Writing Business Letters - 1

The use of this lexical approach is essential for successful language acquisition in English for Specific Purposes. However, teachers are often not equipped with the exact English terminology required in very specific trade sectors. For this reason, core vocabulary sheets go a long way in helping teachers provide adequate materials for students with English for Special Purposes needs.

These core vocabulary reference sheets (here focusing on writing business letters) provide between 150 and 240 key words and phrases for each industry. Each series is divided into three pages that, when combined, form an alphabetical list. In taking this lexical approach to attaining key vocabulary, students should be encouraged to translate the specific words and phrases into their native tongues as each phrase has a very specific translation in each language.

to act on behalf of on arrival of the goods
to agree with on behalf of
always at your service on condition that - provided that
as agreed on delivery
as far as I'm concerned on receipt of the order
as far as the payment is concerned on short notice
as follows on written request
as per invoice order to be confirmed
as per to the conditions our best attention
as per your request our offer is still open
as requested outside address
as soon as possible to pay the maximum attention to the matter
at your convenience payable in advance
at your earliest convenience please allow us
at your expense please send us
awaiting your reply please send us your instructions
to be able to prices are increasing
to be authorised to to reach the destination
to be characterised by to refer to
to be confident in to return a letter to the sender
to be delighted to to sell at the best
to be held responsible for to send under separate cover
to be in arrears with payments sender address
to be in difficulty short term
to be interested in similar to sample - up to sample


Writing Business Letters - 2
to be late to stop negotiations
to be overrun with orders to submit a sample
to be prepared to - to be willing to to suit the quality - to meet the quality
before the date we agreed upon to take into consideration
Best regards the aim of this letter
body of the letter the following items
circular letter the goods are available in our warehouse
claim - letter of complaint the goods are not similar to sample
to come to a decision the goods are sold out
to come to an agreement - to reach an agreement the goods arrived in good conditions
complimentary close the letter remained unanswered
to cope with the competition the matter in reference
to correspond to the sample the meeting was cancelled
to correspond with to our mutual benefit
covering letter to the kind attention of
due to oversight under separate cover
enclosure - attachment up to an amount of
to fix an appointment utmost care
following your instructions we acknowledge receipt of
from order receipt we apologise again for
further to our letter - following our letter we apologise for
goods listed below we apologise for the delay
greeting we apologise for the mistake
half-price we are sorry to have to
to have the pleasure to we are sorry to inform you


Writing Business Letters - 3
to have the power to we have received
hereby we hope we'll receive the goods soon
in case of need we look forward to your kind reply
in compliance with - accordingly we must apologise for
in due time - in due course we remain - our kindest regards
in good condition we sent you
in our favour we thank you in advance
in partial payment we wish to inform you that
in reply to your letter we would appreciate it if you could answer
in the absence of we would appreciate your reply
to inform in due time with no obligation - without commitment
inside address with reference to - in reference to
to let someone know in advance with the compliments of
letter opening - beginning of the letter with the utmost care
letterheading - heading with two weeks' notice
to look forward to within the end of the month
looking forward to an early reply within which
looking forward to hearing from you without delay
to make the goods available without notice
to meet a demand would you please let us have
to meet customer's requirements would you please let us know
to meet the demand you ordered
Messrs you requested
to notify in advance about you sent us
on advanced payment Yours faithfully (GB) - Yours truly (GB)