I shall be highly obliged....

Hi there, can anyone please tell me what the difference between two underlined sentence is?

To
The Chief Engineer,
Telephone Bhawan,
Kolkata - 700091


I am sorry to state that I applied for a new telephone on 05.02.2016. Though more than two years have passed since the application, I have not received the new connection yet nor have I been informed at what stage my application for the connection is at present. Kindly let me know when I can expect the connection.

I shall be highly obliged if you take immediate steps in this regard./I would be highly obliged If you could take immediate steps in this regard.


My question Is, Are both the underlined sentences correct In the above context? If yes, What is the deference then?

Thanks in advance.

There are lots of errors in the post but I'm about to go to work so I don't have time for all of them at the moment. However, I can tell you that both sentences are unnatural (and the second has an errant capital letter in the middle).

I would be very grateful if you would take steps immediately to rectify the situation.

My question is, are both the underlined sentences correct in the above context? If yes, what is the difference [STRIKE]then[/STRIKE] between them?

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Only the second is grammatical (except that you have wrongly capitalised 'if').

Rover_KE said:

Only the second is grammatical (except that you have wrongly capitalised 'if').

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Hi there, why the first one is ungrammatical? 'I shall be highly obliged if you take immediate steps in this regard.', It is in my grammar book with at the last part of the letter.

subhajit123 said:

Hi there. Why is the first one [STRIKE]is[/STRIKE] ungrammatical? 'I shall be highly obliged if you take immediate steps in this regard.',

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Yes, it is grammatical — I misread it.

They are both correct in the stylised manner of Indian English. Why not follow ems's example and use plain English? It might just catch on over there.:-D

Rover_KE said:

Yes, it is grammatical — I misread it.

They are both correct in the stylised manner of Indian English. Why not follow ems's example and use plain English? It might just catch on over there.:-D

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It does seem the preference there is for more formal, flowery language, using more words than necessary.

The letter's first sentence expresses regret that you applied for a telephone. I don't think that's what you mean.