I have to sadly inform...,

[Silverobama]

Tonight there will supposed to be an English club for kids but because one of the participants had a fever, I had to cancel that and move it to next time. Usually the club will start if there are six participants but this depends on luck.

I said to the remaining students' parents (who can come but will not come) "I have to sadly inform all of you that tonight's English club has to be cancelled due to the temperature one of your mates got; let's meet next time."

Please help me with a natural version of the italic sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

Tonight, there will was supposed to be an English club for kids but because one of the participants had a fever, I had to cancel that it. and move it to next time. Usually, the club will start goes ahead if there are at least six participants but this depends on luck but it's a matter of luck each week.

I said to the remaining students' parents (whose kids can were planning to come) but will not come) "Sadly/Unfortunately, I have to sadly inform all of you that tonight's English club has to be has been/is cancelled due to the temperature one of your mates got illness. let's meet next time. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the next meeting."

See above. There's no need to tell other people about the ill person's actual problem.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think "I regret to inform you that" can also be used in this context.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think "I regret to inform you that" can also be used in this context.

That's possible but, in my opinion, it's a bit too formal for this situation. I readily admit that I tend towards the informal in most situations (and I know that culturally that's not always acceptable) but I'd send out "Hi all! Unfortunately, English club tonight is off due to illness. See you next time!"

 

[Skrej]

While it's certainly not wrong, I think "sadly" is probably a bit too strong for this context, at least for me. I'd use 'unfortunately' or "I'm sorry to say". Apologetic, but not remorseful.

In my mind, 'sadly' has too strong a sense of finality. If the English cub meetings were being permanently cancelled, then I might choose 'sadly'. However, this is just one week's meeting being cancelled with regular resumption next week, so it's really more just an inconvenience.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think both "sadly" and "unfortunately" can be omitted.

Please note that tonight's English club has been cancelled due to illness.

 

[Silverobama]

In my mind, 'sadly' has too strong a sense of finality. If the English cub meetings were being permanently cancelled, then I might choose 'sadly'. However, this is just one week's meeting being cancelled with regular resumption next week, so it's really more just an inconvenience.

I was writing down this in my notebook for future reference. But I don't understand the bold part. What does "strong" mean here when it works as a verb?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I take it to mean "has a strong sense of finality".

 

[5jj]

What does "strong" mean here when it works as a verb?

It is not a verb.

 

[Rover_KE]

The confusion arose because Skrej accidentally typed ‘to strong a sense …’ instead of ‘too strong a sense’, in post #5, which nobody noticed at the time and I have since edited.