herewith

English translation: depends on level of formality

13:38 Jun 10, 2004
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Linguistics / letter writing
English term or phrase: herewith
Hi all!

I was wondering which is more appropriate in formal letters (e.g. business):

"Herewith we inform you" or "This is to inform you"

(Frankly speaking, all the letters I received during my long-term stay in the UK read "this is to inform you". I have always been using this phrase, since "herewith" sounds quite pompous to me)

What do you think? (Feel free to write long answers)

TIA :)
sassa
Selected answer:depends on level of formality
Explanation:
I think English is becoming increasingly informal, even in business and therefore terms such as 'herewith' are becoming less common.

Personally, when I write business type letters I am guided by stylistic concerns and use phrases which sound good to me! 'This is to inform you' or 'we are writing to inform you' etc sound fine to me.

However, there are some formal types of letter which still employ these terms - off the top of my head I believe that legal type letters (I'm thinking of recent notifications of parking tickets I've got!) say things like 'you are hereby informed'. Some solicitors also use these kind of terms - particularly as they employ 'form letters' in which only the names and particulars are changed each time, the basic format remaining the same.

hope this helps!
Selected response from:

Lucy Phillips
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:09
Grading comment
I agree with most of the answers, and it was really difficult for me to grade one as most appropriate. I wish I could evenly distribute the points! Thank you all!
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
5 +13we hereby inform you
Marian Greenfield
5 +6"This is to inform you"
Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
4 +6depends on level of formality
Lucy Phillips
5 +3Herewith is legalese
Empty Whiskey Glass
4 +1The object of this letter is to inform you...
Julie Roy
4Allow me/us to inform you
Mikhail Kropotov
4We wish/write to inform you
David Moore (X)
4please be informed (herewith)
danya


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +6
"This is to inform you"


Explanation:
I think "This is to inform you" is better. This is widely used everywhere and is more appropriate for formal letters.

Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
Bangladesh
Local time: 04:09
Native speaker of: Native in BengaliBengali
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Aisha Maniar: hmm, herewith does sound pompous but if you want to use it, it would sound better to say "we herewith inform you..."
1 min
  -> Thanks Aisha

agree  Maya Gorgoshidze
5 mins
  -> Thanks Maya

agree  A-Z Trans (X)
46 mins
  -> Thanks mbatrad

agree  Java Cafe
1 hr
  -> Thanks Java Cafe

neutral  Cilian O'Tuama: somehow sounds 'foreign' to me in business context
1 hr

agree  Rajan Chopra
1 hr
  -> Thanks langclinic

agree  methrinia
8 days
  -> Thanks Methrinia
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
depends on level of formality


Explanation:
I think English is becoming increasingly informal, even in business and therefore terms such as 'herewith' are becoming less common.

Personally, when I write business type letters I am guided by stylistic concerns and use phrases which sound good to me! 'This is to inform you' or 'we are writing to inform you' etc sound fine to me.

However, there are some formal types of letter which still employ these terms - off the top of my head I believe that legal type letters (I'm thinking of recent notifications of parking tickets I've got!) say things like 'you are hereby informed'. Some solicitors also use these kind of terms - particularly as they employ 'form letters' in which only the names and particulars are changed each time, the basic format remaining the same.

hope this helps!

Lucy Phillips
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:09
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 2
Grading comment
I agree with most of the answers, and it was really difficult for me to grade one as most appropriate. I wish I could evenly distribute the points! Thank you all!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  jerrie: if used hereby rather than herewith
3 mins
  -> yes, I believe 'herewith' denotes an enclosure or something, I'm not quite sure!

agree  Aisha Maniar: yes, it does depend on who is writing the letter and why
5 mins
  -> thanks Aisha

agree  LJC (X): 'We are writing to inform you' sounds the best to me.
3 hrs

agree  humbird: Yes, it depends. This is related to my comment to Svetozar.
4 hrs

agree  Alexandra Tussing
10 hrs

agree  Mario Marcolin
22 hrs
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Herewith is legalese


Explanation:
Using legalese can make your writing appear archaic, too formal, or stilted. Examples of legalese include the following words: aforementioned, aforesaid, hereto, heretofore, herewith, said (when used as an adjective), thereby, therein, thereof, thereto, therefor (as opposed to the conjunction, therefore), therewith, whereby, wherefore, wherein, and whereto. Often, legalese can be omitted without changing a sentence’s meaning or creating ambiguity. In other cases, simpler words can be substituted.

http://www.gsu.edu/~accerl/WO.html


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Note added at 10 mins (2004-06-10 13:48:43 GMT)
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Leave legalese to lawyers!

Empty Whiskey Glass
Local time: 00:09
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in BulgarianBulgarian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  A-Z Trans (X)
44 mins
  -> Thanks!

agree  Craft.Content
3 hrs
  -> Thanks!

agree  humbird: Yes, you would avoid "herewith" unless you are a lawyer writing letter to the court, fellow lawyers, etc.
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Susan!
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +13
we hereby inform you


Explanation:
herewith would be more appropriate as follows:

enclosed herewith...

Marian Greenfield
Local time: 18:09
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 39

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  fgb: herewith, with enclosures only
20 mins

agree  A-Z Trans (X)
42 mins

agree  TonyTK: "hereby" sounds fine in the above context; "herewith" sounds like a translation (just as "wobei" is mistranslated as "whereby")
1 hr

agree  sarahl (X): right, herewith means with this, that's probably what the asker doesn't know.
1 hr

agree  Cilian O'Tuama: I'd prefer the 'hereby' version too
1 hr

agree  Rajan Chopra
1 hr

agree  Vicky Papaprodromou
1 hr

agree  Ltemes
2 hrs

agree  Alfa Trans (X)
2 hrs

agree  Alaa Zeineldine: Right, they're both legalese, but each has its usage.
4 hrs

agree  humbird: Marian, you are quite right.
4 hrs

agree  Alexandra Tussing
10 hrs

agree  Stefanie Sendelbach: Well put.
15 hrs
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12 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
The object of this letter is to inform you...


Explanation:
When you begin a business letter
http://www.english.com.br/tcenter/lesson_act/whenyouletter.h...



Julie Roy
Canada
Local time: 18:09
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Orla Ryan
9 hrs
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8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Allow me/us to inform you


Explanation:
This is not all that formal. But I think it is forthcoming and polite enough for business letters.

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Note added at 15 mins (2004-06-10 13:53:22 GMT)
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In my opinion:
\"This is to inform you\" is quite appropriate, but does not invite.
\"We herewith inform you\" is really dry (very legal).
\"The present/following is to inform you\" is a bit long compared with \"this is\".

Mikhail Kropotov
Germany
Local time: 23:09
Native speaker of: Russian
PRO pts in category: 32
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21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
We wish/write to inform you


Explanation:
Either of these can be used too; virtually any of the answers given can be used; some sound odd, but then, I'm not as up-to-date as many!

David Moore (X)
Local time: 23:09
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 28
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
please be informed (herewith)


Explanation:
one more option
I like legalese

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Note added at 1 hr 22 mins (2004-06-10 15:00:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

why is everyone so p....d off about legalese? the beauty of the English language lies not in the hi-bye thing, but in its fabulously rich and manifold vocabulary, complicated register details etc.

danya
Local time: 01:09
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian
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