Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Why?

What does that sentence contribute?  I don't know what kind of
correspondence goes across your desk, but I've seen too many letters
like this to be patient with them.  Why should we put the "Director,
Academic student Services" in the position of having to skim through
the first lines or paragraphs of a letter to try to figure out what is
being requested of him?

Esara123 wants to file late, and wants to know what should accompany
the late filing.  Right?  What do unforeseen circumstances have to do
with it?  He might as well put something in there about the dog eating
his homework for all the Director cares.

If we're going to help people write letters requesting action or
information, let's teach them to specify what action and what
information they're requesting.  Let's not bother dressing up
completely unnecessary filler.

It would be just as effective for Esara123 to write:
--------------------------------
Dear (name):

I will submitting a formal application for admission to the ABC
program for the year 2007/2008.  I have previously submitted the
supplementary application, personal statement, and two references.  

Will it be necessary to resubmit these documents with the formal
application?

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

----------------------

Of course, I don't know if the above is actually what Esara123 has
done or wants to do because this was not made clear in his or her
post.  

BTW, if I'm the Director, Esara123 gets a Xerox of his letter back
marked "Yes", "No", or "It's too late to apply".  That's the only
information wanted.

BTW II:  I do usually include the unnecessary "...for your
cooperation" even though "cooperation" isn't really involved.  I
figure the recipient has stopped reading at "Thank you..." so it can't
hurt.

BTW III:  I may be garrulous in my postings here, but my business
correspondence was always short, direct, and very clear about what I
wanted the recipient to do or what I was doing about the recipient's
request.

That's a new one on me; I'd never heard that it ever was.
I hope you agree at least that "for some unforeseen circumstance"
is just wrong.

The intended nuance is that the hope of receiving help and understanding
is so strong that it's treated as accomplished fact.  Whether that's
appropriate is a matter of opinion.  Maybe: "I thank you in advance
for your...."

Yabbut, "for a certain circumstance" just isn't idiomatic -- at least
not in my formal English. We say "for a certain reason", "on certain
grounds" and "due to/owing to certain circumstances".