I thought it would be wise to contact you regarding

[Superguay]

I have some questiones about the following setence:

I thought it would be wise to contact you regarding a question that came to me while reading

1) Does "question" make more sense than, for example, "doubt"? Would it sound odd to a (British) English native speaker?

2) Does "came to me" sound too colloquial for a formal letter? May I change it to ocurred, arose or the like.

3) Is it correct to use here "while reading" instead of the fuller form even though the subject is not the same in both clauses.

Thanks,

 

[probus]

I will leave question 1 to our speakers of British English.

2. "Came to me" is fine and not too colloquial. 'Occurred to me" is fine too.

3. Yes, "while reading" is perfectly correct.

 

[Superguay]

I will leave question 1 to our speakers of British English.

2. "Came to me" is fine and not too colloquial. 'Occurred to me" is fine too.

3. Yes, "while reading" is perfectly correct.

Thank you for your prompt answer.

As a whole, don't you find it a little bit affected? It is meant to be sent to a professor with whom I don't have any personal contact

 

[probus]

To me it seems a very good sentence and not in the least affected. There must be something important at stake for you to worry so much. I imagine Europe will be waking up soon and if you can wait a few hours you will probably get opinions from some other teachers.