A letter to an ill friend

[Antique]

Hello everyone,
The letter below is my writing practice. I learn English on my own. If you could correct my mistakes that would be very helpful.

Hi there,

Thanks for your email. It was great to hear from you. I'm sorry to learn that you've been down with the flu and you were bedridden for a while. I know that being bedridden can be frustrating. Glad to hear that you feel a little better now. I hope you will get over the flu before your classes start.

I had an infection last week. I had a temperature and I was sneezing a lot. I even was bedridden for two days just like you but I got over my infection now. Anyway, I am preparing for the new academic year. I’m also looking for a job. My family is also doing okay. I’m happy to hear that your brother has a new cool job.

It is great news that you are coming to here for your conference. Don’t worry about finding a cheap hotel. You will of course stay with me! It’s a little bit sad that you have only half a day for sightseeing but we will try to enjoy as much as we can.

Well, that’s all for now. Please give my regard to the folks.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Take Care,

Your Friend

 

[Tarheel]

Say:

I hope you get over the flu before classes start.

 

[Tarheel]

Say:

I had a fever, and I was sneezing a lot.

 

[Tarheel]

Say:

I got over my infection ,and I'm better now.

 

[Tarheel]

Try:

I'm happy that your brother has a new job.

Also;

Give my regards to the folks.

I would never say a person has a temperature. Do you know why?

 

[emsr2d2]

I would never say a person has a temperature. Do you know why?

Whilst I agree that it's technically illogical because everyone has a temperature of some sort, the phrase is used by the vast majority of BrE speakers to express that they have a high temperature/fever.

 

[teechar]

Hi there,

You would normally use a person's name in a letter. Since this letter is informal, say for example "Hi Stephen".

Thanks for your email. It was great to hear from you. I'm sorry to learn that you've been down with the flu and you were bedridden for a while. I know that being bedridden can be frustrating. Glad to hear that you feel a little better now. I hope you will get over the flu before your classes start.

You need to connect the part above with the one below. For example:

You wouldn't believe it, but I also had an infection last week. I had a temperature and I was sneezing a lot. I even was even bedridden for two days just like you but I'm got over my infection now. Anyway, I am preparing for the new academic year . I’m and/but also looking for a job. My family is also doing okay, and I’m happy to hear that your brother has a new cool job.

It is great news that you are coming [ 1] to here for your a conference. Don’t worry about finding a cheap hotel. You will, of course, stay with me! It’s a little bit sad that you have only half a day for sightseeing, but we will try to enjoy [ 2] our time together as much as we can.

Well, that’s all for now. [ 3] Please give my regard to the folks.


Looking forward to hearing from you soon.


Take Care,

[ 4] Your Friend

[ 1]: We don't say "come to here"; we say "come here".
[ 2]: "Enjoy" is a transitive verb. It needs an object.
[ 3]: That's unnatural. Try "Please say hello to all the family for me" or "My regards to your family".
[ 4]: Again, because this is an informal letter, use your own first name. For example "Jack".

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello, everyone.
The letter below is my writing practice. I am learning English on my own. If you could correct my mistakes, that would be very helpful.

Note my corrections above. "Hello, everyone" is a complete sentence so it needs to be followed by a full stop. We use a comma after an opening greeting if it's "Dear [name]" because that's not a complete sentence.

Hi there.

Again, this is a complete sentence so should be followed by a full stop. It would be a little more common to say "Hi" followed by the person's name.

Thanks for your email. It was great to hear from you. I'm sorry to learn that you've been down with the flu and you were bedridden for a while. I know that being bedridden can be frustrating. Glad to hear that you feel a little better now. I hope you will get over the flu before your classes start.

Note my two strikethroughs above. The rest is OK but I'll tell you a couple of changes I'd make:
"I'm sorry to hear that you've had flu" ("I'm sorry to hear ..." is pretty much a set phrase, and BrE doesn't put an article in front of "flu" in the phrase "to have flu".)
"... you were stuck in bed for a while". "Bedridden" is usually used for a much more long-term condition that means someone is stuck in bed for months/years/their entire life.
Note that starting a sentence with "Glad to hear" is OK in a casual context like this but the full grammatical sentence would be "I'm glad to hear ...".

I had an infection last week. I had a temperature and I was sneezing a lot. I even was bedridden for two days just like you but I've got over my infection now. Anyway, I am preparing for the new academic year no full stop here I’m also and looking for a job. My family is also doing okay. I’m happy to hear that your brother has a cool new cool job.

Note my changes above.
You needed the present perfect in the part about getting over your infection.
When possible, try to connect short sentences with a conjunction rather than writing very short separate sentences.
There's an accepted order of adjectives in English and "new cool job" didn't fit the pattern.

It is great news that you are coming to here for your conference. Don’t worry about finding a cheap hotel. You will of course stay with me, of course! It’s a little bit sad that you have only half a day for sightseeing but we will try to enjoy it as much as we can.

We don't say "coming to here/there".
You had "of course" in a rather unnatural position.
I've added "it" to refer back to "half a day".

Well, that’s all for now. Please give my regards to the folks.

If, by "the folks", you simply mean "people we both know in the local area", it's fine. If you're talking about your friend's family, say "give my regards to your folks".

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Take care.

Your friend, [your name].

See above. There was no need to capitalise "care" or "friend".

(Edit: Crossposted with teechar. You'll notice that most of our points are the same.)

 

[Tarheel]

Whilst I agree that it's technically illogical because everyone has a temperature of some sort, the phrase is used by the vast majority of BrE speakers to express that they have a high temperature/fever.

They are wrong.

 

[teechar]

They are wrong.

Is this meant as a joke?!

 

[Tarheel]

Even a dead person has a temperature. Some people will think I am being too picky, but we have a word for an abnormally high temperature: fever. As has already been started, it is illogical to ask someone if they have a temperature. Of course they do!

 

[emsr2d2]

Even a dead person has a temperature. Some people will think I am being too picky, but we have a word for an abnormally high temperature: fever.

In the medical field, there's a specific temperature that needs to be reached to class as a fever - 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C). The average "normal" body temperature is between 97.5 and 98.9 degrees F. That leaves the whole range from 99 to 100.4 as above normal but not a fever, just a high temperature. Of course, someone whose normal everyday body temperature is on the lower end of the scale would have a high temperature if it went above that by a degree or so, even if it was still within the "normal range".
We're in danger of straying away from the original topic, though. The OP simply has to understand that a BrE speaker would say "I've got a temperature" when their main symptom (or just one of several) is that they're hotter than usual.

 

[teechar]

For our learners: "temperature" in British, Australian, Irish, and most other varieties of English (apart from AmE, apparently) is commonly used to mean a higher than normal body temperature. It's correct and natural in those varieties of English.

 

[Antique]

Whilst I agree that it's technically illogical because everyone has a temperature of some sort, the phrase is used by the vast majority of BrE speakers to express that they have a high temperature/fever.br

I try to follow American English. You pointed out that the phrase ''a person have a temperature'' is used by BrE speakers. The thing is I saw this phrase in an Oxford American English book .

 

[Antique]

You would normally use a person's name in a letter. Since this letter is informal, say for example "Hi Stephen".

You need to connect the part above with the one below. For example:

[ 1]: We don't say "come to here"; we say "come here".
[ 2]: "Enjoy" is a transitive verb. It needs an object.
[ 3]: That's unnatural. Try "Please say hello to all the family for me" or "My regards to your family".
[ 4]: Again, because this is an informal letter, use your own first name. For example "Jack".

Thanks for your detailed corrections. ''I got over my infection now'' is wrong because of the word ''now'', right? Because it seems to me there is nothing wrong with ''I got over my infection''.

 

[Antique]

Note my corrections above. "Hello, everyone" is a complete sentence so it needs to be followed by a full stop. We use a comma after an opening greeting if it's "Dear [name]" because that's not a complete sentence.

Again, this is a complete sentence so should be followed by a full stop. It would be a little more common to say "Hi" followed by the person's name.

Note my two strikethroughs above. The rest is OK but I'll tell you a couple of changes I'd make:
"I'm sorry to hear that you've had flu" ("I'm sorry to hear ..." is pretty much a set phrase, and BrE doesn't put an article in front of "flu" in the phrase "to have flu".)
"... you were stuck in bed for a while". "Bedridden" is usually used for a much more long-term condition that means someone is stuck in bed for months/years/their entire life.
Note that starting a sentence with "Glad to hear" is OK in a casual context like this but the full grammatical sentence would be "I'm glad to hear ...".

Note my changes above.
You needed the present perfect in the part about getting over your infection.
When possible, try to connect short sentences with a conjunction rather than writing very short separate sentences.
There's an accepted order of adjectives in English and "new cool job" didn't fit the pattern.

We don't say "coming to here/there".
You had "of course" in a rather unnatural position.
I've added "it" to refer back to "half a day".

If, by "the folks", you simply mean "people we both know in the local area", it's fine. If you're talking about your friend's family, say "give my regards to your folks".

See above. There was no need to capitalise "care" or "friend".

(Edit: Crossposted with teechar. You'll notice that most of our points are the same.)

I was going for ''I'm sorry to hear...'' but I got an automatic correction from a website so I went for ''I'm sorry to learn...''
I was going for ''...you were confined to bed'' but again the website suggested the word ''bedridden''. I guess I shouldn't trust it that much.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks for your detailed corrections. "I got over my infection now" is wrong because of the word "now", right? Because It seems to me there is nothing wrong with "I got over my infection".

Yes, without that time marker, you can use the simple past.
Note my changes above. Please try to find the quotation marks key on your keyboard - don't just use two consecutive apostrophes.

 

[emsr2d2]

I was going for "I'm sorry to hear space here ..." but I got an automatic correction from a website so I went for "I'm sorry to learn space here...".
I was going for "... space here you were confined to bed" but again the website suggested the word "bedridden". I guess I shouldn't trust it that much.

Note my changes above.
What is this mystery website that gave you those "corrections"?