Business Writing

Life
Useful phrases
Emails and letters

Starting Introducing good news

Dear Sir or Madam I am delighted to …
Dear Mr / Mrs / Ms / Miss Brown I’m happy to … / I’m pleased to …
Hi Fortunately … / Luckily …
Hello
Introducing bad news
Ending We regret to inform you that …
Yours faithfully (after Dear Sir or Madam) Unfortunately … / Sadly …
Yours sincerely (after Dear Mr / Mrs / Ms / Miss) I’m afraid (that) … / I’m sorry, but … / I regret that …
Best regards / Kind regards
All the best Requesting
Bye for now I’d be grateful if you would send …
Could you possibly send …?
Giving reason for writing Can you send …?
I am writing with regard to / about … Please send …
I’m writing to request / inform / enquire / complain
about / apply for … Thanking
Just a quick email to ask … I would like to thank you for …
I’m writing on behalf of … I appreciate your assistance with this.
I’m grateful for …
Referring to previous contact thank you for … / thanks for …
Further to our previous meeting …
With reference to your letter dated 15/6/13 … Apologising
Following your letter … My apologies. / Sorry. / I’m sorry that …
About your email … Please accept my apology / I sincerely regret …
Sending an attachment or enclosure Inviting / accepting / declining
I am attaching / enclosing … Would you like to … ? / Do you want to … ?
Please find attached / enclosed … That would be great. / I’d love to. / That sounds
As you will see from the attachment / enclosure … great.
Here is … I’m sorry, but I’m busy. / I’m afraid I can’t.
Offering more information or help Arranging
Please feel free to contact me if you would like any Can you meet at (time) on (day)?
further information. What day suits you?
Email me / Give me a call if you want any more Tuesday would suit me.
information. Tuesday is good for me.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you require any Look forward to seeing you there.
further assistance. See you next week.
Referring to future contact Checking and clarifying
I look forward to hearing from you. I’m writing to check / confirm that …
We look forward to working with you in the future. I don’t understand what you mean …
See you soon. Do you mean … ? / Are you saying that … ?

Life Business Writing 2nd edition Useful phrases ©National Geographic Learning 2019
Reports and memos

Introducing Reporting figures and trends

The purpose of this report is to … approximately / about / nearly / just over / just
This report compares … under
Here is a report on … increase / go up / rise / grow / climb / jump / rocket
decrease / go down / fall / slump
Structure and signposting level out / remain steady / peak / reach a high
The report is divided into three sections. slightly / steadily / sharply / significantly / suddenly
Here are my findings.
This diagram shows … Reporting and summarising results
Please refer to table 3.1. every / all / each
As this chart shows … many / a lot of / a large amount
The following points should be noted. several / a reasonable amount
not many / not a lot of / a few / a small amount
Comparing none / not any / neither … nor
It’s similar to …
It’s different to … Concluding and recommending
It’s better than … in conclusion … / to sum up …
On the one hand … but on the other … it can be concluded that / it was found that …
X is … However, Y is … overall … / in general
the top / leading / highest / major / most important it is recommended that … / it is worth noting that …
I’d suggest / recommend
Reporting what was said we should …
Mr X said / asked / claimed / explained / pointed
out / reported / suggested / told …
It was agreed / announced / concluded / decided /
proposed / requested that …
The chairperson summed the meeting up …

Linking words
Addition: in addition / also / furthermore / as well
as / on top of / moreover
Conditions: provided that / as long as / so long as /
on condition that / in case
Contrast: however / in contrast / in spite of /
although / even though
Give reasons: because / in order to / so that /
so as to
Result and consequence: as a result / due to / so /
owing to / consequently
Sequencing: firstly / secondly / next / then / finally

Life Business Writing 2nd edition Useful phrases ©National Geographic Learning 2019