Writing » B2 Formal email or letter asking for information

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 1

Writing Emails

Greeting

The greeting is used to address your reader. If you know the person you are writing to, use ‘Dear Mr’ for a man and ‘Dear Ms’ for a woman, followed by their surname (NOT their name). If you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to, you can use ‘Dear Sir/Madam’.

Reason for writing (paragraph one)

You should start the first paragraph by stating the purpose of your email or letter.
Some examples:

    I am writing to enquire about… (the advertisement/the job offer/etc.)

    I am writing in reference to…

    I am writing in connection with…

    I am writing to… (complain/enquire/etc.) about…

Body

After the first paragraph, where we state the reason why we are writing, we can use one paragraph for each of the points we want to ask about. And at the beginning of each paragraph, we should use connectors to order our points.

•     Firstly/First of all,… (paragraph 2)
  
  
•     Secondly/In addition/I would also like to know,… (paragraph 3)
  
  
•     Finally,… (paragraph 4)

Asking for information

Here is some useful language that you can use when the purpose of your email or letter is asking for information:

•     I am writing to enquire about…
  
  
•     I would be grateful if you could give me some information/further details about…
  
  
•     I would appreciate some information about…
  
  
•     I would be interested to receive further details about…

Specific questions

In formal letters or emails, direct questions are rarely used; you should use indirect questions.

    I would be grateful if you could tell me… (how much the course costs/when the course starts/etc.)
    I would appreciate it if you could tell me…
    I would like to know…
    I was wondering if you could tell me…
    Would you mind telling me…?
    Could you tell me…?

Closing line

Right before the signature, you should write some closing remarks. Here you have some useful language.

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    I look forward to receiving the requested information.

    I would appreciate it if you could answer my questions as soon as possible.

Signature

    Yours sincerely, (use this if you began your email or letter with Dear + name of the person).

    Yours faithfully, (use this if you began your email or letter with Dear Sir/Madam).

Exercises

Make the following exercises in Forms
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