The following phrases are useful for making arrangements.
· Suggesting times and dates
How about/What about the following week?
Shall we say 14 February?
· Asking for suggesting
When would suit you?
Did you have a time/place in mind?
· Saying we are unavailable
I’m afraid I’m busy then.
I’m sorry but I can’t make it then.
· Using the present continuous for talking about fixed arrangements
They’re working on another project until 12 February.
Complaining about poor performance
I’m calling/phoning/writing to complain about…
There’s some sort of delay/hold-up/problem.
There seems to be a problem with…
Things are in a mess.
Something has gone wrong somewhere.
There seems to be a problem in the system.
I’d like to make a formal complaint.
What’s going on?
Can you tell me what’s happening?
Who’s in charge of this?
Could you look into this?
Responding to complaints
I’ll look into this and get back to you.
My colleague Mr./Ms X deals with this. I’ll get him/her to call you back.
I’m afraid there’s been a problem with…
I’m sorry about this. We’ve changed our procedures so it won’t happen again.
We apologise for the mistake. It won’t happen again.
Our apologies for the mix-up. We’ve sorted things out now.
We’ve looked into your complaint and it seems to be justified. Can we offer you some sort of compensation?
Here are some ways of talking about where something is:
Is the golf course far from Khania?
Is the Athena Hotel a long way from the golf course?
Where exactly is the hotel Located/situated?
Where is the hotel in relation to the golf course?
Which is the most convenient hotel for the course?
The khania Palace Hotel is in Ayios Marina, not far from the center of the town.
The Athena is in the middle of Khania, right on the port.
The Apollo is in a place called Kolimval, about 25 km west of the golf course.
The Helena is (right) opposite the entrance to the golf course.
This hotel is very convenient for the course. In fact, it’s right next door.
Leaving answering machine messages
When we leave messages, it is important to be very clear.
· Prepare the listener for the message
This is Frank Larsen from Scandinavian Conferences.
It’s 9.30 on Wednesday morning.
I’m ringing about the sales report.
· Make requests simple and polite
Could you send me the report, please?
Could you please call me back?
· Give clear contact information
I’m in Helsinki until Friday.
My telephone number is 346 766.
Talking messages
The following phrases are useful for taking messages.
· Offering help
I’m afraid she’s not here today. Can I help you?
I’m afraid he’s visiting a client. Can I take a message?
· Asking for information
Could I ask who’s calling, please?
Could you give me your fax number, please?
· Checking information
Could you spell that, please?
So, that’s 27 November.
· Promising action
I’ll give her the message as soon as she’s back.
I’ll ask her to call you as soon as possible.
Encouraging conversation
We can encourage conversation in the following ways.
· Showing interest/surprise
Really?
I’m surprised to hear that.
Do you? /Did you? /Have you?
· Asking follow-up questions
What did you think of…?
When are you going to…?
How do you feel about…?
· Using the speaker’s words in a follow-up question
So the meeting’s been postponed until next March.
Next March?
Letting of invitation
The following phrases are useful for formal written invitations.
· Inviting/Offering
We should like to invite you…
We should be very pleased if you could…
We would be delighted if you could…
· Thanking
Thank you (very much) for your (kind) invitation to…
It was very kind of you to invite me to…
I was delighted to receive your invitation to…
· Accepting
I would be very pleased to …
I should be delighted to…
· Declining
Unfortunately, due to… I am unable to…
