Please find attached…
So this phrase is commonly used. (Try a Google Search on it.)
But I don’t like it. Something about the grammar or the subtext really bugs me.
“Please find attached document.”
Ugh. Is this a treasure hunt?
Alternatives?
- Please find the attached resume.
- Please find the resume that I have attached
- Please find the resume that has been attached (passive voice, though)
I think it’s the whole “please find” part that bugs me.
If you sent a letter via snail mail, would you write, “please find enclosed check”? I wouldn’t. I would at least write, “please find the check I enclosed”. But it feels like the “finding” is a burdensome, difficult task. Umm… it’s in the envelope! (or: it’s a colorful icon on your screen!) The finding should not be the hard part.
It’s like writing, “I have attached my resume. Please find it. But don’t do anything else with it.”
It is implied that the recipient will read it. That’s why you’re sending it to them, right? So why can’t it be implied that they have to go and “find” it, too?
In other words:
“I have attached my resume.”
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Yes, you’re right: I have way too much free time if I’m writing about minutiae like this.
But look on the bright side: at least I’m just cluttering up the internet instead of out on the streets causing real trouble, right?
I agree, it is poor communication and sounds outdated. I found this site because I was searching for better alternatives to this phrase. Thanks for the ideas.
Totally agree. The whole phase just doesn’t make sense to me at all.
Thanks for the discussion. I often use this phrase and then today I was thinking about how dumb it sounds and if there was an alternative.
Yeah Me too
I was searching in google if is correct.
http://www.lomasnuevo.net
Yeah, makes me feel blind, trying to find an attached document.
Odd how the “Too much time on your hands” and “get a lifer’s” have the time to read all this and comment. Anyway, this was very helpful. I don’t like the phrase either, but it had been the only way I could think of to avoid starting yet another sentence with “I”, “I have attached”. The ideas in this forum provided a good solution for me. Thank you
i agreed with John GET A LIFE BIG BOYS
Could I use “follow attached…”?
Thanks