Need to organise something? In this unit, you can practise common phrases used to make plans by email.

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?

Task 6

Exercise

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Language level

A2 English level (pre-intermediate)

B1 English level (intermediate)

a little bit difficult but not impossible for me.

Having difficulty writing an email

Hi Olga_Chernyav,

We hope the tips here help, and feel free to post a comment if you have any questions :)

Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team

The first task does not have an intuitive interface.

I find it difficult to work with times

I liked it, there were a lot of different tasks.

The tasks are interesting, but the interface fails

The first task could not be completed, because you add a new value, the previous one is served

Hi EvgeniyKulikov,

I'll try to help. When you add a new phrase to the answer boxes, make sure you click on the grey box itself. Don't click on any phrases that are already inside the box, as that will replace one instead of adding it.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Feels like the tasks are more and more difficult

Excellent tests

Tacks is easy, done quickly

The tasks were so easy that it was even boring to complete some of them

Very bad interface, similar tasks

Thanks for information

I think it is not bad, very well

It's really helpful.

The lesson and the exercise is very helpful.

I enjoyed of doing those tasks.

Dear Sir Thank you so much, I have need more in this session.

Good exercice

I like it

Awesome!

Dear Peter, Actually I cann't find the differences between options b) and c) in the question 6 of task 6. Could you please teach me it? I look forward to receiving your reply. Thanks. Best wishes, uncle choi

Hello uncle choi The second option is 'conveniant' and the third option is 'convenient'. The different between them is the spelling of the word ending: 'ant' vs 'ent'. In this case, the third option is the correct one. All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks a lot!, the excercises are very useful and the support pack too!. In the Task 6) 6. there are two options repeated: b) and c), both have the word "convenient" and the sentence of the task said that only 1 of each could be correct. :)

Hello jmajo,

If you look at the three options carefully, you'll see that they are not the same. Only one of them is spelt correctly.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks!

Dear Peter M, My name is also Peter :) Would you like to meet like for a coffee or something? :) We'll meet at 7:30 pm at "Barbaras Coffee" is that okay? Best wishes Your Peter :)

good

Thank you.

"Imran still striving to get required numbers to form govt" Such types of sentence structures are found in Newspapers' headings: the verb is in the 'ing' form and there is no helping/auxiliary verb (is) before it. How is it if I rewrite it as 'Imran is still striving to get required numbers to form govt."

Hello ali shah,

Newspaper headlines often omit words like auxiliary verbs and articles. It is a standard part of the style. The full and fully grammatically correct sentence would be with 'is', as you say.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

"This will be one of the mightiest Oppositions in recent memory: the PML-N (64), PPP (43), MMA (12), ANP (1) adding up to a whopping 120 members." Why was 'the' not used before the others abbreviations ie PPP, MMA, and ANP? I observe this many times when I read articles/books/newspapers. What rule of grammar does apply here?

Hello ali shah,

When a phrase is repeated it is quite common to omit part of it to make the sentence less repetitive. For example:

The United Natiion, (the) World Health Organisation, (the) World Trade Organisation and (the) World Bank are all examples of supra-national institutions.

We had a delicious starter, (a delicious) main course and (a delicious) dessert at the restaurant.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

"However, following the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2003, the valley has become a popular tourist destination since the past 15 years." The above para is from our country's leading English daily. Is it grammatically correct to use 'since' before 'the past 15 years'? Shouldn't it be 'for' there?

Hello ali shah,

'Since' does not look correct to me in that sentence. You could use 'for' but I think the most likely preposition is 'in', which would have the meaning of 'during':

However, following the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in 2003, the valley has become a popular tourist destination in the past 15 years.

It is not uncommon for newspapers to have errors such as this. Sentences are changed during the writing and editing processes and sometimes a change in one part of the sentence makes another part of the sentence incorrect.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Sir! 'Water scarcity takes a devastating toll, killing crops, livelihoods, and,slowly, the nation on the whole.' Sir, does it make any difference if we don't put the comma before' slowly', i.e. ...livelihoods, and slowly, the nation on the whole? If it does, please explain it to me. As I read many at many places that writers don't put comma before adverb in the above case. Would be obliged if you respond,sir.

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:

killing (1) crops, (2) livelihoods, and (3) the nation as a whole (as a whole is the phrase to use here)

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

Hello Sir, This is my first time posting a comment and asking a question, first please comment on my texts what I am writing whether it is correct or wrong. Second, what is the rule for putting a comma and a colon in the following sentence? To speak about a timetable, use the present simple: Next term runs from 1 September until 16 December.

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

comma is used if the conditional is used as the first clause of a sentence and I have read that if the conditional comes in the beginning, we put comma after it and then write another clause. However, I have read many reading which doesn't follow this rule. Either the rule is wrong is not applicable, or the ones write wrong? Please reply with examples

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 Dear Sir! I have learned that we don't use colon(:) after a dependent clause and anyone does so is on wrong, but I have come across articles of eminent writers who do that. For example, '' The only question is: can India not to invest in its people at this stage?'' Here the colon is used after a dependent clause. Does it nullfy the rule of not using colon before a dependent clause? Sir, please make me clear this.

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:

The only question is this: can India not to invest in its people at this stage?

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

Cognates: Is this right to make a sentence using cognates like the following: "In primitive age, guards used to guard." Doesn't this make sense? Is this grammatically incorrect?

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

good exercise

Sir I hope you are fine. Let me put my question. 1."I get a lot of phone calls from my male fellows pretending to be females,asking me to meet them." Is this grammatically okay? 2. "I get a lot of phone calls from my male fellows, pretending to be females." Is this also correct? can I remove here the comma before 'Pretending' or by doing so,would there be any change in its meaning?

Unit 5: Making arrangements

Making arrangements

Useful questions

Expressions of time

Tenses

Tenses in complex sentences about the future

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4

Task 5

Task 6

Language level