Professional Email Tone — Unit 9, Upper-intermediate English
Fixed phrases and collocations for courteous, clear business correspondence.
Reading: Client Email — Schedule Revision
**From:** Jonas Meyer, Account Manager **To:** Ms Adeyemi, Northbridge Logistics **Subject:** Implementation schedule — revised timeline
Dear Ms Adeyemi,
**Further to** our call on Tuesday, **I am writing to** confirm the revised implementation plan. **Please find attached** the updated milestone sheet and risk register.
**I would be grateful if** you could review the document **at your earliest convenience** and return comments by 18:00 CET Friday. **As discussed**, billing will **phase in** only after user acceptance testing is complete. **For the avoidance of doubt**, no production charges apply during parallel run.
**With reference to** yesterday's portal interruption, we **apologise for the inconvenience** caused to your warehouse team. **For your information**, monitoring will remain elevated through the weekend, and **please be advised that** a brief read-only window may occur during patch application at 02:00 UTC Sunday.
**As per our conversation**, training sessions will proceed on 4 July; **pursuant to your request**, we have **enclosed herewith** the attendee list template. **I would appreciate it if** you could **please acknowledge receipt** of this message so our tracker stays current.
**Thank you in advance** for your patience while we align dependencies. **I look forward to hearing from you** regarding the milestone dates. **Should you require further assistance** before Friday, **please do not hesitate to contact** me or our duty manager. **At your discretion**, we can **discuss** a shorter check-in on Thursday.
**Kind regards,** Jonas Meyer Account Manager
**From:** Ms Adeyemi, Northbridge Logistics **To:** Jonas Meyer **Subject:** RE: Implementation schedule — revised timeline
Dear Mr Meyer,
**Thank you for** the revised plan, which I have now circulated internally.
**I am afraid I must raise a concern** regarding the 4 July training dates. **As you may recall**, our peak dispatch period runs from 1 to 10 July, and the warehouse supervisors named on your attendee template are precisely the staff who cannot be released during that window. **I appreciate that** this was agreed on Tuesday's call; **on reflection**, it was agreed by me without consulting operations, and the error is ours rather than yours.
**Might I therefore ask** whether the sessions could be moved to the week commencing 15 July. **I recognise that** this compresses the interval before user acceptance testing, and **I would welcome your view** on whether that interval remains workable or whether UAT should shift correspondingly.
**On a separate matter**, and **with reference to** your note on Sunday's read-only window: our overnight team runs stock reconciliation between 01:00 and 04:00 UTC. **I would be grateful if** the patch could be applied outside that period. **Should this not be possible**, please let me know by Thursday so that we can reschedule the reconciliation run at our end instead. **I would not wish** this to be treated as a blocker.
**Finally**, and **for the avoidance of doubt**, my colleagues have asked me to confirm that no charges arise during parallel run. Your paragraph is clear on this; **I am simply repeating it** so that the confirmation sits in a message I can forward to our finance team.
**I look forward to hearing from you** and **thank you again for** the promptness of the revised pack.
**Kind regards,** F. Adeyemi
Vocabulary from this unit
| Phrase | Use |
|---|---|
| Further to … | link to prior contact |
| I am writing to … | state purpose |
| As discussed | follow-up to meeting |
| Please find attached | attachment |
| For your information | FYI only |
| Phrase | Use |
|---|---|
| I would be grateful if | polite ask |
| at your earliest convenience | soft deadline |
| apologise for the inconvenience | service issue |
| Thank you in advance | pre-thanks |
| look forward to hearing from you | expect reply |
| Please do not hesitate to contact | offer help |
| Phrase | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| with reference to | regarding; about a prior matter | With reference to your email of 12 June, I confirm receipt. |
| I would appreciate it if | polite way to ask | I would appreciate it if you could confirm availability. |
| please be advised that | formally inform the reader | Please be advised that maintenance begins at 22:00 UTC. |
| I trust this finds you well | polite email opening | I trust this finds you well ahead of next week's review. |
| for the avoidance of doubt | to make something completely clear | For the avoidance of doubt, the SLA excludes beta features. |
| as per our conversation | as we discussed | As per our conversation, please find revised terms attached. |
| enclosed herewith | attached with this message | Enclosed herewith is the signed data-processing agreement. |
| I regret to inform you | polite way to deliver negative news | I regret to inform you that delivery will slip by one week. |
| should you require further assistance | if you need more help | Should you require further assistance, please contact our desk. |
| pursuant to your request | in response to what you asked | Pursuant to your request, we have updated the schedule. |
| at your discretion | as you choose | You may extend the trial at your discretion. |
| please acknowledge receipt | ask recipient to confirm they received the message | Please acknowledge receipt of the updated contract. |
This is the free sample from this unit. The full unit adds 1 more reading passage, comprehension questions with an answer key, the listening exercises, flashcards for the vocabulary above, and a speaking task — with your progress tracked so the next unit unlocks when you are ready for it.
Common questions
What level is this unit?
Upper-intermediate — roughly CEFR B2. If you are not sure of your level, the course places you with a short diagnostic before you start rather than making you guess.
Do I need to pay to use this?
The reading passage and vocabulary on this page are free to read. The rest of the unit — the remaining passages, the exercises, the listening, the answer key and the progress tracking — is part of the paid General English course.
Is this British or American English?
British English spelling and vocabulary, which is what most learners in Azerbaijan are taught and what IELTS expects, though both are accepted in the exam.