Millions of people around the world communicate in English at work, and this includes non-native speakers. Email is perhaps the most common form of work communication these days.
Writing a great work email is simple, we just need to remember a few basic things.
6 Keys For Writing a Great Work Email in English
1. Salutation
Email is a less formal form of communication than the traditional letter. Although it is ok to start an email with “Dear (name)”, it is not necessary, and depending on who you ask, is not considered that common either.
It’s more common these days to say “Hi (name),” or simply start with the person’s name, followed by a comma and space that indicates the start of a new paragraph.
2. Getting started
Now that we’ve started the email off the right way, we need to decide what to say next.
– You’ll often be writing an email in response to another email that someone has sent you. In that case, address their message and answer any questions they’ve asked.
– If you are the one initiating the exchange, state your reason for writing immediately after the salutation.
3. Break it up
A big part of reading is how the text is arranged on the page. If we see one large chunk of text staring back at us, we don’t feel too excited about reading it!
That’s why it’s important to break up your writing into separate paragraphs. When you change topic or make an important new point, start a new paragraph.
4. Keep it short
This goes hand in hand with the previous point about breaking up the text of your email into different paragraphs. It’s simple: if an email appears to be 1,000 pages long, the recipient probably won’t read it!
Stick to the topic at hand, and only include information that you consider necessary. The reader will thank you.
5. Winding down
You’ve written a salutation, you’ve written the main body text of your email, and now you need to bring it to a close.
What you write before saying goodbye depends on what’s in the rest of your email, but here are some common examples of “closing lines” in an email:
– Thank you for…
– Thank you for considering my proposal.
– Please let me know if you need anything else.
– I hope to hear from you soon.
– I look forward to hearing from you.
6. Goodbye
The final step! This is what we write immediately before our own name, followed by a comma and a space. We’ll look at some formal options, and some less formal options:
- More formal:
- Less formal:
It’s also standard practice to include your job title just below your name at the end of the email.
The end of your work email could look like this:
Please let me know if there’s anything else you need. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
John Smith
Chief Meeting Planner
Now that you have the tools, you’ll feel more confident when writing your next work email!
Contact us for information about our direct-method English lessons!
Universidad de San Diego en California, entre ellos Literatura Inglesa, Literatura Española, Escritura y Gramática.
A Alex le encanta ver al Barça jugar en casa y también le gusta el senderismo y el tenis.
Alex is a supervisor at Callan School Barcelona. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, United States, Alex studied a range of subjects at the University of San Diego in California, including English Literature, Spanish Literature, Writing and Grammar.
Alex loves to catch Barça playing at home and also enjoys hiking and tennis.
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