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?
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:
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
Hi qayum2s,
The use of the colon in the sentence you ask about is unusual, so I wouldn't recommend taking it as an example. The comma is often used after an infinitive of purpose when that infinitive comes first in a sentence. If the words came in a different order, the comma would not be used – 'Use the present simple to speak about a timetable'.
If you'd like to ask us about a specific part of a specific sentence, we're happy to help you but I'm afraid we don't provide the service of correcting users' texts.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ali shah,
Different publishing houses follow different rules for punctuation and style, but in general I'd say that a comma is usually used after an initial 'if'-clause and not after a final 'if'-clause. I'm afraid I can't explain why other texts choose not to follow this general rule.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ali shah,
I am always leery of such hard and fast rules as this regarding punctuation. I was taught a similar rule and would phrase the sentences differently:
Most respected style guides follow this line. However, punctuation rules are always in a state of flux and you can find examples of the colon used after dependent clauses or even after single phrases or words.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Zeeshan Siddiqii,
There is nothing wrong with saying 'guards used to guard'. The first part of your sentence is not correct, however. You might say In more primitive times, for example.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team