Classify and rank the formal and informal FCE email and letter phrases

Dear Sir or Madam Dear Mr/ Ms + family name

Dear + first name

Hi + first name

Hi + first name + !

Thank you for your emailyesterday regarding…

Thank you for your quickreply.

I apologise for the delay inreplying to your email.

Thanks for your emailabout…

I was delighted to receiveyour email saying… I’m sorry for my late reply.

I was so thrilled to get yourmail about…

I was over the moon whenyour mail about… popped

into my inbox.

Sorry for taking so long toget back to you.

I am writing to you inconnection with…

I am writing to you in orderto…

I am writing to you withregards to…

I’m writing to you about… I’m writing to you to… I’m writing to you because…

I hope this email finds youwell.

I hope you and your familyare well.

How are you?Hope you had a good

weekend.Hope your exams went

okay.

How’s it going? How are things? How’s life?

Could you possibly give mesome information about…?

I was wondering if youhappen to know…

If it’s not too much trouble,could you inform me

about…?

Can you let me know…? I’d like to find out… You don’t know…, do you?

My chief recommendationis… May I suggest…? I’d probably advise…

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Why don’t you…? It’s wellworth it. Have you thought about…?

I can’t recommend… highlyenough.

What about…?You really must… If you

like…, you’ll love it!Whatever you do, don’t

miss… - you’ll kick yourself ifyou do!

Unfortunately,…did not meetthe high standards that I

expected.

I’m afraid I was not fullysatisfied with…

I was very disappointed tofind that…

… was totally unacceptable. I want to complain about…I am absolutely furious

about…

I look forward to hearingfrom you.

I look forward to hearingfrom you soon.

I look forward to seeing youagain soon.

I’m looking forward tohearing from you.

I’m looking forward tohearing from you soon.

Hope we have the chance tomeet again soon.

Looking forward to hearingfrom you.

Looking forward to meetingup again soon. Keep in touch.

Write soon! Can’t wait to see you again!Hope we bump into each

other again very soon!

If you need any furtherinformation, please do not

hesitate to contact me.

If you have any questions,please do not hesitate to

contact me.

If I can be of any assistance,please do not hesitate to

ask. If you need more info, just

drop me a line.If anything isn’t clear, feel

free to ask.If you need a hand with

anything, just let me know.

Yours sincerely Sincerely yours Yours faithfully

Yours Best regards Regards

All the best Best wishes

Cheers See you

Lots of love Hugs and kisses

Cut up and shuffle one set per group of two to four students, throwing away the blank ones.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Put the cards that you are given into categories by function (= what the language is meant to do), then rank the words in each category by formality from most formal at the top to least formal at the bottom, putting ones of the same formality next to each other.

If you get stuck, use the hints under the fold below one by one to help you:----------------------------------------------------------- There are ten categories

No more than three have the same function and level of formality, and sometimes just

one

The smallest categories has five items and the biggest categories have nine items.

The greatest number of levels of formality is five and the smallest number of levels of

formality is two.

The functions of the categories are:

1 Opening greeting

2 Opening line – talking about last contact

3 Opening line – mentioning the topic

4 Opening line – friendly, sociable phrases

5 Requests for information

6 Suggestions

7 Complaints

8 Closing line – Mentioning next contact

9 Closing line – Offering (more) help

10 Closing greeting

Check your answers with the worksheets above.

What are the general differences between formal and informal emailing phrases? Decide ifeach thing below is a characteristic of formal emails (F) or informal emails I):

Avoid contractions (= using “I am” instead of “I’m”, etc)

Emoticons such as smileys

Exclamation marks and multiple punctuation (e.g. !!!!)

Grammar (e.g. word order) unlike normal speech

Just first names

Longer words and longer sentences

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No subject or no subject and no auxiliary verb

Phrasal verbs like “get + back + to + me”

Idioms made from short words like “keep + in + touch”

Idiomatic language or slang

Similar to speech

Short forms (btw etc)

Very polite language such as “Would you mind…?”

Without looking above, put expressions into the gaps on the next page.

Look above, checking any phrases you put which are not in that list.

Why are these kinds of informal language not acceptable in FCE? - XOXO, CU, See ya, Wassup?, gonna, wanna

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Without looking above, put expressions with the same function into the gaps below.Dear Mr/ Ms/ Dr + family

name

Hi + first name + !

Thank you for your quickreply.

I was over the moon whenyour mail about… popped

into my inbox. I am writing to you with

regards to…

I’m writing to you because…

I hope you and your familyare well.

How’s life?

I was wondering if youhappen to know…

You don’t know…, do you?

My chief recommendationis…

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Whatever you do, don’tmiss… - you’ll kick yourself

if you do!Unfortunately,…did not meet

the high standards that Iexpected.

I want to complain about…

I look forward to hearingfrom you.

.

Hope we bump into eachother again very soon!

If you have any questions,please do not hesitate to

contact me.If you need a hand with

anything, just let me know.

Yours sincerely

Lots of love

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014