When ending a business letter which is correct, please don’t hesitate to contact me or please do not hesitate to contact me?
You assistance is appreciated.
Hi,
The contraction of ‘do not’ to ‘don’t’ is simply an informal practice, usually used in conversation.
Alan
Therefore, my co-worker is correct and I should use “do not hesitate to contact me”.
Thank you.
I think the thing that prompts you to ask the question in the 1st place, is the fact that it simply doesn’t sound good. You’re expressing 2 negatives in order to convey a positive. Yes, this expression is used a lot in formal emails, but it’s just another ineffective piece of rubbish dialogue in modern communication. The cognitive effect of expressions like don’t, do not, must not, may not, etc are incredibly weak. To back it up, the cognitive effect of “hesitate” is much stronger than “do not”. Stop dancing around prose and just say “please feel free to contact me”, or please contact me. Much friendlier and much more effective.
Hi, Alan.
I’ve been taught there’s a slight difference between using “do + verb” and just verb as well as with “don’t” and “do not” expressions. The full forms have more intensive psychological shape as it is in:
“I believe …, but maybe…” and “I do believe (don’t even try bring over me, it will be very hard to bring me over)”.
And there’s the same difference in negative forms of sentences.
So I can use “I do + verb” or “I do not + verb” to highlight my action.
Is that wrong?
Hi,
There are two points here. Using do/does in a positive statement with a main verb clearly emphasizes the sense of the verb. If you like, you can say: It does emphasize.
Using the contracted form don’t/doesn’t in a negative statement naturally has less force than using the full form does/do not.
Alan
PS
I don’t follow your use of ‘bring over’ in your examples
Ok, I realise this is a forum for English correctness etc, but let me make my point a little more clear.
“I am not a nasty, ugly person” vs
“I am a kind, beautiful person”
Which sounds better? The use of the word hesitate has a stifling impact on the reader. This is my point.
Hi, Alan! Thank you for your answer. Bring over = convince = talk round, is this true?
Hi DEA,
I don’t know this use of ‘bring over’ but I see what you want to say.
Alan
I think I’ll remember next time that using “bring over” in such cases isn’t the best idea. Though two dictionaries are translating the same: [url]Clip2Net — screen capture tool for Windows, Android, iPad, Mac, Linux
Dea, not sure you’re completely wrong in using this, but in your example, you could just as easily use “convince” with the same effect. Bring over seems to imply bringing a person over to your way of thinking. It sounds heavily slang though. I would refine it to “bring you over” or “bring me over”. It seems to have a strong connection to “get across”, as in “I’m finding it hard to get my intentions across to you.” The two words should have something between them generally, or you’re going to confuse people. The best way to test this kind of stuff is to think it out loud to yourself.
Felt the need to help you out seeing as I wasn’t focusing on the answers you were after before.
It’s very hard sometimes to choose right option if I never heard this expression before. The only way to know how the choice sound is a feedback.
Thank you!