Letter 1

Dear Colleague,

Your letter of November 12 has reached me today. I very much regret to inform you that I am not able to provide the information you re­quested. Our laboratory stopped experimenting in … three years ago. If you are interested in the results of our work, please consult the Phys­iological Review, v. 36, No. 3, July 2002.

Furthermore, I received a reprint from Dr who deals with … and if you wish, you may use my name when writing to him.

If I can be of any help to you in the future, do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Name

Letter2

Dear Professor … :

It was a pleasure to receive your letter of August 3, 2005 in which you asked me to send you a list of references and the data available on … .

As far as the reference list is concerned, I will be delighted to send it to you. Regarding the experimental data, however, I'm afraid I will be unable to provide this information to you since our data are only pre­liminary and require verification. We are looking forward to the publi­cation of our paper in the Biophysics Journal. I can send you a reprint and its English translation as soon as it is published.

In your letter you suggest establishing scientific contacts through the exchange of data and information. We support this idea and are willing to share materials available in our laboratory. Under a separate cover I am sending you two reprints that, in my opinion, would be of interest to you. Moreover, an exchange of visits to both countries and an ex­change of literature would be greatly appreciated.

I hope the reference list is just what you need and it will be of help to you. If I can be of further assistance, please contact me.

Sincerely yours,

Name

Enclosure: reference list

Here are some more phrases and sentences used to make an unfavorable reply to an inquiry:

I am very sorry to inform you that I am unable to … .

I am awfully sorry that I cannot comply with your inquiry ....

I regret not being in a position to comply with your inquiry at present.

TASKS

1. Write a letter in which you:

A) express appreciation for the inquiry;

B) give the reason why you are not able to be of any help;

C) suggest some alternative that may be of help.

2. Write a letter in which you:

a) acknowledge the receipt of the letter …;

B) express regret that you are not able to be of any help;

C) express willingness to offer assistance in the future.

V. Letters of Thanks

On receiving invitations, papers, reprints, books or valuable infor­mation you should send a letter of thanks, gratitude or appreciation to acknowledge their receipt.

TASKS

Read the samples and note the phrases and sentences used to express thanks, gratitude and appreciation: