Principle of Business writing:
5C: complete, clear, concise, courteous, correct
Organizing business emails:
1. introduction (why are you writing)
possible purpse words: ( I am writing to propose..."
announce, indentify, requrest, clarify, invite, respond, compare, justify, review, confirm, notify, summarize, describe, propose, update, evaluate, recommend, suggest, enquire, seek your approval
it has com to my attention that
i have just discovered that
Further to our telephone conversation this morning, I would like to confirm
I have received your email sent/dated 23 July regarding to the service of one of our customer service stuff
opening:
Thank you for your request which we received on
we refer to your ... dated
we refer to your email regarding/concering about the above subject
I am writing to enquire about/seek your apporoval on/request whether ...
I have recently received an instructon from head office in connction with/regarding/concerning
refering to my recent visit to Shanghai, I would like to update you ...
We are greatly concerned over the comments you have made.
closing:
I looking forward to receiving the necessary documenation
I would appreciate it if you could send me the necessary documenations as soon as possible.
I would be grateful if you could let me have your answer by/(on or before) the end of this week.
If you require any furture information, please feel free to contact me at XXX
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Would it be possible for me to receive your decision by Friday?
Your approval would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Your replay is sincerely appreciated.
2. The Details(facts, dates, data, figures)
Functions & standard expressions of memos/Emails.
1 Enquires: Could you confirm? could you tell me? would you let me know? I am writing to enquire .
2. request: Please could you? could you please? i would appreciate it if. I would be grateful if ... would it be possible to ???
3. Seeking approval: I would like to/i am writing to - seek yourapproval to/ for . your approval would be highly appreciated.
4. inform/ explain/give information: I would like to explain/ inform you that. please note that... Please be informed that... Please be advised that... OR according to our recoreds, our records show that.
5. confirm: usually be sent downwards: to confirm our discussion.... in confirmation of our phone call... This is to confirm that... I am writing to confirm that....after confirming/checking with our technical consultant....
6. Reminds: Please remember that ... You should remember that ... I would like to remind you that ... this is to remind you that...
7. warning: we urgently need the following ... this is your final warning.. if these regulations are broken again, a written warning will be given.
8. suggestion : May I suggest that... It is suggested that... I would lkie to suggest that you .. you could ask the operation manager to ...
9. recommendations: I would like to recommend that ... it is recommended that... he should ...
10. giving good news: We are pleased to inform you that ... we are able to ... we are happy to let you know that....
11. giving bad news: Unfortunately, we are unable to ... I/we regret to inform you that ....Regrettablly.....
12. attachements: I am please to attach ... I have attached .... I am attaching....
13. clarifying: I would (just) like to clarify the arrangement for next week. There are a few points which need clarifying. First(ly),.. second(ly).... To clarify, I'd like to add that...
14. findings: it was found that, we discovered that, there were several, it was felt that, it was generally the case that, most people thought that
15. certain: it is clear/obvious that, it would seems/appears/ [clear/probable/possible] that, it is likely that, There is no doubt that... probably, possibly, likely, perhaps.
Writing in neutral style
1. use active voice(focus attention on doer). only use passive voce when unknown doer(the money was stolen) or when you wish to use a you attitude( your order is processed at this moment) or mistake is sensitive
2. use plenty of personal references. e.g. You, I, We, etc. This helps build a warmer relationship with your audience.
3. avoid using abbraviations and informal oral english: like gonna, gotta, wanna, & u,
4. avoid using old fashioned expression, like upon receipt of, hereby, herewith
Please inform us of your requirement. could you please tell us exactly what you n I am afraid I will not be able to attend sorry, I'm afraid I can't attend We regret to advise you that I'am sorry to tell you that it can be assured that I promise/I can guarantee that It would be appreciated if you could could you/ I was wondering if you could/ plese could you You are hereby reminded that You haven't we note from our records that you have not don't forget/we would like to remind you that the process is monitored we weill keep track of the process it is necessary for me to I need to however/in addition / therefor but /also/ so your acceptance of our heartfelt apologies is sought I'm sorry for/Please acceptour apologies for with refernce to the above-mentioned regarding/ with regard to.... the pleasure of making your acquaintance next week is warmly anticipated i look forward to meeting you next week your further instruction in this matter would be appreciatted please advise as per our tele-con furthur to??? attached please find I've attached for your kind perusal for your review we are in recipt of we received at your earliest convenience /in the near future soon pursuant to your request/in compliance with/in accordance with your request as your requested as per your request please kindly send me could you send me thank you for your kind reply thank you plese contact the undersigned please contact the corresponding person with regard to/in regard to /with refernce to/ with respect to/ regarding/about/ in light of the above based on the above/ through for? captioned subject the above subject your email received 12 February
your email of 12 Feb
use different words to avoid bore your audience.
do --> perform, implement a lot --> signifigent, substantial, noticable, solid
get--> recive, acquire, want--> desire intend require
downward communication: don't use 疑问句 , use 肯定句的语气
use simple word:
endeavour to --> try to, furnish me with --> provide, accede to --> agree, scrutiny --> review, expedite--> speed up, deem --> decide, pertaining--> regarding..
anticipate--> expect, peruse--> review/read
Avoid Noun clusters:
Reply to customers/colleagues
The first paragraph:
(formal)
1. Thank you for your e-mail of 29 February regarding the above requrest.
2. I refer to your e-mail of 29 February requesting/enquiring about ...
3. I am writing with regard to your recent e-mail.
(Neutual)
1. Regarding your request yesterday for an update on
2. Thanks for your e-mail regarding...
3. Thanks for getting in touch.
The second paragraph:
agree:
1. we shar be please to carry out your instruction to
2. as requested, we have carried out your instruction to
3. I am please to provide you with more details regarding ...
refuse a request:
1. we regret that we are unable to
2. in the best interests of our customers, we do not normally
3. unforunately, staff are required to
4. sorry, all test benches will be offline this weekend, so we won't be able to run your....
agree to compromise:
1. we are happy to renegotiate the above contract, although....
2. unfortunately, we are unable to accept the conditions stated in your last e-mail, however..
confirming:
1. I can confirm that
2. I would lkie to confirm that
3. This is to confirm...
4. In confimation of our last conversation...
The final paragraph.
1. I hope that these arrangements will prove agreeble.
2. I hope that these arrangements meet your approval.
3. Please contact me if you have any queries on this or any other matters.
4. Please contact me if i can be of further assistance to you
Setting a deadline:
1. If you could let know by XXX, I would appreciate it.
2. A response by XXX would be appreciated.
3. Would it be possible for you to get back to me by XXX? That way I can...
Updating:
1. Further to our last conversation..
2. haveing looked into XXX, I can now provide the following information
3. Regarding the above subject, the following should be noted.
4. I am please to pass on/provide some information regarding ....
5. I would like to update you on...
But, however, nevertheless, while, on the other hand, although, whereas, in spite of and, also, not only... but also; besides, furthermore, moreover, in addition to conclude, in conclusion, finally, to sum up, in short as, since, because as a result, therefore, so, consequently, hence, thus, for this resaon, to, so that, so as to, in order, to in the same way, similiarly if... then, provided, providing, so long as; unless either, alternatively in fact, actually, as a matter of fact clearly obviously, of course especially, above all, in particular in other words, that is to say, i.e. then, next, first(ly), last(ly), after that, finally, second(ly) in the first place in addition, on another point, moreover in relation to, with reference to, regarding in general, on the whole, usually for example, for instance, e.g.
emphasis: 2, 3, 1
Paragraph structure: 1. topic sentence, 2 supporting points, 3, concluding sentnce
Numerical information
oil price
word partership change verbs "How" word When, if etc oil price dropped dramatically last year production costs have risen steadily/constantly dur to paper price increases business confidence will increase sharply if the dollar fails an upturn, an surge, an upsruge, an upward trend rise, go up, increase, jump, improve, grow,shoot up, soar, rocket take off expand nine percent, around 800 million, about that many people, more that 80, some 12 per cent, 20 per cent or more, approximately the same number a downturn, fall, drop, decrease, decline fall shrink, drop, decrease, decline, come down, fall off, slump,slip, plummet, plunge grew by a third, almost doubled, more that double, went up by half, grew two /three /four fold, was eight time bigger down out, remain steady, hold firm, stabilise, level out, stay at teh same level stagnate, remain constant a rise from xx to ...
to increase by 50%
to fall by 30%
an increase of 7.5 per cent over last yearreach a peak, peak , top out (considerably, more than, around, a little over, exactly, almost, a little under, much less than 50%) only/ barely 200 sold(disappointed), as many as/nearly 200 sold(pleased) hit a low reach a low point, bottom out, recover fluctuate
3. response? / action?
follow-up action
4. a courteous close