if you start with… you end with this farewell…
| Dear Sir/Madam, | Yours faithfully, |
| Dear Mr. Perry, | Yours sincerely, |
| Dear Charles, | Best wishes, |
To begin the letter or to give reasons:
- I am writing to enquire whether…
- I’m writing to tell you…
- I’m emailing you to…
- I am writing just to let you know that…
- I’m writing just to let you know that…
- Thanks very much for your letter of…. It was great to hear from you
- we can say in reply to your query/to your question…
Apologise:
- I’m (really/terribly) sorry about/ but…
- Sorry I couldn’t manage to…
- I’m afraid that…
- sorry I wasn’t able to…
- I regret having to… tell you
Offer/Request:
- Can I…?/Could you…?
- Can I help you?
- Can I do anything to help you?
- Would you like to…?
- Would you mind if…?
- I was wondering if you can…
- If you’ve got a spare moment, do you think you could…?
Recommend and suggest:
- You should/ought to…
- I recommend you to do this
- Why don’t you/we…?
- How about + (-ing verb) …?
- I was wondering if you might like to…
Give good news/bad news:
- I’m so happy/sad because…
- The good/bad news is that…
- Fortunately…
- Unfortunately…
Say when and where or give further details:
- There is/are (an event etc.)…
- It’s at/starts at (the time) …
- You can get there by…
Thank (thanks is more formal than thank you)
- Thanks (very much) for…
- Thank you so much for…
- I’m really grateful for…
- I was really excited when I got your invitation.
End:
- See you soon,
- Bye for now,
- All the best,
- Best wishes,