1. Business English
  2. English for emails
  3. Unit 5: Making arrangements

Unit 5: Making arrangements

Unit 5: Making arrangements

Need to organise something? In this unit you can practise common phrases used to make plans by email.

Making arrangements

Think about these points when the purpose of your email is to make an arrangement.

Useful questions

Here are some typical questions used for making arrangements:

  • Are you free next Tuesday afternoon?
  • What time would you like to meet?
  • When would be convenient for you?
  • Could you please let me know?

Expressions of time

Use on with days: Could we meet on Monday?

Use in with months, years and other expressions: I'm going to visit my grandparents in October.

Use at with times and other expressions: Could you please call me at 3pm?

Use next to refer to future times: I hope we can meet again next week.

Use when to start a future time clause: Let's meet again when it is convenient.

Tenses

To speak about a timetable, use the present simple: Next term runs from 1 September until 16 December.

To speak about a future arrangement, use the present continuous: Mr Toshiko is coming to our next meeting.

To speak about a plan, use 'be going to': Next term we are going to learn about pollution.

See the talking about the future page for more practice.

Tenses in complex sentences about the future

Use the present simple after when, if and next time in future time clauses:

  • I will call you when I get to the station.
  • I'm going to work with my dad when I finish school.
  • Let's go for a walk if the weather is good.
  • Will you visit the Eiffel Tower next time you are in Paris?

Task 1

Exercise

Task 2

Exercise

Task 3

Exercise

Task 4

Exercise

Task 5

Exercise

Task 6

Exercise

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Submitted by ali shah on Sun, 29/07/2018 - 09:31

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"Imran still striving to get required numbers to form govt" Such types of sentence structures are found in Newspapers' headings: the verb is in the 'ing' form and there is no helping/auxiliary verb (is) before it. How is it if I rewrite it as 'Imran is still striving to get required numbers to form govt."

Hello ali shah,

Newspaper headlines often omit words like auxiliary verbs and articles. It is a standard part of the style. The full and fully grammatically correct sentence would be with 'is', as you say.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by ali shah on Sun, 29/07/2018 - 09:18

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"This will be one of the mightiest Oppositions in recent memory: the PML-N (64), PPP (43), MMA (12), ANP (1) adding up to a whopping 120 members." Why was 'the' not used before the others abbreviations ie PPP, MMA, and ANP? I observe this many times when I read articles/books/newspapers. What rule of grammar does apply here?

Hello ali shah,

When a phrase is repeated it is quite common to omit part of it to make the sentence less repetitive. For example:

The United Natiion, (the) World Health Organisation, (the) World Trade Organisation and (the) World Bank are all examples of supra-national institutions.

We had a delicious starter, (a delicious) main course and (a delicious) dessert at the restaurant.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by ali shah on Sun, 29/07/2018 - 09:08

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"However, following the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2003, the valley has become a popular tourist destination since the past 15 years." The above para is from our country's leading English daily. Is it grammatically correct to use 'since' before 'the past 15 years'? Shouldn't it be 'for' there?

Hello ali shah,

'Since' does not look correct to me in that sentence. You could use 'for' but I think the most likely preposition is 'in', which would have the meaning of 'during':

However, following the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2003, the valley has become a popular tourist destination in the past 15 years.

 

It is not uncommon for newspapers to have errors such as this. Sentences are changed during the writing and editing processes and sometimes a change in one part of the sentence makes another part of the sentence incorrect.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by ali shah on Tue, 19/06/2018 - 16:08

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Hello Sir! 'Water scarcity takes a devastating toll, killing crops, livelihoods, and,slowly, the nation on the whole.' Sir, does it make any difference if we don't put the comma before' slowly', i.e. ...livelihoods, and slowly, the nation on the whole? If it does, please explain it to me. As I read many at many places that writers don't put comma before adverb in the above case. Would be obliged if you respond,sir.
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Submitted by Peter M. on Wed, 20/06/2018 - 06:58

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Hello ali shah,

The commas around slowly are necessary here, I would say. This is because the adverb slowly is inserted into the middle of a list. We have the verb (participle) killing and then a list of objects:

killing (1) crops, (2) livelihoods, and (3) the nation as a whole (as a whole is the phrase to use here)

 

Slowly is added to this list as an aside - a bit of extra detail about the last item. Separating it with commas makes this clear and is appropriate.

There are rules regarding commas but these only apply to certain uses. For others, it is more a question of style and clarity. In this case, the best style is to use commas, in my view.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team