Professional Writing

Letter Writing Tone and Style

By using shorter English expressions, a writer can make a business letter more comprehensible, easier and faster to read.

Compare the following:

1. …and we should be glad if you would attend to the above matter at your earliest possible convenience.

2. We are in receipt of your esteemed enquiry regarding our ZX8 range.

3. Please find enclosed tax vouchers in respect of 1999-2000 which we submit for your kind perusal.

4. The facts pertaining to the case in hand are …

5. With regard to your outstanding balance, we should be pleased to learn how you propose to effect the necessary payment.

6. Kindly be informed that your account is overdrawn as at the date hereof …

7. We are forwarding under separate cover…

8. For your information, trusting that these foregoing proposals meet with your proposal.

9. It is of such an honour to have you as our guest ….

10 With thanks in anticipation.

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your kind favour of the 19th July letter and thank you for the same.

Thank you for your letter dated 19 July.

Professional Writing

Use verbs instead of nouns?

The point is not to avoid all nouns; after all, nouns are an essential building block of writing. However, many of the nouns we use in our business writing are adapted from a verb. The verb version usually requires fewer words and is more engaging than its noun equivalent, but many business writers still choose the wordier noun version, making their writing less interesting and harder to read.

Take a look at the examples below:

1.The FTA will conduct an investigation on the charges against our company. ______________________________________________________________________

2. Four individual units are the equivalent of one set. ______________________________________________________________________

3. The manager’s secretary may be of assistance to you.

______________________________________________________________________

4.Rebecca’s bathing suit boutique has a tendency to be more profitable in the spring. ______________________________________________________________________

5. The countries have not yet come to an agreement on the border issue. ______________________________________________________________________

Not only are the verb versions of these sentences shorter, they are also more interesting than their noun alternatives. Check your writing for noun-heavy sentences and use more active verbs whenever possible.

One tip that can be of assistance in keeping your business writing more concise is to avoid the frequency by which nouns and passive verb tenses are used.

One tip that keeps your business writing more concise is to reduce the use of nouns and passive verbs.

Professional Writing

Professional Writing

Use verbs instead of nouns?

The point is not to avoid all nouns; after all, nouns are an essential building block of writing. However, many of the nouns we use in our business writing are adapted from a verb. The verb version usually requires fewer words and is more engaging than its noun equivalent, but many business writers still choose the wordier noun version, making their writing less interesting and harder to read.

Take a look at the examples below:

The FTA will conduct an investigation on the charges against our company.

The FTA will investigate the charges against our company.Four individual units are the equivalent of one set. Four units equal one set. The manager’s secretary may be of assistance to you. The manager’s secretary may assist you.Rebecca’s bathing suit boutique has a tendency to be more profitable in the spring. Rebecca’s bathing suit boutique tends to profit more in the spring.The countries have not yet come to an agreement on the border issue. The countries still do not agree on the border issue.

Not only are the verb versions of these sentences shorter, they are also more interesting than their noun alternatives. Check your writing for noun-heavy sentences and use more active verbs whenever possible.

One tip that can be of assistance in keeping your business writing more concise is to avoid the frequency by which nouns and passive verb tenses are used.