When do we use 'having said this'?

ScottsEnglishScottsEnglish Administrator Posts: 1,296 admin ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
edited March 2016 in Vocabulary
A student recently wrote an IELTS Task 1 (General Training) letter of complaint to his local council about noise from a local factory.  Here's part of what he wrote (all of paragraph 2 and part of paragraph 3):
I am submitting a formal complaint about this difficult situation as I have to wake up very early to commute for two hours before commencing my workday. For me it is really important to sleep well every single day otherwise I am not able to work in good conditions. I work at the airport as an air traffic controller therefore, I need to sleep and rest well for concentration requirements.

Having said this, I would like to find a prompt and proper solution at your earliest convenience. For example, the factory... 
I'd like you to focus your attention on the sentence that begins with 'Having said this...'  What's wrong with here? Why is it not appropriate to use this phrase in this context? 

Please share your thoughts/ideas in the comments boxes below.


Comments

  • giriraj2giriraj2 Member Posts: 2
    i think the phrase should be used as following:
    negative thoughts +having said this+positive thoughts
  • ScottsEnglishScottsEnglish Administrator Posts: 1,296 admin ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice try, giriraj2! 

    When we state, 'Having said/stated this", we tend to then introduce a contrary point of view.  In other words, 'having said this' is a bit like however, in spite of that, or despite that.  

    So, in the example above, the reader would expect for something positive to be written: Having said that, the factory noise is not such a big problem and I expect my sleep to improve.

    This is obviously NOT the intention of the writer so, in the example, 'Having said this' is not appropriate.  Another point to consider: a written sentence is not 'said', it's 'stated'.  So, it would be more correct to write, 'having stated that'.  B)
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