Formal Letter

Formal--email-phrases

Task:  

Asking for Information
You live in  Georgia and you want to do some voluntary, unpaid work in a developing country. Write a letter to a company called Cultural Expeditions, which organizes such trips. In your letter:

• Explain why you want to do the voluntary work.
• State what your skills and experience are.
• Indicate where you would like to volunteer and for how long.

Use formal phrases in your email.

GREETINGS

Formal

•    Dear Sir/ Madam,
•    Dear Sir or Madam,
•   To whom it may concern: (especially AmE)
•    Dear Mr/ Ms Jones,
•    Dear Dr Smith,

(note: First names are NOT used. Using Miss or Mrs to address a woman is not appropriate, as you 
don’t know whether she’s married or not)

(note: salutations are followed by a (,) comma, exception: ’To whom it may concern:’)


REASON FOR WRITING / REPLYING

Formal

•    I am writing to make a reservation/ to apply for the position of…/ to confirm my booking/ to 
ask for further information about …
•    I am writing with regard to the sale of …/ to the complaint you made on 29th February
•   Thank you for your e-mail of 29th February regarding the sale of… / concerning the conference 
in Brussels.
•     …

MAKING A REQUEST / ASKING FOR INFORMATION

Formal

•    Could you please let me know if you can attend … / if you are available for a meeting on 12th 

December?

•    I would appreciate it if you could please send me a brochure/ if you could please reply within 

two days.

•   Could you possibly arrange a meeting with the Logistics Manager?

•    I would also like to know if there are any swimming pools in your area.

•    Please let me know how much the tickets cost.

OFFERING HELP / GIVING INFORMATION

Formal

•   We are happy to let you know that your article has been selected for publication.

•   I am glad to inform you that we will be holding our annual conference in Brussels on 20 

September 2014.

•   We regret to inform you that the show has been cancelled due to bad weather conditions.

•   We are willing to arrange another meeting with the CEO.

•   We would be glad to send you another statement if necessary.

•    Please do let me know if I can be of further assistance.

•   Should you need any further information/assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

COMPLAINING

Formal

•    I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with… / to complain about…

•   I regret to say that I was not completely satisfied with the room you provided us.

•   We regret to inform you that your payment is considerably overdue.

•   I would like to receive a full refund and compensation for the damages.

•   I am interested to hear how your company can compensate us for the distress we suffered.

APOLOGIZING

Formal

•   We would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused.

•    Please accept our apologies for the delay.

•   Please let us know what we can do to compensate you for the damages caused.

•    We will make sure that this will not happen again in the future.

•    I am afraid I will not be able to attend the conference.

ATTACHING FILES

Formal

•   I am attaching my CV for your consideration.

•    I am sending you the brochure as an attachment.

•   Please see the statement attached.

•   Please find attached the file you requested.

•    I am afraid I cannot open the file you have sent me.

•    Could you send it again in … format?

ENDING

Formal

•    I look forward to hearing from you.

•    I look forward to hearing when you are planning to visit our town.

CLOSING FORMULA

Formal

•   Yours faithfully, (when you start with Dear Sir/ Madam,)

•   Yours sincerely, (when you start with the name e.g. Dear Ms Collins)

•   Sincerely Yours, (AmE)

•    Sincerely, (AmE)

•    Yours Truly, (AmE)