Vocabulary and Phrases Useful for Writing Business Letters

Business writing, whether it be letters or emails, has for most people become an almost daily practice. This sheet provides a detailed list of core vocabulary and phrases that are frequently used when writing business letters or business e-mails in English. It can be a valuable starting point for students who need to use English on an everyday basis for written business communications. If you are a teacher, you might find this specific English terminology and letter lingo useful as well. Oftentimes, these expressions are employed in very specific trade sectors, and thus the core vocabulary sheets go a long way in helping both the instructors and the students inform their formal written expressions. Opening / Greeting / Reply Messrsto the kind attention ofthe aim of this letterwe wish to inform you thatin reply to your letterfollowing your instructions Ending / Complimentary Close always at your serviceawaiting your replybest regardsour kindest regardsto look forward to / looking forward to an early replywe look forward to your kind replylooking forward to hearing from youwe remainwe thank you in advancewe would appreciate it if you could answerwe would appreciate your replyYours faithfully / sincerely (GB) Requests as per your requestas requestedplease allow usplease send usplease send us your instructionswould you please let us havewould you please let us knowyou orderedyou requestedyou sent us Time as soon as possibleat your convenienceat your earliest conveniencebefore the date we agreed uponin due time - in due courseon arrival of the goodson deliveryon receipt of the orderon short noticeon written requestshort-termto be lateto inform in due timewith two weeks noticewithout delaywithin the end of the month Send / Receive / Address / Notify inside addressoutside addresssender addressto notify in advance aboutto let someone know in advanceto reach the destinationto send under separate coverwe acknowledge receipt ofwe have receivedwe sent youwithout notice Letter letter opening - beginning of the letterletter heading - headingbody of the letterenclosure - attachmentcircular letterclaim - letter of complaintcovering letterfrom order receiptfurther to our letter - following our letterto return a letter to the senderthe letter remained unanswered Price / Payment as far as the payment is concernedas per invoiceat your expensehalf-pricein partial paymenton advanced paymentpayable in advanceprices are increasingto be in arrears with paymentsup to an amount of Goods / Items goods listed belowthe following itemsthe goods are available in our warehousethe goods are not similar to the samplethe goods are sold outthe goods arrived in good conditionsto make the goods availablewe hope well receive the goods soon Apology we apologize again forwe apologize forwe apologize for the delaywe apologize for the mistakewe are sorry to have towe are sorry to inform youwe must apologize for Regarding Something or Someone (to act) on behalf ofas far as Im concernedas per to the conditionsas followsdue to oversightherebyin compliance with - accordinglyin the absence ofon condition that - provided thatto refer toto correspond withto suit the quality - to meet the qualityto take into considerationthe matter in referencewith/in reference towith the compliments ofwithin which Meetings / Negotiations the meeting was canceledto fix an appointmentto stop negotiations Meet the Needs in case of needto meet a demandto meet customers requirements Attention our best attentionto pay the maximum attention to the matter Agreement as agreedto agree with Pleasure to have the pleasure toto be delighted to Sell / Order to sell at the bestto be overrun with ordersorder to be confirmed Decisions to come to a decisionto come to an agreement - to reach an agreement Samples similar to sample - up to samplecorrespond to the sampleto submit a sample Other Useful Expressions to be able toto be authorized toto be characterized byto be confident into be interested into be prepared to - to be willing to  to be held responsible forto be in difficultyto cope with the competitionto have the power to  in good conditionin our favorto our mutual benefitour offer is still open(with the) utmost carewith no obligation - without commitment