Is this sentence grammatically correct?
QUESTION
I’ve received many emails from Singaporeans at work that say, ‘Please revert soonest possible.‘ Is this right?
ANSWER
You might encounter ‘Please revert soonest possible’ or ‘I will revert to you’. Both are not Standard English.
‘Revert’ does not mean ‘reply’. To revert is ‘to return to a previous state’.
‘Soonest possible’ is also not right. ‘Soonest’ is a superlative (the highest form of ‘soon’) and should not be used this way with ‘possible’.
You can try a simple and effective statement like ‘I look forward to hearing from you soon’ to end your emails.
The tone sounds friendly while clearly stating the need for the other party to reply to you.
Or you can just say ‘Please reply as soon as possible’.
Bonus tip: Find out if you should use revert or revert back.
Source: Edited from the english@work e-newsletter by 938LIVE. Subscribe to the english@work newsletter.
