Writing - useful words and phrases -

I. Informal letter
Dear (first name),
Dear (first name), or Hi (first name) (for informal e-mails)
 Beginnings
Thank you/Many thanks for your (recent/last) letter/postcard.
nice / lovely to hear from you recently.
I’m sorry I haven’t written/been in touch for such a long time.
It’s ages since I’ve heard from you. I hope you’re/you and your family are well.
 Asking
Hi! / How are things? / How are you? / How’s it going?
 Referring to their news
Great news about … Glad to hear that … Sorry to hear about ….....congratulate on passing your
exam!
It’s great to hear...I’m so pleased to hear............
 Giving news
Listen, did I tell you about …? You’ll never believe what …
Oh, and another thing … This is just to let you know that …
By the way, have you heard about/did you know that …
Anyway.......
 Invitations
I’m/We’re having a party on Friday 19th and I/we hope you’ll be able to come.
Would you like to come/go to see ‘Room With a View’ with me at the weekend.
let me/us know if you can come/you’d like to join us.
Thank you very much for your invitation. I’d love to come.
Thank you for asking/inviting me to … but I’m afraid I won’t be able to …
 Thank you / Congratulations / Good Luck
I’m writing to thank you for your hospitality/the wonderful present.
It is so kind of you to invite me to stay with you.
I really appreciated all your help/advice.
Congratulations on passing your exams/your excellent exam results!
I wish you good luck/Good luck in/with your exams/your driving test/your interview.
Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do well/pass.
 Making suggestions and recommend
Why don’t you …? Maybe you could …? How about …?
You can’t leave New York without doing sth
I’m sure you will enjoy doing sth If you like, we can …
Do visit (somewhere). Don’t forget to (do sth) (Imperative -> Strong Recommendation)
I’m told that … People say that … (If you heard sth is good)
 Endings
 Give a reason why you're ending the letter:
- Anyway, I must go and get on with my work! /
- I guess it's time I got on with that studying I've been avoiding.
- Well, that's all for now
 Send greetings and/or make reference for future contact: Give my love / regards to... / Say
hello to... / Anyway, don't forget to let me know the dates of the party. / I'll try and phone you at
the weekend to check the times. / We must try and meet up soon. / I can't wait to hear from you
/ Look forward to seeing you again / Hope to hear from you soon / See you soon / Write soon
 Closing statement such as Love, Lots of love, All the best, Take care, Best wishes, should be
written on a new line. If you used a comma after the opening greeting, use a comma here too.
 Signing off: Your first name then follows on another new line.
II. Essay
 In troduction & Stating your opinion
- As far as I am concerned...
- As you know...
- It seems/appears to me that.....
- Basing on my experiences and observation, I think that..............
As I see it,.......
As far as I am concerned.....................
As you know
It seems to me that ............ I would also say that ....
I am convinced that ...............
I am inclined to believe that ..................
There is no doubt in my mind that ..................
One of the drawbacks of ....... is ..........
However, one of the benefits is that ............
 Body:
1. Change into another paragraph
- Despite these attractions, however, some drawbacks still do exist...
- Although....has many advantages, there still exist some noteworthy disadvantages.
- However, ......is not completely beneficial, there are some negative aspects that should be taken
into consideration.
2. Organising and linking your ideas
First of all/ in the first place, … Secondly, … In addition, …
Moreover, … Furthermore, …what’s more............
So … As a result, … Therefore, …
However, … On the one hand…/On the other hand …
On the whole … While it is true to say …
Finally, … To summarise, … In conclusion/ in brief/ generally speaking
 Concluding
All in all/ after all /in a word / in short / to sum up / all things considered, it seems to me that
...........
The obvious conclusion to be drawn is that .......................
All things considered, .............
On balance, I tend to believe that ............
The world would surely be a better place to live in if ..............
If people stopped ....ing, we would have/ we could look forward to a ...............
The prospects for the future will be bleak/grim unless ...................

Useful Phrases for Writing Argument Essays

 To list arguments in the main body: In the first place, First of all, To start with, To begin with,
Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly, Finally, In addition (to this), Furthermore, Moreover, Besides, last but
not least
 Presenting arguments for: The main/first/most important advantage of ..., One major
advantage of ..., A further advantage ..., One/Another/An additional advantage of ..., One point
of view in favour of ..., It is often suggested/believed/argued that ..., Some/Many people
suggest/feel/argue that ..., Some/Many people are in favour of/are convinced that ...,
 Presenting arguments against: One major disadvantage of ..., The main/most important
disadvantage/drawback of ..., One/Another/An additional disadvantage of ..., One
point/argument against ..., Some/Many people are against ...,
 Presenting examples, causes and results: for example/instance, such as, like, in
particular,therefore, for this reason, because, as, since, as a result = consequently
 To add more points to the same topic: what is more, furthermore, also, in addition to,
besides, apart from this/that, not to mention the fact that, etc.
 To make contrasting points: on the other hand, however, despite/in spite of (the fact), while,
nevertheless, even though, although, it can be argued that, one can argue that, etc.
 To conclude: to conclude/sum up, all in all, all things considered, in conclusion, on the whole,
taking everything into account, taking all this into account/consideration, above all, as was
previously stated, etc.
 Comparisons
compared to / in comparison with
to draw / make a comparison between ...and ..........
similarly
as well as
 Personal point of view
I think that
in my opinion/ in my view / to my mind
this is a matter of opinion
in my experience
as far as I know
as far as I am concerned
to be aware / unaware of a problem
to tell the truth
the fact is that
I am convinced that
I firmly believe that
I feel sth should be done about that