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Language for Writing Complaints

Here's a selection of "complaining language" from the British Council, Madrid Adults. Particularly formal language is in italics.

Some introductory sentences:

I am writing to you to express my indignation/ outrage that

I feel I must complain about the manner in which

I am writing to you following a most regrettable incident

I am somewhat concerned about something which occurred

I am writing to you because I feel I can no longer put up with - direct!

I feel I must express my deep unease at the manner in which

I would just like to mention a little problem which has cropped up/ arisen concerning

Detailing the complaint:

I was absolutely outraged to learn that - direct!

I find it quite appalling/ most regrettable/ totally unacceptable that X should + verb - direct!

It is quite beyond belief that a grown adult should + verb - direct!

I was quite amazed to discover that - direct!

You can imagine my surprise when

It is rather unfortunate that he should + verb

Apportioning blame:

The whole thing was a cock-up (informal) of the first order - direct!

It is patently obvious that your company is to blame/ at fault in this matter - direct!

This was a gross discourtesy/ error on your part - direct!

Of course you yourself had no idea what was going on - direct!

Expressing your sense of personal injury:

This disagreeable incident has caused

I felt rather upset/ embarrassed about the whole thing

The whole thing has left rather a nasty taste in the mouth - direct!

Suggesting a solution:

I am sure you will agree that the whole business should never have happened in the first place

I feel that the least you can do now is to

I hope this business can be settled amicably

I sincerely hope a solution to this business can be found promptly

I look forward to receiving a prompt explanation as to what action you intend to take in this matter

I am sure that given good will on both sides a mutually-acceptable solution can be found

I would regret having to take this matter further

I would be most grateful if you could look into this matter and let me know what you intend to do about it

I believe I am entitled to a refund/ an apology.

Reviewing More Complex Writing

Some tasks on paragraphs and organisation.

Go here for one on narrative organisation (useful for stories, review and writing about trips, travel etc, and here for another.

Go here for another on sentence transformation to develop more complex sentences.

Finally, go here for some complex sentence writing. COndense your ideas into fewer words to make a real impression.

Task 3.3 Reviewing More Complex Writing

Some tasks on paragraphs and organisation this week.

Go here for one on narrative organisation (useful for stories, review and writing about trips, travel etc, and here for another.

Go here for another on sentence transformation to develop more complex sentences.

Finally, go here for some complex sentence writing. COndense your ideas into fewer words to make a real impression.

Are we alone in the Universe?

Hello everyone.

This is not a discussion of SETI, but homework!

You write your homework. You finish it. Hallelujah, you think. Done. Now let's hand it in and see how many yellow highlights I get this time!

But are you doing everything you can to reduce those highlights?

The reality is that some people do not check thier writing as much as they need to. One reason for this is because it is, if we're honest, not always that interesting and actually pretty difficult.

We can't check it for you, I'm afraid. But you could check it for each other. There are almost certainly one or two students in your group you know quite well now (hopefully more than that!). Why not agree to finish homework a couple of days early, and hand or send it to each other before you hand it or send it in? Email is rather useful for this...

You'll check thiers, they´ll check yours and you might both get some corrections, some opinions and even some ideas for how to do another one better in the future. If you'd like to find someone to share writing with, ask around your class, or have a chat with your teacher - they can ask the group for you if needs be.

Try it. You might like it.

Brian Smith

Advanced: Application Letter

A sample formal letter - you don't need to speak Polish to use it!

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CAE Sample formal Application Letter

A sample formal letter - you don't need to speak Polish to use it!

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