Formal email or letter asking for information

Formal email or letter asking for information

Exercise 2 – Indirect questions

In a formal email asking for information you should use indirect questions instead of direct questions. Complete the following indirect questions.

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1Can volunteers stay for a period of six months? ⇒ I would appreciate it if you could tell me whether for a period of six months.

2Can third-year students apply for this programme? ⇒ I would like to know if for this programme.

3How much does accommodation cost? ⇒ Could you please tell me ?

4Is it possible to stay with a local family? ⇒ I would like to know if with a local family.

5When should I apply for the programme? ⇒ Would you mind telling me ?

6When does the programme start? ⇒ Could you tell me ?

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Formal email asking for information

Read the following formal email and check the different parts and the language used.

 
➪ Greeting and signature or closing line. These are the first and last lines of an email or letter.

➪ Opening line in the first paragraph, where you state your reason for writing, and closing line in the last paragraph.

➪ Asking for information.

➪ In formal letters, use indirect questions instead of direct questions.

➪ Discourse markers used to order our points.

Structure and useful language

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. You have some examples below:

• 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…?

I you have to ask several questions, you should avoid repeating the same type of indirect question all the time. Use some of the different forms above.

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 + the name of the person).
• Yours faithfully, (use this if you began your email or letter with Dear Sir/Madam).