FCE WRITING FORMAL LETTER

Reason for writing

I am writing to ...
I am writing with regard to ...

I am writing on behalf of ...

Asking questions

I would be grateful if ...
I wonder if you could ...
Could you ...?

Could you tell me something about ...? I would particularly like to know ...
I would be interested in having more details about...

Referring to their letter

As you stated in your letter, ...

Regarding ...

Concerning ...

With regard to ...

Complaining

I am writing to complain about ...
You said ... but in fact what happened ...

We were supposed to stay with British families whereas we actually stayed in a guest house.

Closing

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Please contact me if you have any further questions.

Signing off

Yours sincerely, (If you started with 'Dear + surname') or

Yours faithfully, (If you started with 'Dear Sir/Madam')

First name + surname

Remember that in formal letters we use

• Formal vocabulary, usually not using phrasal verbs ‘Tolerate’ instead of ‘put up with’

• More complex sentence structure
  Knowing what a good reputation the restaurant has, I was disappointed with the

  service.

• Punctuation using semi-colons

  The library offers no facilities for borrowing videos; this is because of the high cost involved.