Useful Phrases and Sample Questions

Useful phrases
and sample
questions
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Writing formal
letters/emails
Introduction
You are given an article to read from a newspaper.
You write to the newspaper disagreeing with the article.
You write to complain about something.
You write making suggestions about something.
You write requesting information.
You write giving information.
You write requesting permission.
Writing formal letters generally:
Greetings:
Dear Sir
Dear Madam
Dear Sir/Madam
Dear Mr. Brown
Dear Ms. Jones
etc.
Reason for writing:

I am writing in response to
your
article/advertisement/letter
I am writing with regard to your
I am writing regarding your
I am writing on behalf of
Ending the letter:

I look forward to receiving
your reply
I look forward to your
reply
I look to hearing from you
I am, yours faithfully (if
you don't know the name
of the person you are
writing to)
I am, yours sincerely (if
you know the name of the
person you are writing to)
Yours faithfully
Yours sincerely
Writing formal letters to complain:
Reason for writing:

I am writing in order to complain about
I am writing to complain about
Introducing the complaint:
Firstly
In the first place
First of all
My first complaint is
The first problem is
The first thing I would like to draw your attention to is
My first concern is
Introducing further complaints:
Secondly
In the second place
Not only .but also
In addition
In addition to this
Added to this
was also unacceptable
Writing formal letters to complain:
Demanding action:
I suggest that you replace the item
I therefore suggest that I be given a full refund
I would be grateful if my money was refunded
I would be grateful if you could give me a full refund
Ending the letter:

I look forward to hearing from you
I look forward to receiving a full refund
I look forward to receiving a replacement
I look forward to receiving your explanation
Writing formal letters to make suggestions:
Reason for writing:

I am writing to suggest
I am writing to arrange
I am writing to offer suggestions
I am writing make arrangements
Making further suggestions:

Another possibility is
A further possibility is
I further suggest
I would further suggest
Secondly
Making first suggestion:

My first suggestion is
First of all I suggest
I would like to suggest
Offering a choice:
Would you therefore mind choosing between ...?
Eitheror
You might choose either or
Writing formal letters to make suggestions:
Reason for writing:

I am writing to suggest
I am writing to arrange
I am writing to offer suggestions
I am writing make arrangements
Making first suggestion:
My first suggestion is
First of all I suggest
I would like to suggest
Making further suggestions:
Another possibility is
A further possibility is
I further suggest
I would further suggest
Secondly
Writing formal letters to request information
Reason for writing:

I am writing to receive further information about
I am writing to enquire about
I am writing to receive more detailed information about
I am writing to receive further details about
Requesting first piece of information:
The first thing I would like to know is
First of all I would like to know
I wonder if you would mind telling me first of all ?
Requesting further information:
Could you also tell me?
Could you also inform me ?
Would you also mind informing me ?
Would you also mind telling me ?
Do you know ?
I would also like to know if
I would also like to know whether
I hope you might also let me know about
Thanking for information:

I would like to thank you in advance for this
information
Thanking you in advance for this information
Thanking you in advance
Writing formal letters to give information:
Reason for writing:

o I am writing to inform you about
o I am writing to provide you with information about
o I am writing to let you know that
Providing first point:
o The first thing I would like to inform you of is
o The first thing I would like to tell you is
o The first thing I wish to inform you of is
o I would like to begin by informing you
Writing formal letters to give information:
Providing further points:

o I would also like to let you know that
o I would also like to inform you that
o You might also find the following information useful
o It might also be useful for you to know that
o Another piece of information that might be useful
Ending the letter:
o If you require further information, please do not hesitate to as
o If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to ask
o I will willingly provide further information on request
o I am at your disposal should you require further information
o I am at your disposal should you need further assistance
o Please do not hesitate to ask should you require further information
Writing formal letters to request permission
Reason for writing:

I am writing to ask permission to
I am writing to ask permission for
I am writing to request permission to
I am writing to request permission for
I am writing to ask if I might
Making first request:
Firstly I wonder if you would
First of all I wonder whether you would mind
The first request I would like you to consider is
Making further requests:
I would be grateful if you would also consider
I wonder if it might be possible for me to
I would also like to request permission for
I would also like to request permission to
Thanking for permission
Many thanks for kindly considering my requests
Thank you for considering my requests
Sample
questions
This template is designed to work with very little content, so you shouldnt write
much more
Bring the attention of your audience over a key concept using icons or illustrations
Writing informal
letters/emails
Introduction
involve writing letters or emails to friends or relatives
can use abbreviations
Useful phrases
Informal Letters - Greetings:
o Dear Jim
o Hello Jim
o Hi Jim
Informal Letters - Introductory paragraph:
o Sorry I haven't written for ages
o Sorry it's taken me so long to write
o How's it going?
o How are you?
o How are things with you?
o How are things?
Useful phrases
An informal letter referring to good news:
o Glad to hear about
o I'm really glad to hear about
o I'm very happy to hear about
o I was very happy to read about
o Great news about your
An informal letter referring to bad news:
o I'm extremely sorry to hear about
o I'm very sorry to hear about
o Sorry to read about
o Its very sad to hear about your
o I can't tell you how sad I am that
Useful phrases
Informal letters - Introducing points:
By the way
Did you hear about
Did you see
Have you seen
Tell me about
Oh, another thing
Ending an informal letter or email:

Well, it's time to go
Well, time to close
I've got to leave off now
Write soon
Make sure you write soon
Love
All my love
Will write again soon
Look after yourself
Take care of yourself
All the best
Everything good
Sample
questions
Writing stories
Beginnings
and
endings
A narrative needs an interesting beginning to catch the readers attention and

encourage him or her to read on, and a clear ending to round the story off
satisfactorily. A weak beginning or ending can spoil the effect of the story, so
its worth spending time working out how to start and finish.
We use:
The simple past to describe the main events:
I ran to answer the phone but it stopped ringing as I picked up the receiver.
The past continuous to set the scene:
It was raining heavily as we set off.
The past perfect to describe events which happened before the main events:
When I got on the bus all the seats had been taken.
Verb Present participles to show two actions which are linked:

Noticing that she looked lost, I asked if I could help.
tenses
Perfect participles to show that one action was complete before another started:
Having reported my stolen passport to the police, I returned sadly to the hotel.
Time
Links
before . then
at first, next
later
during
after that afterwards
when finally,
as soon as eventually,
immediately
in the end, once
A few days earlier
Just after that
Some time later
Following the accident
Later on
+ use different adjectives to convey the atmosphere.

E.g. frightened, terrified, scared idea of fear
+ vary the length of sentences
Adding
variety and
interest
+ use direct speech occasionally for dramatic effect

(remember to use inverted commas correctly: No,
he yelled, dont touch that switch!)
Sample
questions
Writing
articles
Useful phrases
Rhetorical phrases:
Have you ever ?
What do you think about ?
Are you one of those people who thinks that ?
Are you one of those people who ?
What would life be like if ?
Will the future bring us ?
Introducing your first point:
Firstly
In the first place
First of all
The first thing to consider is
One thing to consider is
To begin with
Introducing more points:
Secondly
Another consideration
Yet another consideration
Another thing to consider is
Added to that
Apart from that
In addition to this
Introducing your final points:

In conclusion
To conclude
To sum up
So
Introducing your opinion:
I think
In my opinion
Personally I believe that
In my view
If you ask me
To my mind
My personal opinion is
Sample
Questions
Writing essays
Useful phrases
Presenting two advantages or disadvantages together:
not only but also
not only but also
Presenting two opposing views:
on the one hand, on the other hand
Expressing Contrast:
nevertheless
even so
even though
However
in spite of
despite
but
although
Expressing results:
because of this
Therefore
Thus
as a result
for this reason
Consequently
Giving examples:
such as
Like
for example
for instance
Expressing the opinion of someone else:

some people say
some people say that
many people say
many people say that
people often say
it is said
it is said that
according to
Sample
questions
Writing
reports
Useful phrases
Introductory Information:
To:
From:
Subject:
Date:
Headings - to include:
Introduction:
Subject of each paragraph:
Conclusion or recommendation(s):
Recommending:
Introductory Paragraph
As requested I have
This involved visiting
This involved looking at
This involved investigating
My findings are outlined below.
My findings are presented below.
I outline my findings below.
I would like to recommend

I therefore suggest
I therefore recommend
I therefore suggest that we do not
I therefore recommend that we do not
I therefore do not suggest
I therefore do not recommend
I therefore recommend
I believe we should recommend
I believe we should not recommend
You may wish to consider
Sample
questions
Writing
reviews
Useful phrases
What I liked
What I liked most was
The thing I liked most was
I was pleasantly surprised by
would appeal to
If you get a chance to
What I disliked
What I disliked most was
I was disappointed by
I was disappointed with
I was very disappointed by
I was very disappointed with
Reviews of films, tv program, plays:
lead role
star role
star
star actor
star actress
starring
secondary role
He plays a
She plays a
written by .
is set in
based on a true story ..
believable
true to life
not very believable
far-fetched
comedy
romance
science fiction
ending
Reviews of hotels, restaurants, etc:
location
service
setting
attractive setting
disappointing setting
owned by
run by
head chef (restaurant)
waiters (restaurant)
staff
staff at reception (hotel)
hotel facilities
reasonable prices
good value for money
excellent value for money
expensive
a bit expensive
overpriced
not worth the money
poor value for money
always fully booked
book in advance
Reviews of books:
main character
is set in
comedy
science fiction
thriller
romance
comedy
author
written by
chapter
factual
fiction
unbelievable
bestseller
chapter
ending
Sample
questions
Thanks
Any
!questions?
You can find
me at

Useful Phrases and Sample Questions

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Useful Phrases and Sample Questions

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Useful phrases

Writing formal letters generally:

Reason for writing:

Ending the letter:

Writing formal letters to complain:

Reason for writing:

Writing formal letters to complain:

Ending the letter:

Writing formal letters to make suggestions:

Reason for writing:

Making further suggestions:

Making first suggestion:

Writing formal letters to make suggestions:

Reason for writing:

Writing formal letters to request information

Reason for writing:

Thanking for information:

Writing formal letters to give information:

Reason for writing:

Writing formal letters to give information:

Providing further points:

Writing formal letters to request permission

Reason for writing:

Ending an informal letter or email:

A narrative needs an interesting beginning to catch the readers attention and

Verb Present participles to show two actions which are linked:

+ use different adjectives to convey the atmosphere.

+ use direct speech occasionally for dramatic effect

Introducing more points:

Introducing your final points:

Expressing the opinion of someone else:

I would like to recommend

Reviews of films, tv program, plays:

Reviews of hotels, restaurants, etc:

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