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I always get confused whenever I find myself in this situation. I get emails asking to send someone some pictures and other information. When replying, what should I write?

  1. Kindly find the attached pictures and link for your reference.
  2. Kindly find the attached pictures and link for your information.

Or should I use any other words to make it simpler? What about "for your needful"? Please let me know.

Jasper
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Ideal
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    Use Please instead of kindly- Please find the attached... If your are giving them information that you want them to know then you can use "for your information" if your are giving them something you would like them to be able to refer to then use "for your reference." (NEEDFUL is just wrong). You can also avoid the whole thing with something like: "Here's the pictures you asked for." – Jim Aug 07 '14 at 05:24
  • "The needful" is an Indian-English phrase. As typically used in Indian English, it seems grammatically incorrect and rude to native speakers of American English. – Jasper Feb 02 '16 at 19:06
  • There is another question about the difference between "kindly" and "please". – Jasper Feb 02 '16 at 19:09
  • @Jasper I agree that "the needful" would be incorrect in AmE but I don't think most people would find it rude, just odd. – Kevin Feb 02 '16 at 19:50
  • Just a word on this answer: "Please find attached the requested pictures and information, for your reference. Please let me know if anything else is needed/required." I believe the word attached is a little bit odd. Try something like this: Attached are the requested pictures and.....for your reference. – jim_nr Sep 29 '14 at 05:20
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    Please find attached is actually a set phrase in English, and is completely correct and preferred over @jim_nr's answer in a formal setting. – Sanchises Sep 29 '14 at 10:36
  • Using the words "find" and/or "find attached the" in this question is a bit archaic.

    Why not use: "I have attached the requested..." or "Attached are the requested..." This is a more formal and common way in business correspondence...especially in emails.

     – jim_nr Sep 29 '14 at 10:57
  • It's interesting that Garner's Modern American Usage (page 303) has this: "***enclosed please find; *please find enclosed; *enclosed herewith; *enclosed herein.** These phrases--common in commercial and legal correspondence--are archaic deadwood for here are, enclosed is, I've enclosed, or the like. Interestingly, business-writing texts have consistently condemned the phrases since the late 19th century: [...]" – Damkerng T. Sep 29 '14 at 12:09

3 Answers3

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It depends on how formal/informal the situation, and by extension, the email is.

For a formal setting, you could use:

Hi [...]

Please find attached the requested pictures and information, for your reference. Please let me know if anything else is needed/required.

Thank you, [...]

For an informal setting, anything simpler goes:

Dear [...],

Here are the pictures and links you were looking for.

Look up some in-depth strategies on writing formal letters here. It might help.

Dust_In_The_Wind
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  • Is it ok to Use>Dear Roji Jee,

    Please find the below Picasa link and attached pictures for your reference.-if she asking pictures to send it to her guests.Can't we use -for your needful/for your necessary action.thanks

     – Ideal Aug 07 '14 at 05:59
  • In your answer, you have not adressed the difference between "for your information" and "for your reference". The former means that the reader is to be notified about the attachment now, whereas the latter means that the reader can use the attachment for future reference. – Sanchises Sep 29 '14 at 10:38
  • "For your reference" sounds odd to me (native AmE) and I would simplify it to "for reference" – Kevin Feb 02 '16 at 19:51
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When you are replying to a request, there is no need to qualify it; a simple

Attached are the pictures you requested.

is entirely sufficient.

In American English, we use a few phrases to signal related expectations.

  • For your information (frequently abbreviated FYI)
  • For your situational awareness (not as common, may be abbreviated FYSA)
  • For reference
  • For future reference

For your information in the workplace implies that no action is required on the recipient’s part—commonly used in unsolicited communication. In less formal settings, the same phrase may indicate that the speaker believes someone else is asking a question that is none of his business.

In military, defense, and aerospace settings, situational awareness is a general idea of what is going on in the immediate surroundings. A pilot listening to the radio to understand what other aircraft are in the vicinity of an aerodrome is part of maintaining situational awareness. Tagging communication as FYSA likewise implies no immediate action is necessary but that the information is useful for day-to-day interaction, e.g., “the heads of those departments do not get along at all, FYSA.”

Well, for your information, I had a doctor appointment, and that’s why I wasn’t able to make it.

The same sentiment might be expressed beginning with

If you must know …

The similar phrase for your reference is slightly ambiguous. Sometimes it means the same as for future reference, which implies no action required and file it in the back of your head for when this comes up again later. It can also be a subtle suggestion that the recipient should use the accompanying information to complete some task.

All of these phrases would sound out of place or redundant in direct reply to a request, but they may make sense in providing additional, non-obvious details.

Attached is the requested picture of Mr. Jones from last year’s charity benefit. He and Mrs. Jones recently divorced, FYI, so you may not want to include that picture in the upcoming newsletter.

Greg Bacon
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I used to say

  • please find the attached file/document

  • Please find attached two copies of my CV.

  • Please find attached the file we spoke about yesterday.

  • Please find attached the photograph I mentioned in my last email.

That's it and be simple while sending attached files.

Nathan Tuggy
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abubaker al hamed
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