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August last? Which August?
Thread poster: deleted. (X)
deleted. (X)
deleted. (X)
Australia
Local time: 00:28
English to Chinese
+ ...
Sep 14, 2012

I saw this sentence in a letter from a lawyer: "We have not yet received a reply from our letter of the 15th August last."

It seems to me that "a reply from our letter" should be "a reply to our letter", and there is ambiguiry about this August, is it refering to last month or August last year?

It is a very short letter from a lawyer, not from a language student, so I suspect it is me, not the lawyer. Can anyone comment on the above sentence? Thanks.
 
Claus Sprick
Claus Sprick  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 05:28
Member
French to German
+ ...
August same year Sep 15, 2012

"Boston, February 2, 1848
Sir
Your letter of January last has just come to hand, and I hasten to reply."
http://www.thefullwiki.org/To_a_Southern_Slaveholder

a letter of the previous year should rather be referred to as

"02 February 2009
Dear Sir/ Madam
You may recall my letter of... See more
"Boston, February 2, 1848
Sir
Your letter of January last has just come to hand, and I hasten to reply."
http://www.thefullwiki.org/To_a_Southern_Slaveholder

a letter of the previous year should rather be referred to as

"02 February 2009
Dear Sir/ Madam
You may recall my letter of **June last year**"
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/1755/20090202CoverLetterForCRD.pdf

*from* our letter seems to be quite common (a matter of perspective?)
"To date, none of the above information has been made available for review nor
have we received a reply *from our letter* of March 2’nd"
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/transprog/ctcbooks/2010/0610/019_2.1d1.pdf

[Bearbeitet am 2012-09-15 14:48 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member for the following reason: Duplicate post
Kaisa Azriouli
Kaisa Azriouli
Finland
Local time: 06:28
Finnish to English
+ ...
prepositions in use/ informal language Sep 15, 2012

If the question of preposition in your example was posed to me, I would definitely be in favour of TO in the context of the letter to be answered. August last seems to be an informal expression referring to the last year, but could also be more specific and grammar-bound in many other ways.
 
Mark Hamlen
Mark Hamlen  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 05:28
French to English
+ ...
This past August Sep 15, 2012

"August last" is very old fashioned (and rather pompous sounding). It means the most recent August. Most people would simple say "this August" or "August of this year".
 
deleted. (X)
deleted. (X)
Australia
Local time: 00:28
English to Chinese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Sep 28, 2012

Thank you, Claus Sprick, Kaisa Azriouli and Mark Hamlen! Your answers are very helpful.

I'm not familiar with how the forum works, I thought I lost this post. I just discovered that it is moved here and found my questions answered.

Next time I see a lawyere writing this way, I will be prepared.
 


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August last? Which August?







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