Writing a Formal Letter Language Focus – Functions

Making reference

Thank you for

your letter of 26 October

your recent letter

With reference to

We refer to

Further to

our letter of 26 October

our recent telephone conversation

our meeting on 26 October

to a request

As requested,

I’m enclosing a copy of

to a published document

We refer you to

We would refer you to

clause 25 of your contract that states that

Stating understanding

We understand that

you are a supplier of computers.

It is our understanding that

you do not wish to accept the proposed contract terms.

Stating assumptions

On the assumption that

the weather stays fine, we expect the construction work to be completed on time.

It is assumed that

We assume that

Mr Smith will be resident here in 2008.

Generalizing

As a general rule,

As a rule,

the managers appointed to run our subsidiaries are local nationals.

In general,

Generally,

Normally,

employees work … hours a week.

On the whole,

we are very satisfied with

Explaining

i.e. (that is)

This means that

Giving opinions

In our view,

In our opinion,

We are of the opinion that

Suggestions

We suggest that

We would suggest that

It is suggested that

Expressing degrees of certainty

Certainty

It is certain that

There is no doubt that

I am certain that

We are confident that

Probability

It is probable that

It is likely that

Doubt

It is doubtful whether

There is some doubt as to whether

I doubt whether

Improbability

It is unlikely that

Focusing attention

I should like to draw your attention to

We would like to point out that

It should be noted that

Please note that

Emphasizing

We would like to remind you that

It is important to remember that

It must be remembered that

It is worth remembering that

It is of the utmost importance that

I should like to stress the importance of

Offering further assistance

Please do not hesitate to contact us

Please let us know

should you need any further information

Stating conclusions

We conclude, therefore, that

We have reached the conclusion that

It is concluded that

Summarizing

To sum up

To summarize

Referring to a future reply or to a meeting

We look forward to

meeting you on 26 October

hearing from you

your early reply

Enclosing something with a letter

We are pleased to

send you a copy

We have pleasure in

sending you a copy of

Pease find enclosed

a copy of