UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

CENTRE FOR FOUNDATION STUDIES

FHEL 1134 ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

WORKSHEET 1: THE 7 CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE BUSINESS WRITING

Revise the following sentences so that they are clear, concrete, complete, concise,
courteous, considerate or correct. You may add appropriate or remove unnecessary words
or phrases.

1. My flight arrives at 11.45 on Friday. (complete & concrete)

- My Airasia flight, AA1234, arrives at 11.45p.m. on next Friday, 3 March 2023. Arrival
Gate B, Terminal 2,KLIA2.

2. We deem it advisable for you to rescind your offer to Mr Zen. (clear)

- We suggest that you cancel your offer to Mr Zen.

3. All conference participants and their wives are invited to the banquet. (courteous)

- All conference participants and their spouses are invited to the banquet.

4. Louisa has prepared some questions, and the questions will be asked during the meeting
tomorrow. (concrete & complete)

- Louisa has prepared some project-related question related to staffing and financial issues,
and the questions will be asked during the annual general meeting tomorrow, 1 April
2023 in Meeting Room A from 2pm – 4pm.

5. A little booths are built up in conjunction with the company’s 20 th anniversary celebration.
(Correct, complete)

- A few foods and drinks/pop-up booths are set up in conjunction with F&N’s 20th
anniversary celebration.

6. We need to reduce our department’s operating cost as our budget is tighter this month.
(courteous & considerate)

- You are requested to help reduce the department’s operating cost as the budget is tighter
this month.
 - Your cooperation is highly appreciated to help reduce the department’s operating cost as
the budget is tighter this month.

7. As a consequence of the employees falling asleep on the job, company sales plummet
gradually. (clear)

- As a result of the workers not doing their work properly, company sales are slowly
declining/falling.

8. Employees who were just hired and are defined as novice employees should take steps to
ensure that they attend the mandatory two-day training session that is required of all novice
employees. (clear & concise)

- Newly-hired employees are required to attend the two-day training session. [ 10 words]
- New employees must attend training. [ 5 words]

9. The event will be held on a Sunday evening at 7.30 at the hotel. Please confirm your
attendance as soon as possible. (Considerate, concrete & complete)

- You are requested to confirm your attendance by giving your name to Ms Tan, the event
organiser, before 1 April 2023, Monday, 5pm, via WhatsApp to the number 010-
1101011. The cooking competition event will be held next Sunday evening, 7 April 2023
at 7.30pm at the foyer of Grand Kampar hotel.
10. In the English for Business Communication test, Woody’s scores were higher than Mike.
(correct)

- In the English for business communication test, Woody’s scores were higher than
Mike’s scores.