When writing formal emails, such as contacting customer service or handling a business dispute, you need professional ways to connect your ideas. To link a situation to its logical conclusion, Portuguese uses the connector pelo que.
Formal Conclusions with pelo que
Translating roughly to "therefore," "which is why," or "for which reason," pelo que joins a cause directly to its result. It is highly common in formal written Portuguese and is typically preceded by a comma.
| The article had a defect, therefore I request the return. | O artigo teve um defeito, pelo que solicito a devolução. |
| I could not use the product, therefore I request your understanding. | Não pude usar o produto, pelo que solicito a sua compreensão. |
Handling Returns and Exchanges
When dealing with online shopping returns, you will often need to state the problem before requesting an action. Useful formal verbs for these situations include solicitar (to request) and anexar (to attach), especially when dealing with receipts or invoices.
| The product arrived damaged, therefore I attach the receipt for the exchange. | O produto chegou estragado, pelo que anexo o recibo para a troca. |
| The customer asked for the exchange, therefore we are going to handle the replacement. | O cliente pediu a troca, pelo que vamos tratar da substituição. |
Apologizing and Resolving
If you are on the other side of the counter—or resolving a dispute—you will often need to acknowledge a problem. Formal Portuguese frequently uses the noun o transtorno (the inconvenience) when apologizing.
Combine this with the phrase proceder a (to proceed to) to professionally state how you are going to fix the issue.
| We regret the inconvenience that we caused, therefore we thank you for your understanding. | Lamentamos o transtorno que causámos, pelo que agradecemos a sua compreensão. |
| We regret the inconvenience, therefore we proceed to the refund. | Lamentamos o transtorno, pelo que procedemos ao reembolso. |