Useful Expressions in Correspondence

Thanking for correspondence Thank you for your letter of 14 May inquiring about Many thanks for your fax asking for brochures. Referring With reference to your In reply to As per your/our conversation/telephone call/message/fax/letter Further to your letter of 14 May Confirming We would like to acknowledge receipt of We are pleased to inform you that we have received We would like to confirm the hotel reservation for Dr. Mayo Inquiring I am/We are writing to inquire about your course in Requesting Business/Administrative: Could you please send us your new pamphlets on We/I would be grateful if you could We would appreciate any information you could send us about Action: Please fax us We would be grateful if you could check It is essential that we receive confirmation of your arrival

Personal: We would be grateful if you could give your lecture on the afternoon of Wednesday 9 September. Would it be possible for you to reschedule your lecture from Thursday to Friday? Answering a request As requested, we are sending you We are pleased to send you the enclosed documents you requested. We regret that we cannot supply you with the books you requested. We regret we are unable to provide you with this information at present. Signing off Thank you for your interest. (Reply to inquiry letter) We/I look forward to hearing from you in the near future. We look forward to your reply. Complaining We regret to inform you that the books you sent were damaged. According to our Accounts Department, we have not yet received your cheque in payment of the invoice we sent you on 13 December, no. 123. Expressions of Urgency Please contact us as soon as possible. It is advisable that you respond within 48 hours. We look forward to your prompt reply. We hope you will give this matter your immediate attention. Apologising We are sorry to hear that the transcripts we sent to you/you requested have been delayed. We apologise for sending you the wrong documents.

We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please accept our apologies for this error. Arrangements Mr Fox will be arriving in Paris on 5 April at 20.35 on flight BA 828. Could you arrange to meet him at the airport? We have arranged for a car to pick you up at Arlanda. We have booked you into the Grand Hotel for two nights, 4-6 April. Invitations We are pleased to invite you to participate in our annual seminar We hope it will be convenient for you to come to the Department for an interview on Tuesday 7 August at 2 pm. Accepting invitations I am/We are pleased to accept your invitation to attend the conference on We were delighted to receive your invitation to Declining invitations Thank you very much for your kind invitation to attend We are/I am, however, unable to attend on that date due to a prior engagement. Thanking On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to thank you warmly for your generous hospitality during our visit to your University. Thank you very much for arranging our visit/hosting us. Our special thanks to Ms West for her help. Thank you again for a memorable and rewarding visit.

Some common abbreviations used in correspondence ASAP FYI encl. no. p. s. re/re: ref. Mr/Mr. Ms/Ms. Dr/Dr. Prof/Prof. -----------as soon as possible for your information enclosure number post-script referring to reference Mister Miss or Mrs To anyone with a doctorate (MD, PhD, etc.) Professor (The abbreviation is used only in addresses or informal contexts, but never in the salutation.)

Note:

In American English you punctuate abbreviations with a full stop, except for "re" after which you use a colon. Acronyms such as FYI require no punctuation.