21751
I deal with lots of formal emails (within the company) that refer to unnamed
3rd parties. The first reference is 「研究者」. If I want to use "they" later in
the email, what should I use? I've seen both 「彼ら」 and 「先方」 used, but I'm not
clear on nuances of these or if there are other choices.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-11T18:14:10.883
21745
2015-02-12T02:01:13.030
9292
question
formality email
3rd person references in formal emails
Any clarification as to who exactly 研究者 is? Are they customers? Employees?
Trainees?

Also who are you addressing the email to? 彼ら is often quite brash to use when
emailing your superiors (but this really does depend on them, mine let me get
away with all sorts of things).

I would stick with 先方 but really if all else fails just call them 研究者 -
{Probably the one I would personally use in a similar situation}. Otherwise it
can get confusing and the meaning of 先方 could mean any of the parties involved
assuming you mention any other party / groups of people in an email.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-12T02:01:13.030
21751
2015-02-12T02:01:13.030
9241
21745
answer