative but to take legal action to recover the money. In the meantime, your existing credit facilities have been suspended. E-
45、mails phrase bank 7 Complaints and Apologies Complaining (customer) Open I am writing . in connection with my order FS690 which arrived this morning. to complain about the quality of a product I bought from your website. to complain about the poor service we received from your company. to draw your
46、attention to the negative attitude of some people in your customer services section Complaint Our order dated 16 September clearly stated that we wanted 1,000 items, however you . The goods were faulty / damaged / in poor condition. There seems to be an error in the invoice /a misunderstanding. The
47、equipment I ordered has still not been delivered, despite my phone call you last week to say that it is needed urgently. The product I received was well below the standard expected. To make matters worse, when I called your company staff . Request for action Please replace the faulty goods as soon a
48、s possible. We must insist on an immediate replacement / full refund. Unless I receive the goods by the end of this week, I will have no choice but to cancel my order. Close I hope that you will deal with this matter promptly as it is causing me considerable inconvenience. Apologizing (supplier) Ope
49、n I am writing in relation to your recent complaint. Apologizing I was very concerned to learn about . Please accept my sincere apologies. I would like to apologize for the inconvenience you have suffered. Denying responsibility We appreciate that this has caused you considerable inconvenience, but we cannot accept any responsibility in this matter. Promising action Can you leave it with me? Ill look into the matter and get back to you tomorrow. I have looked into the matter and . I have spoken to the staff involved,
