Hi there! It's Asiya and today I've prepared for you some essential phrases
for writing formal letters in IELTS General Training Writing Task 1 and
examples of how to use them. All the phrases are formal which means you
should use them if you write a letter to a business or a newspaper.
Okay, ready? Let's get started!
let me say a couple of words about greetings sometimes in your task you may
read start your letter with dear sir or madam
that means it's a formal letter because we only use this phrase in formal
letters another way to address people would be to say Dear Mr. Jones or Dear
Mrs. Miart using the surname if you say
Dear Asiya it's not a formal letter now let's look at the phrases and how you can open
your formal letter a phrase you can use to open any formal letter is I am
writing this letter to and informal letters we don't use contractions so
you're right I am writing not I'm writing okay and you can say whatever
you need I am writing to inquire about the job vacancy advertised in The Times
on the 21st of February so you can actually drop the words of this letter
oh I am writing this letter to apply for the position of senior marketer
advertising and so on or you can say I'm writing to inform you to confirm
something or to ask for further information
whatever you need a more sophisticated phrase would be I write with or in
reference to I write in reference to the recent letter in The Guardian regarding
Road cleaning or more precisely the lack of it that would be a letter to a
newspaper or I write with reference to the job advertisement for the senior
marketer position published on www budgets calm you can actually use a
different sentence structure with reference to your attachment in the
mine's dated the 20th of February 2020 I would like to request further
information about and there is one more phrase you can use it if you want to
complain about something and it is I am writing to draw your attention to
I'm writing to draw your attention to the incident that happened in your
restaurant on the 14th of February 2020 so some Valentine's Day drama how can
you request information there are two main phrases
could you please supply me with information about or could you please
provide more information about or more detailed information about and pay
attention to prepositions supply me with information or provide information here
is an example could you please provide more detailed information about the
vacancy advertised in and so on you can also say I would like to know if I would
like to know if the vacancy is still open here is how we can make a formal
request could you possibly could you possibly share you my appointment from
Tuesday the 3rd of March to any day after the 15th of March or I would be
most grateful if you could or simply I would appreciate it if you could I would
appreciate it if we could share you the forthcoming repair work for the
beginning of February next how to complain actually living in Britain I
write complaint letters or complaint emails quite regularly because I prefer
it to go into the shop or even to calling someone so here is how you can
open your letter I am writing to complain about oh I am right
to express my dissatisfaction with I'm writing to express my dissatisfaction
with the product I have purchased from your online store and if you say oh it
was horrible I was left so unhappy that's not formal
instead you should say I was dissatisfied to find out oh I find it
most unsatisfactory that I find it most unsatisfactory that one months after my
initial request my deficit has still not been refunded and actually that's a
sentence from a real complaint letter I sent a couple of days ago next I would
like to complain in the strongest terms about that's a very strong phrase I
would like to complain in the strongest terms about the poor service I have
received from your company or a softer version would be I regret to say I was
not completely satisfied with I regret to say I was not completely satisfied
with the room you provided us and then you say what you borned the company to
do of what you want to receive I would like to receive a full refund like all
your money back or a partial refund part of your money back or a discount or a
compensation for the damages and if you can play it several times and nothing
happens you could write I will be left with no
alternative but to and then you say what you're gonna do for example but to take
legal action unless the refund is received within the next seven days if
you request something or you complain about something you won't include one of
those phrases before you end your letter please give the matter your immediate
attention it's quiet it shows you're really unhappy I would
appreciate your immediate attention to this matter as a bit softer I would
appreciate if you could look into this matter at your earliest convenience
it's even softer and more polite please look into the matter at your earliest
convenience a shorter version as our request or our issue is urgent a quick
answer would be appreciated that's how you could use the passive voice and
finally perhaps if your letter is a bit short you could see I would be most
grateful if you could reply as soon as possible
so that this matter could be resolved to everyone's satisfaction if there is no
complaint or demanding your letter here are phrases you could use to end it I
look forward to your reply or I look forward to hearing from you and please
note we use to and then ing verb that's because 2 is not infinitive its
preposition ok and if you think that the other party may need some information
from you include one of those phrases if you need any further information please
do not hesitate to contact me or should you require any further
information please let me know I will be pleased to supply any further
information you require so you can choose whatever version you like another
phrase is for purposes of quick contact a reply by telephone would be
appreciated or I very much hope that you will be able to it's a versatile phrase
and then you can say whatever you need I very much hope you will be able to
process my refund until the end of this week or you will
be able to resolve this issue as soon as possible there are two ways to end
formal letter if you don't know the name of the person and you began the letter
with dear sir or madam you finish by saying you're faithfully and if you know
the name and you began with Dear Mr. Jones or Dear Mrs. Smith then you end with yours
sincerely put a comma and write your name on the next line and you can
download all the phrases and examples from this video if you click the link on
the screen or in the video description box below thank you for watching me
today good luck with your preparation and your exam