CAE Informal Letter Vocabulary More expressions for Informal
Introduction letters
"Dear Chris/Paul"
"Hi X" Beginning a letter
"It's great to hear from you!"
"I'm so glad to hear from you" “Great/Lovely to hear from you (after so
"Thanks so much for your letter" long)”
"Sorry to hear..." “Thanks (a lot) for the letter”
Main paragraphs “Sorry to hear about your...”
"I agree/disagree with..." “Sorry I haven't written/ been in touch for
"I reckon you should..." (consider/think) so long.”
"You should definitely think again about +
verb-ing..." Persuading
"You said that you wanted to...but I
think..." “You'd get so much out of it.”
Justifying “It'd be a wonderful/marvellous
"because/so/to/in order to" opportunity for you to....”
"Just imagine how amazing it will be." “Just think of (all the people you'd meet).”
Reassuring “Just imagine how it would (improve your
"Have faith in..." CV), not to mention (the money you could
"Don't worry about..." earn).”
"You don't need to worry about..."
Recommending Advising
"I definitely recommend + verb-ing"
"I suggest that/+ verb-ing" “Whatever you do, make sure you...”
"This is definitely the best option..." “It's (not) worth/there's no point+ gerund
"This is a great/amazing/wonderful...." (eg. getting upset over it)”
"You should..." “I would/wouldn't.... if I were you.”
"Make sure you..." “You'd be much better off + gerund”
"If I were you, I would + infinitive"
"There's no point + verb-ing" Ending the Letter
Conclusion
"Take care" “Write back soon and let me know how it
"Speak soon" goes.”
"I hope this helps" “Looking forward to hearing from you.”
"Look forward to..." “Can't wait to see you again.”
"Many thanks" “Give my love/regards to....”
"Can't wait to see you..."
"Lots of love, Roberto" (This would be for Signing off to friends
relatives or close friends).
PS- Do NOT use a full stop (punto) after you “All the best”
write your name.
“Best wishes”
“Bye for now”
“Take care”
“Cheers”
Signing off to relatives or really close
friends
“Lots of love”
“Love”
CAE Formal Letter/email
CAE Formal Letter Vocabulary Vocabulary
(CAE Formal Letter Tip: In formal
writing, we tend to use nouns more than Greeting/opening remarks/Introduction
verbs). "Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms/Sir/Madam/Name of
Introduction company or department"
"Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms/Sir/Madam" “To whom it may concern”
"Thank you kindly for your letter" "Thank you kindly for your letter"
"I am writing with regard to" "I am writing with regard to"
“I am writing to address your previous “I am writing to address your previous
letter" letter"
"I am writing to express my + noun" "I am writing to express my + noun"
Main paragraphs
"I (strongly) agree/disagree" Main paragraphs
"I advise you to" "I (strongly) agree/disagree"
"Please reconsider..." "I advise you to"
"Your letter "Please reconsider..."
states...however/nevertheless, this..." "Your letter
Justifying states...however/nevertheless, this..."
"thus/therefore/because/due to"
Reassuring Justifying
"You can rest assured that..." "thus/therefore/because/due to"
"You can be confident that..."
Recommending Reassuring
"I highly/strongly recommend + verb-ing" "You can rest assured that..."
"I suggest that/+ verb-ing" "You can be confident that..."
Conclusion
"I hope you look on this letter favourably" Recommending
"I hope you take this letter into "I highly/strongly recommend + verb-ing"
consideration" "I suggest that/+ verb-ing"
"Kind regards"
"I look forward to your (prompt) reply" Closing remarks/signing off
"Yours faithfully" (When you do not know "I hope you look on this letter favourably"
the name of the person to whom you are "I hope you take this letter into
writing) consideration"
"Yours sincerely" (When you do know "Kind regards"
the name of the person to whom you are "I look forward to your (prompt) reply"
writing) "Yours faithfully" (When you do not know
PS- Do NOT use a full stop after you write the name of the person to whom you are
your name. writing)
"Yours sincerely" (When you do know
the name of the person to whom you are
writing)
PS- Do NOT use a full stop after you write
your name.
PROPOSAL
Introduction
“This proposal is intended to outline the
way…”
“The aims of this proposal are to… and give
ideas for improving”
“This proposal is aimed to highlight or outline”
Body paragraph (Problem/current situation)
“As… may be aware, there are several issues
or concerns about…”
“A number of concerns with regard to… were
expressed by…”
Ways to address issues/suggestion
“It is suggested to…”
“It is recommended that…”
“There should be…” (explain the
recommendation)
“It would be an advantage…”
“I would like to make the following
recommendation”
Recommendations
“If these recommendations are implemented,
the current awful/unpleasant situation…
with… will definitely improve”
“If above suggestion…”
