Search results for 'tag:Tenses tag:Formal letters' matching tags 'Tenses' and 'Formal letters'

Present Perfect / Past Simple

Ant_222 — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:25:23 GMT

Good Time of Day!

  Well, I just read the list of members online and found this:

  --
  In the past 3 days, the most popular thread for  everyone  has
  been "Sample of formal letter writing". The post with the most
  views is "Live chat room". The most  replies  _were_  made  to
  "GUESS MY WORD"
  --

  The first two sentences are in a present tense while the  last
  one uses Past Simple. What's the reason?

Thanks in advance,
Anton

Re: Please correct my grammar, thanks

Terryxpress — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:36:11 GMT

We have arranged for the surveyor to inspect these goods in November (or do you mean, on 7th November).
After that: your paragraph sounds like it is part of a formal letter to a client or customer, so that "after that" is slightly too informal. You could say, "Following this inspection, they will submit a certificate to us which will certify that these goods can be returned to China. This certificate will be sent/forwarded ("forwarded" is more in keeping with the formal tone of the letter) to you as soon as possible. The charge for this is USD240, which we will deduct (which will be deducted) from your next payment.
(By using the passive tense -will be deducted - you are making it more formal, which is more in keeping with a business letter, less personal, as it avoids using the personal pronoun "we".)

Please advise when you will be able to collect the goods ("pick up" is too informal, too casual for a business letter)
for return to your factory for ...
reworking: I am unsure whether this is the best word, as I don't know what the actual goods are, or what is apparently wrong with them. Possible alternatives are,
for modification, for repair, for alteration.
Hope this helps.

Re: LETTER OF MOTIVATION

Kathrin — Sun, 13 May 2007 18:32:37 GMT

1) My name is X.X. This is a very unusual opening line and not even necessary one. Your name is known from the CV as well as the from the address. There is no need to introduce itself in a formal letter. My name is .. is for writing to potential friends, strongly informal. I would suggest to take it back, it could lead to a tradegy:_)

2) At the moment I'm going... The tense is not correct because the action started in the past and is still going. At the moment you are sitting in front of your computer:-)

Proposal: Recently I have been attending a private school in M., in the ... grade.

3) My principal courses are geography and german, My major subjects are geography and German (German with a capital letter)

4) I was born. See 1). The letter should provide your motivation. I doubt if your birthday is connected to your motivation. If so explain why:-) Cut the whole sentense.

OK, there is no point to go on. This isn't a motivation letter, more a mix between CV and cover letter. If possible, please forget it and write it complettely new after research about the structure of a formal cover letter. I would try to correct the obvious mistake as far as I can. It would be better:-)

Please explain

Dmitrij — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 06:25:48 GMT

Dear friends,

I am a new comer here, so I've just been going through some of the posts to get the idea of this forum. As I've already noticed there are some members, such as MountainHiker and Mister Micawber, who stand out because of their English skills and willingness to help others to improve. Not long ago I came across an interesting writing session that took place a year ago where MountainHiker and Mister Micawber had been bringing cbakumar's informal letter up to stylistic and grammar standards. At the end of this discussion everybody agreed that the final version of the letter should include a sentence quoted below:

"I didn't even congratulate you when I heard that you have passed your exams with 1st class and you have been promoted to the next rank."

For me it sounds perfect, but there is one thing, still, that parts with my understanding of what good grammar should be.
Please, explain me the reason for using the present perfect tense in "I heard that you have passed your exams" instead of "I heard that you had passed your exams".

Thank you,

Dmitrij.

Re: Help with formal letter to a university

anon1 — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 18:40:17 GMT

Grzegorz G
27/5 Boguslawskiego Street
43-600 Jaworzno, Silesia
Poland
wafel@xx.pl

October 6, 2004

XX XX
Undergraduate Admissions Officer
UCL Faculty of Laws
Bentham House
Endsleigh Gardens
London WC1H 0EG
email@ucl

Dear Ms XX: [Colon, formal letters require a colon.]

Thank you for your quick reply.

Poland has recently adopted a new test systems. Unlike the "Old Matura," where each course received a mark (from 1 - lowest to 6 - highest), the Nowa Matura (âNew Maturaâ) reports only a blended percentage score from all the courses. Thus, the 5 or 6 score no longer applies.

Approximately what percentage score or percentile of my class must I achieve to be strongly considered for the LLB program? Knowing the answer to this question will allow me to more effectively plan for my future.

I look forward to receiving your reply. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at .

Yours sincerely
Grzegorz G

Enclosure: mail2.doc a copy of this letter in the e-mail.

1) I am not sure if I have interpreted that correctly. I think you mean that there is only one mark? I don't think "internal" versus "external" stuff matters. They probably don't care. What they want to know is, did you graduate among the top 5% of the class? If you did, they are interested in considering your application. Otherwise, not.

You note that she writes:

It is only fair to point out, however, that competition for places on the Law degree is extrememly intense and there is no guarantee that an offer of a place will be made, even if you meet our entry requirements.

What you really want to know is where is that darn cut-off point. Is it the top 3% only? Top 10%? Where is it? My guess is that it will be in the top 10% or higher (meaning that you must be very bright).

By percentile, I am asking if you must be in what class of students? The top decile is the top 10% of students. My guess is that they would consider your class ranking in addition to your percentage score. If everyone at your school got 95% or higher, then 95% doesn't mean much. If 95% was an extremely rare score, then it means that the person is extremely bright.

Meeting the entry requirements is not good enough. You must be among the very top student to be seriously considered.

I hope this information helps.

MountainHiker

Re: Help with formal letter to a university

Grzesio — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 17:35:58 GMT

Hello again.

I'm back with another e-mail as the plot develops;]. This time I'm writing in reply to an e-mail I have received from the UCL's Undergraduate Admissions Officer. As I thought they have no idea what-so-ever about the New Matura exam but I'm not going to inform them of everything yet.

This is the e-mail I'm replying to:
---------------------------------------
Thank you for your email regarding admission to the LLB degree at this institution.

I can confirm that you would be eligible for admission to the LLB degree on the basis of the Polish Matura and we would normally expect grades of 5 and 6 in your final examinations. It is only fair to point out, however, that competition for places on the Law degree is extrememly intense and there is no guarantee that an offer of a place will be made, even if you meet our entry requirements.

Further information [...]

I hope this information is helpful.

Yours sincerely
---------------------------------------
(I've cut the unnecessary)

And this is the way I intend to reply:

---------------------------------------
Grzegorz G
27/5 Boguslawskiego Street
43-600 Jaworzno, Silesia
Poland
wafel@xx.pl

October 6, 2004

XX XX
Undergraduate Admissions Officer
UCL Faculty of Laws
Bentham House
Endsleigh Gardens
London WC1H 0EG
email@ucl

Dear Ms XX,

Thank you for your quick reply to my enquirer.

Unfortunately I can no longer meet UCLâs entry requirements as stated in your e-mail forasmuch Polish Matura exam has now a different form.

Unlike the 'old' Matura, which was an internal exam followed by acquiring a score report with each marks (from 1 - lowest to 6 - highest), the Nowa Matura (âNew Maturaâ) is an external exam with scores reported in the percentage rate of acquired points from each subject test.

Any help you can provide to inform me of UCLâs final requirements which apply to students from Poland would be highly appreciated.

I look forward to receiving your reply. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at .

Yours sincerely
Grzegorz G

Enclosure: mail2.doc a copy of this letter in the e-mail.
---------------------------------------

I'm not happy with the 'percentage scale' and I have no idea how to rephrase it in order to make this part more readable;].

I look forward to any comments and suggestions.