INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA

LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

Formal Letters and E-mails in English

Introduction:

1. Look at this business e-mail.

1.1. What is it asking the reader to do?

1.2. Identify the different parts of the e-mail body (opening greeting; contents; closing remarks)
Opening greeting: .
Closing remark:

1.3. Which part of the e-mail is the most formal and polite? Underline the expressions that refer to this
style. ..
1.4. Identify in the e-mail body three different verb structures:
Imperative:
If-clause (conditional sentence)
Conditional: ..

2. What are the following extracts about? Underline the REQUESTS for action.

A. Thank you for your e-mail. Please, change your reservation as soon as possible. If you wait until
the day of travel, you will have less chance of obtaining a place on the later sailing.
B. Please contact me urgently on 0124 347767 concerning your account. Alternatively if outside normal
office ours, contact customer care on the above number, which offers a 6am to 9pm service.

C. Thank you for your kind inquiry. We have one room left on 28th August with en-suit
shower and sea view. The rate is 86.00 inclusive of breakfast. If you could give us a credit
card number, we will reserve the room for you.

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 1 ABT

 INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA
LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

2.1. In the third extract ( C ) above, the writer used a conditional form. Change it into a direct request
using an imperative form. How does this change the effect?
..
..

Language Summary:

Writers of formal letters may need to request an action by the reader. Conditional clauses are
useful because they allow the writer to make a request that will fit a number of different
circumstances:

If you have already paid this bill, please ignore this letter. (Phrased in this way in case the reader
is offended by the request for late payment.)

Conditional sentences are also used to encourage readers to do a wide range of things which the
business or organisation wants:

If you have not yet used all your tax allowance for the year, let us know and we recommend
further investment opportunities. (The writer wants to do more business with the customer and
makes a suggestion of something the reader might want to do.)

Writers need to be able to vary their style to suit the request.

Imperatives are used when the action by the reader is expected or understood:
Thank you for your request for an application pack. Please complete the enclosed and return by
the closing date. (The action by the reader is expected, because they have asked the application
pack.)

Actions in which the writer can demand from the reader are also expressed as a simple
imperative:
Please telephone your account manager to discuss the lack of funds in your account. (The writer
does not need to soften this, because the reader is in the wrong!)

Both uses of imperative are generally preceded by please.

Actions which are more difficult or are unexpected are requested through conditional forms and
modals. They are built around a basic imperative clause:

Please e-mail us, and we will send your password.

- If you e-mail us, we will send your password.
- If you could e-mail us, we will send your password.

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 2 ABT

 INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA
LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

Combining conditionals and modals to make requests

A. Match the statements in column 1. to the actions that are requested in column 2..

1 2
1. If you could sign the enclosed contract, we will complete
the necessary arrangements. _____ a) Dont e-mail us!
2. We would be glad to send further information if you could
confirm your contact details. _____ b) Send your address
3. We would be very grateful if you could complete the
attached questionnaire. It should not take more than 20 _____ c) Fill in a form
minutes.
4. If you could possibly ask your friends to take part too, we _____ d) Add your signature to a legal
will send you some additional sponsorship forms. document.
5. If you are having problems, please read the FAQ page on
our website first. _____ e) Find more people to help a charity.
6. We would be extremely grateful if you could enclose two
passport-sized photographs with your signature on the _____ f) Send evidence of your identity.
back.

B. Which are the easiest actions and which are the most difficult for the reader to accomplish? How is
this reflected in the language?

Language Summary:

In English direct instructions are often avoided because they can be considered rude. The form If
you could is a very common polite form of request for an action by the reader.

Requests for difficult actions are preceded or followed by conventional forms such as we would be
(very / most / extremely) grateful; we would be glad; we would be pleased; if you could possibly

E.g.: We would be extremely grateful if you could send us your passport number.
If you could possibly make an appointment next week, we would be grateful.

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 3 ABT

 INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA
LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

Language Practice

1. Imagine you work for an online bank. You have made these notes on some possible
customer problems. Write an appropriate request for these actions so that a standard e-mail
can be sent to every customer.
customer enquiry: action:
a) customer requires more information fill in details below
b) customer wants free virus protection download from our website
software
c) customer receives request for account ignore and contact us immediately
details and password
d) customer wants to know when the new send a daytime contact number or e-mail
account is ready for use address, we will confirm when the new account
is live

2. Think of a situation when you need to write a formal letter or e-mail requesting an action.
Make notes on the key information to include.
If you are working in class, give your notes to a classmate and ask them to write the letter or
e-mail.
Have a look at the following unit section for tips on structure and organisation of formal letters.

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 4 ABT

 INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA
LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

E-mail abbreviations

E-mail users have adopted abbreviations with enthusiasm, primarily because they enable users to insert
common phrases into their correspondence quickly and easily. This is a list of the most commonly used
abbreviations in semi-formal e-mails:

AFAIK As far as I know IMHO In my humble opinion

AKA Also known as IMO In my opinion
ASAP As soon as possible IOW In other words
F2F Face to face IRL In real life
FWIW For what its worth NRN No reply necessary
FYA For your amusement PLS Please
FYI For your information POV Point of view

Expressiveness in online communication

Ever since the early days of e-mail, Internet correspondents have devised a series of emoticons using
typed characters to convey feelings, to suppress the absence of F2F immediate understanding of the
state-of-mind. Characters such as :-) , :-O or :-( are universal. Conveying other types of emotions,
such as raising the voice, or lowering it and emphasising a certain expression, can also be done by
using the keyboard:

Asterisks: Enclosing a statement in asterisks can add the same sort of light emphasis given by the use
of italics. Instead of saying:
It is really important that you reply to this message,
you can say:
It is *really* important that you reply to this message.
Notice how changing the placement of asterisks produces a different message:
It is really important that *you* reply to this message.

Capitalization: Capitalizing a word or phrase can also emphasise the point:

We are sorry for the inconvenience, but you really have to make the
payment TODAY.

Overuse of capitals can be offensive. Be sure to avoid typing messages in all uppercase letters, which
creates the impression of shouting:

I WOULD LIKE TO APPLY FOR THE POST OF COMPUTER TECHNICIAN WHICH WAS
ADVERTISED IN

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 5 ABT

 INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA
LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

Letters

Tips for writing letters:

If you are writing to a friend of yours, or to your brother / sister / cousin / niece, you address him/her
using: Dear and his/her name (e.g. Dear Sam; Dear Claire).
If you are writing to an aunt / uncle, you address him/her using Dear + kind of relation + name: e.g.
Dear Uncle John.
If you are writing to your mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, you write Dear + kind of relation
(e.g. Dear Mum, Dear Grandma)
In formal letters, if you know the name of the recipient, you sign using Yours sincerely and your full
name. If you dont know the name of the recipient, you sign using Yours faithfully and your full name.

Study these formats of formal letters:

Formal letter when you know the name of the Formal letter when you dont know the name of
recipient: the recipient:

3, Bridge St., 3, Oak St.,

Carlisle. Newcastle,
2nd March 2007 England
(senders address) 5th June 2006
(senders address)
Tom Potts,
Personnel Manager, The Manager,
Wrights Paints, The Grand Hotel,
46 Cannon St., 12, Jasmine Road,
London. Sydney,
(recipients address) Australia.
(recipients address)

Dear Mr Potts,
Dear Sir/Madam,

Yours sincerely, Yours faithfully,

James Rogers Jane Winters

Semi-formal letter showing respect for the

recipient with whom you are on friendly terms:

6, Burns St.,
Bath.
17 February 2007
(senders address)

Dear Mr Fox,

Regards/Best wishes
Alison

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 6 ABT

 INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA
LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

Useful language for letter writing

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 7 ABT

 INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA
LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

Adapted from:
Ronald B. Adler & George Rodman. Understanding Human Communication. (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)
Virginia Evans, Successful Writing, Proficiency Teachers Book, (Express Publishing)

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 8 ABT

 INSTITUTO SUPERIOR DE ENGENHARIA DO PORTO DEPARTAMENTO DE ENGENHARIA INFORMTICA
LAPR2 MDULO DE COMPETNCIAS LINGUSTICAS DOCENTE: ANA BARATA

Formal Letters and e-mails in English 9 ABT